How to Set a Leaking Bathtub Faucet

This simple DIY repair saves money and h2o. Acquire how to gear up a leaky bathtub faucet.

Time

A full day

Complication

Intermediate

Cost

$51–100

Introduction

You don't have to put upwardly with the slow drip from a leaky faucet, nor with the growing stain it often leaves in the tub or shower. Fix it now and you'll prevent those headaches and salve on you water bill too. The entire job, with special tools, may set y'all back a flake of cash, merely doing it yourself is a lot cheaper than hiring a plumber, and normally much cheaper and easier than trigger-happy out the old faucet and installing a new one.

Worn rubber washers, seals or gaskets in the valve assembly cause most leaks. Here nosotros'll show you how to gear up a stem-blazon valve, which is mutual in older, two-handle faucets (separate hot and cold). We won't embrace single-handle faucets here.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • Plumber's grease
  • Stem valve repair parts

Make sure you take new parts bachelor

The first step for bathtub faucet repair is to make certain you have the new parts that you need. You can prepare most bathtub plumbing issues with the replacement parts available at hardware stores and domicile centers. A plumbing parts benefactor will bear a much larger choice and may exist able to special-order hard-to-find items. There are thousands of different faucet replacement parts available to fix a leaky bathtub faucet, then bring your onetime parts to the shop for a proper friction match to fix a leaky bathtub faucet. If your valve is highly corroded or the terminate is wearing off, supercede the unabridged faucet. Relieve money past doing unproblematic plumbing repairs yourself. These plumbing fixes are completely DIY with bones tools and skills.

Project footstep-by-step (half-dozen)

Step 1

Disassemble the faucet: Pry off the handle insert

leaky bathtub faucet remove handle insert

Removing the faucet handle is the toughest part of the job. Over time, corrosion can virtually weld the handle to the stalk. Shut off the h2o supply to the faucet and open the valves to drain excess water from the organization. Pry off the handle insert with the thin blade of a pocketknife.

Step 2

Bathtub Handle Replacement: Remove the Handle Screw

remove handle screw

Remove the handle screw. Then wiggle the handle and pull it off. If the handle doesn't come off, heat it with a hair dryer to free it. Be careful; if y'all pull too hard, information technology'll break.

Step 3

Bathtub Handle Replacement: Pop loose the handle

pop loose bathtub handle

If the handle won't come up off, don't force it-it might break. Instead, remove it with a special handle puller. Turn the handle screw about halfway dorsum into the stalk. Position the handle puller'southward post against the screwhead and press the arms together behind the handle. Turn the post clockwise until the handle pops loose. Remove the handle screw and handle. And then pull off or unscrew the escutcheon plate.

Footstep iv

Bathtub Handle Replacement: Remove the stalk

remove the stem bathtub faucet

Once the handles off, unscrew the escutcheon and stalk assembly (See Figure A below). The stem assembly controls the amount and temperature of the water dispensed through the tub spout or shower head. Remove it with a special bath socket wrench, which looks like a spark plug wrench on steroids.

Slide the bath socket onto the stem bonnet and plow information technology counterclockwise to suspension the stem loose. If it sticks, soak it with penetrating lubricant. Unscrew and remove the stalk.

Step 5

Use a seat wrench

seat wrench remove bathtub faucet

Leaks usually occur for two reasons. Over time, the seat washer stiffens and won't seal tightly. And water pressure level gradually erodes the brass rim of the seat. Replace the seat using a special seat wrench.

Press the seat wrench firmly into the centre of the seat. Turn counterclockwise to snap the seat loose and remove information technology. If it sticks, soak it with penetrating lubricant. Glaze the threads of the new seat with pipe dope and screw information technology into the fixture torso with the seat wrench.

Pace 6

Replace the faucet stalk parts

Figure A: Faucet stem assemble and replacement parts

Figure A: Bathtub faucet parts names, faucet stalk assemble and replacement parts

Fig. A shows the bathtub plumbing faucet stem replacement parts and how to prepare the stem for reinstallation. Lubricate the parts with special plumber's grease. If you're working on a 2-handled faucet, we recommend replacing the washers and seats in both the hot and common cold valves.

  1. First, unscrew the packing nut. Twist the stem clockwise and back information technology out of the bonnet. Pry out the onetime packing washer with a pocket-sized flat-blade screwdriver or pick. Grease the stem threads and reinstall the stem in the bonnet. Grease the new packing washer and slide it in identify, so grease the packing nut threads and firmly tighten the packing nut. Use special plumber's grease.
  2. Second, remove the one-time seat washer screw and the onetime seat washer. Grease the new seat washer and the threads of the new screw and then reinstall them.
  3. Tertiary, pull off the former bonnet washer, grease the new one and slide it in place.
  4. Fourth, apply pipe joint compound to the bonnet threads and reinstall it in the faucet body (Step 4).
  5. V, grease the handle splines and supercede the escutcheon and handle.

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Originally Published: November 19, 2022