1. Remove the old faucet.

Using a plumbing wrench or other tools remove your old faucet.  This will include turning off the water supply and then removing the supply lines from your old faucet.  Hopefully you have shut off valves below the kitchen sink, but if not, then turn off the main water shut off.  I would suggest that this would be a great time to find ball valve shut offs to install below here such that you can turn off the water to just the kitchen sink while the entire remainder of the house still has full usage of the water.

2. Read the directions from the new faucet

An important step for all people who are about to install a new faucet.

3. Tighten the nuts to attach the faucet to the counter

Using a plumbing basin wrench (much easier) or another tool, tighten the large nuts to get the new faucet to be taut against the counter for years of continued use.

4.Connect the water supply lines to the faucet.

I prefer to use the flexible supply lines that have metal sheathing around them due to being easier to connect and also provide years of use.  You don’t need to use these metal sheathed lines, but it makes the job a ton easier.  Otherwise use whatever you have to connect the copper supply pipe to the faucet hot and cold water.

5. Flush Out supply lines

Just to ensure that the water supply lines do not contain any debris from solder or flux run them into a bucket or similar prior to connecting them to your new faucet.

6. Connect supply lines to new faucet

Using a basin wrench or similar connect the supply lines to the faucet.  If your faucet has a side sprayer DO NOT turn on your supply yet or you will get water everywhere.

7.  Connect any accompanying items to your faucet

This includes, but is not limited to, side sprayers and the like.  Follow the instructions in the guide that comes with your faucet to ensure proper installation.

8. Turn on the water supply and test out your next sink!
Simply turn your shutoff valves back on, and check for any leaks below the sink.  Once you are certain that there are no leaks below the sink, turn on the faucet and ensure that everything is running properly.

Here is a video that goes over the entire process as described above.

1. Turn off the water, flush the toilet, and then use a sponge or similar to remove all the remaining water.

The premise here is to basically get the toilet ready for removal.  Any precautions you take here will pay off later in less messes, so I would suggest not skimping.

2. Remove the nuts on the bolts and the supply line that attach the tank to the base and then remove the tank.

A socket set or a wrench will work just fine.  Simply remove the nuts from these bolts, use the wrench to remove the water supply line and then grab the tank firmly and move it to a place out of your way.

3. Remove the nuts that hold the base to the floor flange and remove the base.

Sometimes there are decorative covers above these nuts.  If so remove them by tapping lightly with your wrench or similar and then use your socket set or wrench to remove the nuts.  This could be a little different if this is an toilet. From here a little elbow grease is all that is required to get the bowl off the floor and away from the area.

4. Clean up the flange and stop up the pipe to make it ready for your new toilet.

The wax ring will invariably still be a part of the flange and can be removed using a putty knife.  Don’t kill yourself getting 100% of it off, but make sure you do get as much as you can.  Place a rag in the pipe to prevent the sewer gasses from wafting up into your home.

5. Place the wax ring on the new toilet

Flip the new toilet base over and place your new wax ring over the hole that will go into the floor.  Ensure that it is firmly stuck to the base.

6. Place the toilet base with wax ring onto the toilet flange over the flange bolts

Ensure that everything is in alignment and then place the base over the flange bolts.  Slowly rock the toilet back and forth until it is firmly even with the floor.

7. Tighten the nuts on the flange bolts

At first hand tighten.  Use a level and shim where necessary.  Once shimmed level with the ground, tighten the bolts with a wrench or socket set.  Don’t over tighten or you will often times crack the porcelain.

8. Place the tank on the base, attach the supply line and tighten the nuts on the bolts.

Guide the tank bolts into the grooves in the base and tighten the bolts.  Attach the supply line.

9. Caulk around the base

Using bathroom caulk, apply the caulk around the base and smooth with your finger.  This step is simply to make the base look nice when against the floor.

10. Turn on the water supply and happy flushing!

Here is a video that shows the entire process:

If you don’t have time to complete the task yourself, or you don’t feel comfortable messing with the plumbing in your house, you are going to need to call in a professional.  The first thing to do when you’re looking for a plumber is ask around.  Talk to your friends and family about plumbing experiences they have had, and ask for recommendations.  Another good place to get information about the best plumbers in town is the clerk in a hardware or plumbing supply store.  If you can’t find anything by word of mouth, you can always check the yellow pages.

Know that there are two main fields in plumbing; there are the plumbers who work on repairs and the ones who do remodeling and install new constructions.  Make sure that the plumber you choose is specialized for the task at hand.  Also, make sure to pick a plumber who carries workers’ compensation insurance, which provides liability coverage for problems that may arise.

Once you have a specific contractor picked out, ask about how long that contractor has been in business, and the kinds of work he or she has done in the past.  Also, find out whether materials the plumber is going to use are covered in the given price.  Ask the plumber for the names of previous customers, and contact those people to see if they were satisfied.  There are organizations, such as the Better Business Bureau, that you can call to find out about any complaints that have been filed against any particular contractor.

Be aware of the different ways that plumbers can charge you.  Plumbing work can either be charged with a flat rate, or charged by the hour.  Generally, if you have only one project, it is better to get a flat rate, because professional plumbers can charge quite a lot per hour (between fifty and a hundred dollars).  If you have more than one project you need completed, it may be more cost-effective to pay an hourly rate.  If the task you want completed is a big job, it is normal for contractors to expect up to ten percent up front, and more installments as time passes, depending on how long the project will take.

What Emergency plumber tools do I need?

When we think of plumbing problems it either involves problems with the supply lines or the drains.  Let’s start with the drains first.  If you have a problem with the drains it usually manifests itself in a clogged drain.  In order to remedy these problems we need to remove the clog.  While most people will use a liquid drain cleaner type of answer such as Liquid Plumbr or similar, I prefer to have a mechanical type of device to unplug their drains.  That means a plumbing snake.  For my plumber tool kit I have a 25’ snake that I have on hand at all times.  In addition to that a plunger does a pretty good job at removing these clogs.  The thing with drain clogs is that they are often caused by either a large object or by hair or similar type of obstruction.  The liquid solutions do not do a good job of taking care of these problems.  They are meant to slowly erode organic material (soap, etc) .  They will not work on hair, period.  A plumbing snake will get down there and punch a hole in most things and also bring back with them items like hair that get wrapped around them.  Hair has been the biggest repeat offender in my home and the plumbing snake does a great job eliminating that problem.  So in short, the two tools to have set aside are:

1. 25’ plumbing snake (can be found for less than $10 in a hardware store)
2. Hand plunger (usually less than $5 in hardware store)

As for supply line plumbing problems, that involves a whole other type of tools.  To help aid these problems I like to be proactive in how I set up my plumbing.  But that is for a different post, this post is dedicated to helping tide us over to the next day.  When it comes to supply lines the emergencies tend to be focused on the ½” pipe and therefore I focus there.  If you have a problem with your ¾” pipe you are likely looking at a pretty major plumbing project.  In the case of some ¾” pipe leaking I would go and turn off the main water shutoff valve and plan to attack when you have a chance to work on it the next day (do it yourself plumbers) or call a professional plumber.  Back to the ½” pipe, I keep a small section of this just laying around.  Usually hardware stores require you to buy 10’ lengths, but if you can get less I would go with that.  You likely will only need a foot or so each time, so a couple of feet is more than enough.  In addition to this you will need something to cut the pipe with.  A pipe cutter tool is a must have in this line of work.  From here you need to decide if you want to be soldering pipe (a fair amount of expertise required as well as working with a torch) or go with the compression fitting route.  I would suggest for most novices to go with the compression fitting.  Soldering pipe is both an acquired trait and poses a lot of problems with heat, not mention the near impossibility to solder a joint if you can’t get all of the water out of pipes (an annoying but common problem in homes).  So what we need here are the most common fittings needed, 2 unions (straight pipe to straight pipe) and a 90 degree.  All of these should be for ½” pipe again.  To secure these connections you will need two adjustable pliers (can use the same ones that you have for your general tool box if you already have them).  In summary here are the supply tools I would recommend you have on hand:

1. Length of ½” pipe
2. Pipe cutter
3. 2 union compression fittings for ½” pipe
4. 1 90 degree compression fitting for ½” pipe

So there you have it, an emergency plumber tool kit.  Any suggestions on anything I missed?

To that end, here is a quick guide to think about the best course of action should you have a plumbing emergency.  At first we need to assess what the current situation is.  Try to delve into the root cause of the problem as soon as possible.  There is usually a symptom that we notice that will lead us to suspecting something is wrong (be it a lot of water on the ground, a brown spot in the ceiling, a slow running or stopped drain, a noise of running water coming from a place unseen, and so forth).  In as quick a manner of possible, try to detail where exactly it is coming from.  It is important to understand if the problem is based in the supply lines or the drains.

If it is the supply lines then the first move always should be to turn off the water.  If you don’t have a shut off valve close and handy, run (don’t walk) to your main shut of supply.  If you don’t know where this is, it is most often where the water comes into the house.  Which is also in the utility room normally.  It is imperative that you stop more water from adding to the problem.  While it doesn’t look bad, water has an uncanny way of going really bad if not taken care of.  Now if it is a drain try to ensure that the drain in question (or any upstream drains) are not used and most likely find a way to get something to catch the water (an ice cream pail or 5 gallon bucket work well most of the time).

From here it is either time to hit the hardware store or call a plumber.  It is good to have it written down what the specific problem is if you are going to call a plumber so you can discuss the best course of action on the phone. When it comes to a plumbing emergency, it is always best to stem the tides of damage first and then work to fix the problem second.