Okay, so the other day I decided to finally tackle that leaky beverage faucet in my kitchen. You know, the one that’s been dripping for like, ever? It wasn’t a huge leak, more like a constant, annoying drip…drip…drip that was driving me crazy. Plus, I figured it was probably wasting a ton of water over time.
First things first, I turned off the water. I wasn’t about to flood my kitchen. I found the shut-off valve under the sink – it was a little stiff, but I managed to crank it closed.
Next, I needed to figure out what kind of faucet I had. Was it a compression faucet? Ball faucet? Cartridge? Disc? I honestly had no clue. I looked closely, took some pictures with my phone, and did a bit of online searching. It appeared to be a pretty standard cartridge faucet.
Then came the disassembly. I grabbed my trusty wrench and a screwdriver. There was this little decorative cap on the top of the handle that I had to pry off. Underneath, there was a screw holding the handle in place. I unscrewed that, and the handle came right off.
- Pried off decorative cap.
- Unscrewed handle.
- Removed handle.
With the handle off, I could see the inner workings. There was this retaining clip that was holding the cartridge in place. I used a pair of needle-nose pliers to carefully remove that. Then, I was able to pull out the old cartridge. It looked pretty worn and gunked up, so no wonder it was leaking!
The new Caratridge.
I took the old cartridge to the hardware store to make sure I got the exact same replacement. The guy at the store helped me find the right one. It only cost a few bucks, which was a relief.
Back home, I popped the new cartridge in, making sure it was seated properly. I put the retaining clip back on, reattached the handle, and screwed it all back together. Then, I carefully turned the water back on at the shut-off valve.
And… success! No more drips! I stood there for a good five minutes, just watching to make sure it wasn’t leaking. It felt pretty good to fix it myself, and I saved a bunch of money by not calling a plumber.
