# Kitchen faucet replace/repair



## JenkPlbg (Nov 27, 2011)

I went to a customers house today, and his kitchen faucet had no water pressure. He claimed it to be a pretty new faucet, and it quit working after someone worked on the water heater.
I spent the time to put new cartridges in it, but that did not solve the problem. I then proceed to let them know they needed a new faucet, and we could install it tomorrow. When I let them know that i needed to charge for the hour i was there today, and we would charge t+m to install the new faucet tomorrow, they had a fit. Could not understand why i would charge them to ' not fix their faucet', regardless of the gas money and time i had invested thus far. 

To make things better for them, i had my supervisor deliver the faucet (saving time), and installed it today, saving them and us money. It messed up our scheduling but was just trying to keep the customer happy.

Long story short, do you all recommend replacement before attempting to repair a faucet to save time and money? Or do you cut your customers a deal, if you are going to up-sell, and install a new faucet vs. repairing an old one? Or just time and material from start to finish of the job, regardless of the end price.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

did you check the aerator ?????


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

There is often a diverter, check valve, or an additional screen on pull out single handle kitchen faucets. It doesn't take long to check and/or clean.






Paul


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

I have a ton of questions.

What kind of water lines are in the house?
Was water turned off when the water heater was replaced?
Did each fixture get flushed out when water was turned back on?
Was the aerator cleaned?
Were the supply lines checked for debris?
Were the shutoffs checked?
Did you disconnect the hot and hold the supply line into a bucket to make sure the faucet was clear?Was this repeated with the cold?
Some faucets have water restriction inside the supply line of the faucet like the old moen one touch faucets.


Can you guarantee the same thing will not happen with the new faucet?


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## JenkPlbg (Nov 27, 2011)

So I take it you definitely repair when possible. Lol


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## JenkPlbg (Nov 27, 2011)

We did not do the water heater. I checked supply lines, stops, and cartridges. It was a 2 handle with out of body sprayer.


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

JenkPlbg said:


> So I take it you definitely repair when possible. Lol


 
It depends on what the customer wants. Notice I said want and not need.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

JenkPlbg said:


> We did not do the water heater. I checked supply lines, stops, and cartridges. It was a 2 handle with out of body sprayer.


 





Just as important in all of this, is that you need to figure out why a faucet you just 'repaired' had no water coming out of it when you turned it on. I'm certain the expression on your face was similar to this.....:blink:

An old service manager of mine used to say, "Anybody can replace something, but not everybody can repair it. It doesn't matter if it's a diesel engine or a sewing machine. A good mechanic should be able to repair what he's working on." I'm quoting him nearly word for word. I learned alot from that man.


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

JenkPlbg said:


> We did not do the water heater. I checked supply lines, stops, and cartridges. It was a 2 handle with out of body sprayer.


Willing to put money on trash in the diverter. I either replace it if it's a delta or American Standard, if it's home depot / lowes junk I remove the diverter and leave it out. For the record, I always try to repair instead of replace if it's within reason.


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## JenkPlbg (Nov 27, 2011)

Tommy plumber said:


> Just as important in all of this, is that you need to figure out why a faucet you just 'repaired' had no water coming out of it when you turned it on. I'm certain the expression on your face was similar to this.....:blink:



I figured there was debree in the body of the faucet and told the homeowner it needed to be replaced. I never repaired it, I checked everything except the diverter actually. I guess with the amount of time I had in it trying to repair it, I should of took the diverted apart as well.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

JenkPlbg said:


> I figured there was debree in the body of the faucet and told the homeowner it needed to be replaced. I never repaired it, I checked everything except the diverter actually. I guess with the amount of time I had in it trying to repair it, I should of took the diverted apart as well.


If you spent the time to change the cartridge.... all it would have took is a few more minutes to narrow down the real cause...

Check to see if water is at basin supplies... then work your way up... even take the spray head off and check whats coming out of the hose... 

its a process of elimination..... or trouble shooting


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## TPWinc (May 30, 2011)

JenkPlbg said:


> We did not do the water heater. I checked supply lines, stops, and cartridges. It was a 2 handle with out of body sprayer.


Did you check to see if the sprayer had good pressure? It was probably a diverter/check valve. I had 3 price phister's last wednesday with bad diverter/check's. 1 whistled. 1 had low pressure on the spout and good pressure on the sprayer. The last one hard good pressure on the spout for about 1 second then would completely shut off, but the sprayer worked fine.


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## TPWinc (May 30, 2011)

JenkPlbg said:


> I figured there was debree in the body of the faucet and told the homeowner it needed to be replaced. I never repaired it, I checked everything except the diverter actually. I guess with the amount of time I had in it trying to repair it, I should of took the diverted apart as well.


Opps, I didn't see this before my previous post. Yes you should have checked the diverter. There's always next time.


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## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

ALWAYS try to fix it first, but let them k ow before hand you will have to charge regardless of fixing it or having to replace it instead


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## grandpa (Jul 13, 2008)

Honestly, why would you replace a "pretty new" kitchen or lav faucet? VERY few problems could not be repaired. 
Now, if you said they got that little jewel at Big Lots, no name, no parts, that changes the story.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

QUOTE #1


Richard Hilliard said:


> It depends on what the customer *wants*...


QUOTE #2


grandpa said:


> Honestly, why would you replace a "pretty new" kitchen or lav faucet?



The answer to quote #2 is in quote #1.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

OldSchool said:


> If you spent the time to change the cartridge.... all it would have took is a few more minutes to narrow down the real cause...
> 
> Check to see if water is at basin supplies... then work your way up... even take the spray head off and check whats coming out of the hose...
> 
> its a process of elimination..... or trouble shooting


I'd start by suspecting a clogged aerator or, bad diverter before the cartridges though...


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## smellslike$tome (Jun 16, 2008)

You've yet to indicate that you did in fact check the aerator which should have been the very first thing you did. 

Was there equally low volume on both hot and cold?

You determined that the flow was adequate at other fixtures?

Are you certain that the house pressure was 60 psi?

When you tested did you just hook up a gauge that read 60 psi or did you make certain that nothing else was running/dripping/leaking in or out of the house? Did you check the flow indicator at the meter?

High pressure will destroy diverters and checks if they are present.

Both stops were within 1/4 turn of being completely open?

You didn't take the ho's word for anything but checked everything out completely for yourself right?

This entire process up to this point takes about 10 minutes.

'Fess up now, you never checked the aerator did you?


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## user2090 (Sep 26, 2009)

What kind of faucet was it? Was it a single handle with a small hose feeding the pull out sprayer? The opening in that type of set up is easily clogged. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but a repair could have been made, if a proper diagnostic had been made. 

I had a customer with a Delta faucet with pull out spray. The water lines were galvanized and the opening was so small the thing got plugged up repeatedly. 

Even if it wasn't that type of faucet, in an attempt to be water conservationist, the openings of faucets have been reduced, causing problems with even the smallest of debris.


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## easttexasplumb (Oct 13, 2010)

Most likely a clogged diverter in the faucet if it has a vegie sprayer.


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## JenkPlbg (Nov 27, 2011)

Yes, obviously the aerator was first check.
No disrespect taken, it probably was the diverter. Thanks for the input!


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## MikeS (Oct 3, 2011)

I just had this problem a couple weeks ago. Had great pressure at the stops, and thru the supply lines. Pulled the stems, great pressure there. It was a pullout, and inside that little check valve the hose hooked to underneath was a tiny little screen. Cleaned the screen, problem solved. It was the new style 2 handle PP's with the lead free plastic cartridges. (Like 8 bucks each at Lowes)

Oh, which reminds me, whenever I replace a water heater, and I need to bleed the lines, I always go to a bathtub first. Bigger port.


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## MAC (Aug 19, 2008)

Had this same problem this week , a quick look under sink and saw those flood safe supply lines bingo there's your problem. Switched those out problem solved.


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