Plumbing problem; leaking kitchen faucet

Stan in Oly, WA

Well-known Member
New renter called to tell me the kitchen faucet was leaking at the flexible riser (she called it the pipe) on the hot side. In my experience, they usually leak right away or not at all, but sure enough, it was wet when I checked it. While I was lying on my back tightening it at the valve stem, something fell behind my head. It was part of one of the plastic nuts that thread onto the valve stem to hold the faucet to the sink. I figured that something had made it break and then water was able to run under the faucet body from splashing, or whatever. I replaced it, and that seemed to fix the problem.

A few days later she called to tell me it was leaking again. I found that the same thing had happened on the cold side. This time I removed the faucet completely and cleaned off all the old plumbers' putty. I also cleaned the sink at the faucet location, used new plumbers' putty, stronger stem nuts, and put it back together. Today, five days later, she emailed me that it is leaking again. I'm ready to replace the faucet, but that seems kind of like starting to throw parts at a problem when it's got you stumped. On the other hand, I don't know what to do that I haven't done. Both times after I've worked with it, it didn't leak anywhere from using it normally.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Stan
 
Sounds like there is a slow leak somewhere under the cover, above the sink. It probably only leaks when the faucet is on, and slowly builds pressure until it finds it's way out.

Probably best to just replace it.
 
Is anyone in the house confined to a wheelchair? Cracked retaining nuts might be the result of useing facuet spout as a grab bar. Is there anything above sink that might cause one to stand on sink. If you ever watch a gal washing her hair in a kitchen sink,the facuet spout sometimes takes a beating.
 
stan, i have quite a few rental units. if you are buying faucets from big box stores, dont, go to a regular plumbing supply. big box faucets are "consumer " grade and are just plain cheap. you will spend a little extra at a plumbing supply, but get a commercial grade fixture. and, they have replacement parts in stock. as far as to why it is breaking, someone could be pulling on the faucet, causing the breakage. now if you want my listto tenants as far as what not to put down the drain, let me know and i will post it. its a list of the items i have rodded out far.
 
Is the sink, counter or faucet flexing or moving around? What is being store under the sink? Is something being attached to the faucet? It takes some flexing to break that.
 
Delta, Peerless, and Mint-Craft share the same service parts. They are not the highest quality but so common that any place selling any plumbing parts will have what you need. Delta has a lifetime warranty but does not cover the common service parts. I think Delta and Peerless are the same USA company and Mint-Craft is the Asian imitation.
 
Moen is absolutely the best when it comes to product guarantee. I went looking for a cartridge for a Moen single faucet,couldn't find one on the plumbing shelf so I asked the saleslady..she says Oh,Moen,those are free and she went to a box under the counter and pulled out a packaged cartride and handed it to me..and it was free. Re Stan's problem I once had a bathroom faucet that kept leaking,it was actually split threads and Had I thought it through I could have cut above the split with a hack saw and reattached my supply line..bought a new faucet instead
 
Stan:

Have her describe EVERYTHING that she or anyone else in that household does with that faucet during the course of a day. She or someone else is doing something that is putting ABNORMAL STRESS on that faucet.

:>)
 
Delta sent me a new kitchen faucet when they no longer had parts to repair it. I also installed shutoff valves so the whole house isn't shut off. The renter is probably doing something to break those plastic retaining nuts.
Hal
 
Hi Hal;

The 2nd time I fixed (?) it I took chromed brass escutcheons I found in my bucket of misc. plumbing parts. They are for those Delta faucets which come directly out of the wall above the sink, so you can adjust for the thickness of the wall or the placement of the faucet by running the escutcheon in or out on the threaded stub to the faucet. I ground flat spots on the shoulders in a square pattern so that I could get a wrench on to tighten them, but there wasn't room to get a wrench up between the front of the sink and the back of the cabinet face. I could only get them hand tight, which wasn't enough to keep the faucet from slipping around. The trouble with repair jobs like this is that unless you're able to keep all your tools and equipment in a vehicle (or trailer), you never seem to take every tool to the job that you eventually need to finish it.

Stan
 

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