Creating leverage at the kitchen sink

There was nothing wrong with Toto’s kitchen faucet. It was chrome, and that didn’t match the stainless steel sink, but it was close enough. It worked okay. You could twist the Hot knob and after a while hot water would spew forth. You could twist the Cold knob and cooler water emerged. You could tinker with both knobs — with regard to the extent each was twisted — and get a blend anywhere between Ouch and Brrrr.

But there were issues — oh, yes. Each knob had a little cap that fit over the screw one could use to remove or adjust the knob. The cap also served as the Hot and Cold labels, which, at this point in our lives, are actually helpful. (“Hey, is the cold on the right or on the left.” Yes that question was actually voiced recently in our family.)

But the Hot button, as it were, kept coming loose. Eventually it became a dangerous chew toy on Toto’s floor. Also, the knobs made an annoying squeak when actuated, alarming terriers and fraying nerves. So it was time do Do Something about the faucet. Off to Home Depot we traipsed.

Here is what we found. Not the most flattering picture, but illuminating all the same. Note that the new faucet requires three (3) holes in the counter-top — two for mounting with big plastic nuts, and one in the middle for all the pipes to go through.

That photo also shows the faucet connection hoses I purchased, because I thought it would be a good idea to install shut-off valves under there, like one does in a residential faucet install. I also picked up some shut-off valves that would fit between the existing PEX supply pipes and the connection hoses.

Having run all over town, and also to the next town over, to get all this stuff, I got started. First I had to measure and drill a center hole in the counter-top — a way for the pipes to get from the faucet to the cabinet space underneath. There is no picture of the new hole, here, but believe me, it’s a beauty. So much winning.

Here are the PEX pipes running to the original faucet. Note that they run vertically to the two connection points on either side of the faucet. For the new faucet, the lines would need to run at an angle up to the center of the faucet where its connections are located.

Pay no attention to the water droplets scattered round this kitchen cabinet. They don’t indicate a problem, other than that it’s hard to capture the little bit of extra water still in the pipes when you disconnect the old faucet. I lapped the water up later and so far I’m fine.

Now you can see that what I planned to do is (a) cut off the PEX pipes just a bit above the cabinet floor, (b) attach valves to the pipes, and then (c) run the new faucet connector hoses from the valves to the faucet.

But.

When I removed the old faucet, just for laughs, I decided to check for any play in the PEX pipes. Would they bend a tad? Would they be the right length, as they were, to connect to the faucet? Because their existing connections to the old faucet were just the type needed, not surprisingly, to connect to the new faucet.

And, sure enough, those PEX pipes were compliant. Also, the copper connecting pipes descending from the new faucet are a little bit flexible, too, so I was able to align the new connections quite easily.

I know what you’re thinking: What about your nifty idea of adding stop valves to the pipes? Well, yes, I know I said that, but when I saw how easy this was going to be, and realized that shutting off the water would be as easy with the new faucet as with the old (run to the outside water hookup, turn clockwise), I decided to save myself the time, effort and expense.

I ended up returning the stop valves and connector hoses a few days later. Et voila:

Here’s our new faucet. Not one of those fancy affairs with a pull-down sprayer, because we didn’t want that; just wanted a nice, stainless single-lever faucet.

We took Toto out to Taidnapam Park (post coming soon, honest) and tested the new faucet thoroughly. No leaks! And just look at the beauty of the thing. I know!