It can be annoying when your tub faucet is spraying everywhere. You have to clean up the mess and it is harder to take a bath. There is probably a part broken in your faucet. This should be quite easy to repair. Let’s get it fixed!
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Cleaning the faucet
It is possible that dirt has collected on the faucet head. If you have hard water, this can create a white and yellow crust on your faucet. To get it cleaned, we can use some vinegar. Grab a plastic bag and fill it with vinegar. Then we can use a rubber band to hold the bag around the faucet.
Let the faucet rest in the vinegar for a day. Once this is done, we can use a brush and hot water with soap to remove the dirt. This is quite easy to do and should take less than 15 minutes. Test to faucet to see if this has fixed the problem. If not, we can move over to the next step: replacing the faucet or repairing it.
Faucets should be cleaned every month to avoid further issues. Just fill a bucket with hot water and soap and clean it thoroughly. If you have hard water, you can also get a descaler to reduce this issue. A plumber can install this for you. It will make the appliances in your home last longer as well.
Cleaning a tub faucet with a cartridge requires some more work, as outlined in the following video.
How to install a new tub faucet
Before we start, we will have to turn off the water. This is done with a valve on the water pipe that runs to your bath. You have to close the hot and cold water lines. Using a wrench can make it easier to do this as these valves can be hard to close if they haven’t been used in a while. If you don’t have this valve near the bath, you will have to close the main water supply.
Tub faucets are generally connected to the wall in the following ways:
-By turning it around. You will have to turn it around counterclockwise to loosen it up. Using a long wrench can make this easier to do.
-A hex nut. You will need a hex (or Allen) key to remove the nut from the tub faucet. This nut is generally found under the faucet. Place the hex key in the nut and turn it counterclockwise. This should loosen up the nut. Once you get it out, it should be possible to slide the faucet forward and remove it.
We have discussed how to deal with a faucet that is hard to remove here.
To install the new faucet, we take the following steps:
-If you have to turn the sprout around to remove it (threaded pipe), you should add some teflon take and screw the new faucet on the pipe.
-If you have one with a hex nut under the sprout, you simply slide the faucet over the pipe and tighten the nut.
Installing a new faucet is the easiest solution as this will replace the broken part. Once a faucet starts to break, it is often a good idea to replace it as other parts can start to break as well and it is a whack a mole of problems. Plumbers often don’t want to repair a faucet for this reason. The faucets that you get in big hardware stores often are not as durable as the ones that you can get from bigger brands. The latter option is more expensive but leads to fewer issues.
Bigger brands also offer better support and it is easier to repair their faucets. Faucets are used a lot so it is a good idea to spend more on them. Having to call a plumber is also expensive so getting a better faucet can be a wise option in the long run.
Repairing the faucet diverter
In most instances, the problem is the diverter. This is the piece that regulates where the water comes out. It is the pin that you pull to change where the water comes out. There are some kits that make it possible to fix it in your faucet but it is possible that this won’t work with your faucet. These kits are quite affordable so it could be worth a try but there is no guarantee that it will fix the problem. Let’s take a look at how this can be done.
We start by removing the faucet, as outlined before, and give it a good clean. You can use an old toothbrush to do this. Add some soap and you should be able to remove a lot of dirt from it. Now we can repair the faucet.
To remove the old faucet diverter, we will have to use a screwdriver. Where the water comes out during a bath (in the opening of the faucet), we should see a pin that is held by two vertical plates. The goal is to get the screwdriver between these plates so that we can get the pin out. Now we can insert the new pin from the top of the faucet. Once this is done, we can add the spring and connector plate. A visual of this can be found HERE.
To conclude, we can state that fixing a tub faucet is generally quite straightforward. Once it has been removed, you can install a new one or repair your old faucet. Most plumbers would recommend that you just replace the faucet as this ensures that the problem is gone.
There are a lot of faucets out there and the repair kits don’t always work that well. In some instances cleaning the faucet is already enough to fix this problem. Faucets can get quite dirty after a while, especially if you have hard water. You can consider installing a descaler to get rid of this problem.
With the previous steps, you should be able to fix this problem in no time!
