Having a dripping faucet can be very annoying, even the good book thinks so. Worse is the torture of waiting for help to come and fix it. In Nigeria, a lot of people assume an air of importance when they realize they are on the giving end, especially when they feel you can’t do without them or their service. so the next time you call your plumber for the hundredth time and he still gives you the same “I dey come now now”, you can roll up your sleeves, slip on a pair of dungarees and put on a cap with ‘do it yourself’ written on it, and get the faucet fixed.
Materials you need:
- Pliers with adjustable jaws
- A shifting spanner of the correct size/ Wrench
- A screwdriver.
Read the manual if you can still get your hands on it to familiarize yourself with the items, or just follow these few ‘Do It Yourself’:
Procedure:
- Identify what is causing the leak and drips.
- select your tool.
- Stop the water supply to the tap by turning off the isolating valve or stopcock under the sink. Once this is done, open the tap to relieve the pressure and to empty the tap of any remaining water.
- Carefully plug the basin to avoid losing tap parts down the drain especially the small screw. Remove the tap’s cover with a screwdriver to expose the screw.
- Undo the screw and remove the handle.
- If the tap is hemmed in with a metal cover, unscrew by hand or use a wrench. Use a cloth over the cover to protect the finish from scratches.
- Use a spanner or wrench to unscrew the faucet bonnet. Completely take out the spindle to see the large body washer, O-ring and the jumper valve (this one should just fall out. If not, pull it out with pliers).
- Replace the body washer, O-ring and jumper valve then refit bonnet and spindle – make sure not to overtighten the nuts.
- Reassemble the tap in reverse order, close it and then open the water mains.
- Check that the leaking has stopped.
- If your tap continues to leak after replacing it, it may need a reset, humbly call your plumber again.
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This article was first published on 8th September 2017 and updated on September 12th, 2017 at 4:41 pm
adepeju
Adepeju Adenuga is a writer (considering where you are reading this, makes perfect sense). She holds a Masters Degree in Literature in English from the University of Lagos.
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