This was my kitchen faucet last night. There wasn't
really anything wrong with it when I moved in. It put out water when you turned it on, end of story. Yes, I think it was ugly. Yes, It wobbled on it's base. Yes, it was dirty and older and the fancy aerator nozzle thing on the end leaked a bit. However, it put out water so I could wash things in my sink. I have a dream faucet in my head. I know where I can buy it, I know how much it costs and I know that I won't be getting it until it comes time to tackle the kitchen counter/backsplash/sink. That's not happening for a long time. Shortly after moving in the tap stopped working altogether for short periods. This seemed to be timed in sequence to me running the outside tap - however unlikely that seemed. I tried taking the aerator off and cleaning the debris out of, which caused more leaking. I tried leaving the aerator thing off - the tap barely ran at all. I tried replacing the aerator thing (the proper name of which I should look up) but the first time I turned the tap on it blew into a bunch of pieces. So, I put the original pieces back together and after fiddling with it it worked just fine and didn't spray off in weird angles. However, when it stopped working
again a couple weeks ago now I guess, I thought it would come back on. It didn't. Washing everything with just the hand sprayer became tedious. I happened to be at my mom's house for dinner this past weekend and she had just happened to notice that she and her husband still had their "old" kitchen faucet sitting in the garage from their recent remodel. If I wanted it, it was mine. It was a brushed nickle, single lever Koehler and I packed it in my suitcase immediately. When I got home last night I decided there were two things I could do. Put it in the basement with all the other items I have on hand but have no knowledge of how to install or go against my whole DIY position of "anything except plumbing or electrical". I
really wanted to wash dishes like a normal human being again so I watched two videos on the internet about how to install a new faucet and began the process of taking the old one out. I'll be honest an
d say that what would have taken a pro about 15-30min took me a couple of hours. Evening while trying to clean up and put a child to bed is not a good time to start ripping apart the kitchen faucet. OK, and it didn't exactly come naturally either. I learned quite a bit actually. Like the inner workings of a rotating ball faucet, for example. I eventually got the new one in place (and sitting in the right direction), hooked the supply lines back up and turned everything back on. No leaks. At least I could be proud of that. There are now two extra holes in the sink that I need to cover which will require a trip to the hardware store but I have a lovely faucet that actually works. The only thing I miss is the hand sprayer which I found quite useful. I have to say that although I wouldn't have chosen the faucet myself if I'd gone shopping and it was probably more money new than I would have spent but you really can tell the difference between a good faucet and a cheap one, you just can. Now I'm contemplating fixing the under sink garbage disposal and hooking up the dishwasher myself. Except the dishwasher requires installing an electrical outlet because the old dishwasher was hard wired. It's already on a separate electrical line though so maybe it's possible for me. Don't know. Maybe I'll try it. Maybe.
