The Right Song For The Job

Posted by: Paulette

How did I spend my Christmas Vacation? Well, I reupholstered a loveseat, made copious amounts of peanut brittle and other sweets. Sewed myself a new dress, painted a bathroom, changed out the innards of a toilet (glamorous. I know), changed out 3 faucets;1 kitchen and two bathrooms, baked bread a few times, and then the usual Chrismasy stuff.

And to tell you the truth, the thing that I'm most proud of is changing out the faucets. On the surface it looks really easy, right? Just remove the old faucet and hook up a new one. But, as in all home improvement projects, there's probably going to be something that you didn't plan for.

 So, I am going to share with you some of the things that helped me when getting off the old faucets. 

Turn off the water at the shut offs. Remember that there's probably going to be some corrosion.

This is not a picture of the corroded supply lines that I had to deal with, But don't let that pretty aqua color fool you. It acts like glue. Superglue. and you can't get the supply line off. This is where I had to turn on some powerful music. You know, the kind that vents all of the frustration that I was feeling. In this case Metallica's "Master of Puppets" came to mind. And Techie brother-in-law was there with his I-Phone to produce it. But first I had some other help at hand. This stuff, Liquid Wrench. I was advised to get this stuff when I was trying to get the nuts and bolts off of the porch swing frame. I'm so glad I still had some. Just spray on and then wait about 10 minutes. Then bang the nut with your wrench a few times. You'll actually see some of the corrosion disappear. The you'll need your next tool.

A pair of vise grips was the main tool that I used for this project. See those lovely jaws with teeth? They bit into that nut and wouldn't let go!

Once you've removed the old faucet and the supply lines, you're ready for the next step. Hooking up the new faucet. Make sure that you measure your supply lines before you buy them. It will save you lots of grief, and extra visits to the hardware store later. 

My bathroom sinks took 16", and the kitchen sink needed a longer one. I ended up not changing them out because the ones I bought weren't long enough. I'm sure I'll be changing them soon. Make sure you pick up some Teflon tape too. You'll need that for the faucet connectors.

And then there was the kitchen sink! Oy vey! That job required a drill, a torch, and some music by Nine Inch Nails. It's funny that I always thought my sister was strange for listening to this music when we were growing up. It all sounded so angry. Sometimes you have to have the right song for the job!

I won't keep you any longer with my tale of the kitchen sink, but in case you're wondering. This is the faucet that I installed.

It's beautiful, but I'll never get a decent picture of it, because the kitchen sink is perpetually full of dirty dishes. I wonder what song I need to motivate the kids to wash the dishes. Any suggestions?