I have a leaking faucet in my kitchen sink. The faucet is a single tap with one hole drilled into the counter (both hot and cold water come through it), and you can also pull it out to do a spray stream.
My thought was to purchase a replacement faucet myself, but have a professional install it. Would this be cheaper than just having the professional supply the faucet?
When I’ve been looking online, I see “pull-down” and “pull-out” faucets are different? Can someone explain the difference to me?
Some of the online pictures show a base plate for a single hole faucet. There’s no room for a base plate in my sink. If I buy one of these faucets, can I use it without the base plate?
If you’re intending to call a plumber to fix the faucet then let him get the parts you need. FWIW, I doubt that you need to replace the entire faucet just to fix the leak. If you want to replace it for aesthetic reason then fair enough but I’ll bet vital portions of my anatomy that if you have a relatively recent faucet (less than 20 years) from a major brand then there will be a rebuild kit for it that will make it work like new.
I’ve had plumbers in twice over the past 3 years to look at the faucet. They were here to look at something else, and I asked them to take a look at the faucet. Since the leak is intermittent, and it usually doesn’t leak, I haven’t had it replaced yet. Both plumbers told me I had to replace the faucet (and quoted me pretty high prices). But based on this advice, I’ll shop around with different plumbers to see if I can get more opinions.
If you can change a tire, you can probably change your own faucet. In the past handful of years, kitchen faucets have become really DIY-friendly.
Almost all current faucets can be rebuilt for a few bucks. You just need to know the brand in order to get the right kit. Then, you just need to shut off the water, take the handle off the faucet, unscrew a large dome nut and swap out a couple o-rings, rubber seals and the ball. About the only complication would be if the old faucet is corroded, which will make disassembly harder.
Pull-down vs pull-out are just styling differences. Pull-out faucets are like a handheld shower and are the more common type on the market now. Pull-downs give you a much smaller nozzle to hold - basically just a golf ball-sized “business end” of the sprayer at the end of a hose.
When we replaced our faucet, the plumber expected us to provide the replacement. We did check with his secretary on recommended brands first though. I’m sure it was cheaper than having him provide it. We also had a much wider range of faucets to choose from, doing it that way.
When we replaced the garbage disposal, we had him provide it for us - easier than trying to decide and order a big heavy thing.
I’m not sure what you consider a high, installed price, but it may be because faucets are danged expensive! You know, for things that aren’t made of friggin’ plastic. It’s pretty hard to get something decent for less than $150 at the big boxes.
If you’re willing to try an experiment then here is what I would do. If you know the name of the manufacturer and the model number of your faucet then you’re all set. Otherwise take some good pictures from multiple angles and take them down to your local hardware store, home center or contractor supply center. Tell that it leaks and ask if they have a rebuild kit and/or useful advice. I’ll bet that they’ll have a set of replacement parts for you. Read the instructions and decide for yourself if it’s something you want to tackle. If you feel it’s beyond your skill or ambition then by having the rebuild kit in your hand, you’ll be in a better position when dealing with the plumber you call.
So, I have an update here. I’ve had two more plumbers tell me that the faucet needs to be replaced. They both said the faucet is really old, and that there is rust inside it. When I mentioned a replacement kit, both said that wasn’t an option. One explained that replacement kit would work if the leak was coming from the tip of the faucet, but in this case it is coming from up inside the faucet from the bottom (I don’t know if that makes sense – -trying to explain where it’s coming from).
I’d do the repair myself, but I co-own the property, and the co-owner wants a licensed/bonded professional to do the repair, in case something goes wrong, and I have to agree with him. If I messed it up, and something really bad happened, we’d be in a big fight. If the licensed company messes it up, we can go after them.
The previous plumbers quoted me prices in the $800-$1000 range (parts + labor), but the ones I have coming in now are quoting in the $500-$600 range.
The faucet looks to be a Moen 7560 or CA7560 or similar. One of the plumbers thinks it’s very old (my building was built in 1967, but I’d be surprised if it was that old).
One of the plumbers said that I’d probably need a saw to remove the old faucet, because of the way it is set up? At this point, I’m probably just going to have to go with a professional. Thanks for the help.
This doesn’t make sense to me but I’m not any expert and if at least four different professionals have stated that the entire faucet needs to be replaced then it probably does. I’m glad you’ve got some better sounding estimates and good luck.
Sounds like the plumbers might be behind on their yacht payments, and/or they’re tacking on a nuisance fee for a job they can probably do in an hour. I’ve never called a plumber to do something as simple as change a faucet, but charging roughly $300 an hour for labor sounds crazy high.
I realize your partner in the building wants a licensed pro to do the work, but as a home handyman project, I’d “charge” a case of beer or dinner if I was doing this as a favor for someone.
I just replaced both the kitchen and bathroom faucets for my mother a couple of months ago. She paid less than $80 for the most expensive of the two, and she got quality, but not luxury, merchandise. If gold plate and diamonds are your thing, expect to pay more. It didn’t even take me 2 hours to install either. A pro would do it faster. Even $500 is a rip-off. A friend who owns a convenience store just got a pro plumber in for a job I told him was beyond me, and he only paid $200 and change. If I could have done it (I didn’t have the tools needed), he would have paid me $20. If you can’t find a pro who will do that job for no more than $300, then all the plumbers where you live are crooks. Even $300 is pushing it, big time. Where do you live? I want to move there and work as a self-employed “handyman”! You could support a major crack habit at the discount I could easily give from those prices!
The instructions that came with the faucets Ma bought were excellent. All pictures, no “Engrish” to deal with. If you have the tools the pictures on the box show, you can do it in no more than 2 hours. This isn’t a difficult, nor time-consuming job. No “Rocket Science” or “Brain Surgery”. Just expect abraded skin, and lots of swearing on your part, if you do it yourself. Her’s were Delta, Moen would probably be similar. Not much spilled water, not much spilled blood. Easy, like I said. NOT $500 worth of work.
It retracts up into a curved center post instead of retracting down.
To the op, kitchen faucets have really gotten easier to install so I would suggest looking for a buddy who works for beer. I just installed one and the only problem was removing the old one. Words were said and hammers ensued but I won in the end. the new faucet was really easy to install. Don’t skimp on the unit.
So, I did end up buying the replacement faucet myself, which wasn’t that expensive, and the plumber I selected ended up charging me for 2 hours of work, and this one did end up using a saw to get the old unit out (although he’s not the one who originally mentioned the saw to me). So, I didn’t end up paying anything close to $500, but I’m not competent to use a saw either, so I guess I had to split the difference with the suggestions here. Thanks for all the help.
ETA: He also had to repair some stripped shut-off valves (is that the right term) under the sink, because I had mistakenly turned the one to my dishwasher off, and it wouldn’t turn back on.