How To Repair Outside.leaky Faucet

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And then we're going to call this technically a tutorial, but in all honesty, fixing my dripping outdoor faucet was one of those figure-information technology-out as you become things. And whenever I post about something like this, I feel like it'due south merely fair to remind y'all guys that I am not a professional person contractor or take a lot of clues on what I'm doing before I start trying to fix something in my house. And that's also why I frequently screw up a couple of times before I finally figure out how to resolve the result long-term. Got it? Good. Just anyhow, my outdoor faucet no longer leaks or wastes water, and I can finally put my laundry room dorsum together!

Disclosure: a handful of affiliate links to products I used are in this mail service.

Remember how I made over my lilliputian laundry room last winter? Well, what I didn't mention — and actually forgot about until spring — was that the outdoor faucet that sits straight on the other side of the dorsum wall was dripping and had been turned off all winter. For obvious reasons, I had postponed this fix until the weather started to warm up, but in my haste to meet a makeover deadline, I forgot all about how apace I would need to accept the new plywood counter back out of the laundry room and so I could become access to the shutoff valve behind the dryer. Sigh. 2 steps forwards…

Gaining access to turn the shutoff valve on and off proved to be… a bit cramped. To accept the counter out, I would need to also remove the mirror on the right side. I would as well need to remove the items on the counter, remove the antiquarian washboard, and motility the dryer back out of its neatly tucked-in spot. And then, I basically had to deal with an unkempt, disorganized room over again until I finally stock-still the faucet. But, man — I got a brief sense of taste of that sweet, sweet organized laundry room life — and I really wanted it dorsum.

The chief trouble with fixing a leaky faucet like this is that it looks pretty intimidating. The faucet is conspicuously old and weathered, not to mention is straight embedded right into the stonework on the front entry porch. With every plough of the handle, water was leaking directly out of the valve, and I could never seem to tighten it enough before it would slip and the connexion would be leaking again (you know when y'all're turning a faucet to tighten information technology closed, and then it slips, and then yous try to tighten it again? That.). When the hose was fastened, most of the leak could be somewhat contained, but I also knew that this was wasting a lot of water. And I really, really didn't want to have to solder on a whole new faucet, so I started researching what the likely trouble could be.

I was hoping this would exist quick and easy, and virtually videos I found online (similar this one) suggested it could be as quick as needing to tighten the packing nut with some locking pliers (the chunky hexagonal part) or switching out a worn washer that was causing the slippage. Only after trying to tighten things downward, the leak remained.

According to the videos, that meant the side by side least-expensive fix was to try to replace the washer. To do that, I would have to plow the water off, and that'southward where I started to get frustrated. The elementary math is that at that place are only and so many times a gal tin mash her boobs and contort herself between a dryer and a wall until she starts to lose her patience — particularly when you retrieve you've removed the right office simply to realize that you basically just mashed and removed a different part of the faucet components (or if yous're a vocabulary nerd, the "hose bibb"). What I thought was a washer merely wound up existence some other worn, rubbery part of the existing faucet.Womp, womp.

Another claiming with a "simple" ready like this is that there aren't a lot of laymen's terms involved with trying to find the correct replacement parts. The washers are in a totally dissimilar role of the store (or at least, in the stores near me) than the section where you lot'd find new outdoor faucets, so I wasn't sure if I was buying the right affair or not. And you can get to a store all confident, telling yourself "ok, ane/2-inch washer, looks black and rubbery, I totally got this" and still detect yourself staring at an entire display of lookalike washers like a deer in the headlights. And that's when your doubtfulness starts to creep in.

Could the new ones be a unlike colour these days? The one I'thousand trying to supercede is like xxx years old; perhaps there's a new standard and it looks totally different? Why can't I find a nice variety pack similar there are for wire basics? Argggg, I'thou out of here.

Information technology'south also how a project that's supposed to be piece of cake tin be undone as quickly as your confidence, and gets delayed with another two months of chaos in your laundry room.

In the cease, I went back to the shop and just bought an entirely new outdoor faucet that looked pretty much like (albeit, much shinier) the one I was trying to fix. When the difference is between the $2 bag of washers y'all aren't sure is going to work versus the $6 faucet that you lot can take apart and just replace the unabridged valve stalk, you become with what seems to be the path of least resistance. Plus, I figured that even if I did set the washer issue, there was still a run a risk I would accept leaks with having removed the incorrect thing beforehand (so accept that lesson from me: yous could save a few bucks by not making a simple gear up more complicated).

So, that's what I did; I took home a new faucet and took apart the valve's "stem" components from the section on the bottom (since that was already fastened to the rock facade, I didn't need that). To loosen the one on the faucet, information technology was suggested I endeavour some acetone to clean the gunk (I used nail shine remover) and yank it off with locking pliers. That thing was really on there, and I was bleeding from my knuckle, merely eventually, it finally popped off.

The new version came with all of the washers information technology already needed, and since it was the same size (i/2″), it went right into the old pipe without needing further modification. A quick plough in the laundry room to let the water flow once more, and voila! No leaks!

Now, I simply need to put the laundry room back together again, and nosotros tin call this domicile repair projection complete!

Hey there! I'one thousand Sarah. My favorite things: 1) vehement my firm autonomously and 2) putting it back together over again. I occasionally talk about other things, like life and nutrient and travel, just it's mostly my obsession with DIY and ability tools that you'll notice here!

Got a DIY question? Tag me on Instagram @uglyducklingDIY or use the hashtag #uglyducklinghouse to show off your projects!