12 Things to Know Before Installing a New Faucet

12 Tips for Installing a New Faucet. Have you considered changing out the old rusty crust faucet in your bathroom? Here is an article with 12 tips you should know before replacing and installing a new faucet.

There are a few simple DIY projects that can elevate your bathroom relatively inexpensively. 1. Paint everything. 2. Replace all of the hardware. Here, the hardware we will talk about is bathroom faucets.

After changing out a few faucets, there are some things that I wasn’t prepared for and wish I would have known beforehand. These tips were not included on the informational YouTube video’s I watched or in the instructions that came with the new faucet. My hope with sharing these simple tips is that they can help someone else and save them the time (and frustration) spent trouble shooting.

Changing a faucet can be an easy swap (in theory it is). If you are lucky: your home is brand new, the water supply lines match the new faucet perfectly, and the new tailpiece is just the right length. Jackpot! You’re good to go, the swap should be seamless, and probably take half an hour to complete. Seriously. Wahoo!

Or, maybe your house is like mine “new-ish”, meaning some things are rusted and crusted while others are fine after a little cleaning. Perhaps, it’s an older home or the supply lines, p-trap, and other important parts are too old/ broken to reuse. The faucet swap won’t be as simple as stated above. *sigh*

If this is the case, you most definitely will want to read below for some time saving tips. That will hopefully save you some trips to the hardware store (yes, trips).

12 Things to Know Before Installing a New Faucet:

Tip 1. Know What You’re Looking At.

Familiarize yourself with the parts of plumbing that are housed under the sink. Look at diagrams so you know what the heck the instructions are talking about, the “names” of pieces, and where they should be located. Everything makes more sense if you know how they work, what they are called, how they look, etc.

Tip 2. YouTube, Your New BFF.

Yup, there are even plumbing videos on YouTube; tons of them actually. Watch a few different videos before you dive in and start taking stuff apart. There are many helpful videos, you may even be lucky enough to find the exact faucet you are removing/installing.

Try typing in the brand and model of the faucet you want to install or remove. Chances are, you will find the exact video you need which will make things easier.

Tip 3. Water Shut Off Valves.

This is probably the most important tip. Know exactly where the water shut off valves are and have them turned off before doing anything. Thankfully, this was one tip I did not have to find out the hard way. But I wanted to share in case you needed the reminder instead of getting a surprise shower.

Tip 4. Remove Obstacles.

Removing obstacles may include taking off cabinet doors or any other things that are getting in the way of easy access to pipes and shut off valves. I chuckle a little with this point because it seems simple. At first I was reluctant to take the doors off the cabinet as I’m smaller and fit ok under there. However, I ended up needing some help with rusted shut-off valves. My help is twice my size and didn’t fit so easily. Once the doors were removed and I was back underneath, I was impressed with how much space and light there was to work with.

Tip 5. Eye Protection.

Eye protection…. I know what you’re thinking, but why would I need that for some simple plumbing. I’ll tell ya, because when you are working hard to get a rusty valve open looking upward, the rusty crusty crud falls downward into unsuspecting eyes and it hurts! That’s gross and there are probably some microorganisms that shouldn’t get into eyes that live in the crud.

Tip 6. Measure, Measure, CUT.

Measure twice cut once. This pertains to if you need to cut the tailpiece or another piece of pipe. For instance, my tailpiece was too long to connect to the p-trap. Therefore, I had to cut the tailpiece long enough to reach the p-trap, but short enough to still connect. Measure twice before making any cuts otherwise you’ll be heading back to the store. Luckily most pipes are plastic and easily cut with a handy little pipe cutting tool.

Tip 7. Measure, Measure, Measure, BUY.

Measure trice buy once. Like cutting, buying parts also involved measuring a few times and writing it down before heading to the store. Heck. Snap a picture on your phone of the measurements if you’re prone to forgetting the measurements and written paper at home.

Personally, I have bought the wrong length water supply lines. Not once, but twice. The first time I forgot my measurement and guessed. The second time I measured from the old faucet connection to the water supply not the new faucet. Spoiler alert, the new faucet was .5″ shorter at the connection site which means my supply line was .5″ too short to work. Ugh.

Tip 8. Making Things Fit.

In the first faucet I swapped out I learned that not all plumbing is “universal” as in the size of my new tailpiece and the drain plumping coming out of my wall were different sizes. After much trouble I found a simple solution. There is an inexpensive magical rubber piece (rubber slip joint washer) that makes them work together (small size differences).

Tip 9. Limit Distractions.

Full disclosure, when I went back a third time to buy water supply lines I had both girls with me. It was after swim lessons, nearing bedtime, and both littles were laughing, chattering, and carrying on about Christmas. I couldn’t even think straight. So I did what any reasonable tired mom would do and bought supply lines in two sizes (the connecting nuts come in 3/8 and 1/2) because I’d rather return extra than make another trip.

**Also, what’s incredibly distracting (and cute) is when a small adorable toddler body makes their way to give you a big hug while you are on your back under the sink trying to make pipes fit together in the most uncomfortable position imaginable. Love em, but this is definitely a job to be done after bedtime!

Tip 10. If in Doubt, Replace the Basin.

If the basin looks even *a little* gross it’s worth it to replace the basin before installing a new faucet. Once the old faucet is removed, most of the work to remove the basin is already done.

My one regret with the budget powder room make-over I completed last summer was not taking out the old basin when I had the chance. It was in ok shape, not too bad not too good. Now it’s too late, the counter has been painted and epoxy sealed. New basins are under $100, easy to remove, and install new. Just do it.

Now I’m looking at a basin that is still ok-ish, but starting to show tiny amounts of rust and I am in no way ready to replace the vanity as a whole (that’s a project for once my littles aren’t so little).

Tip 11. Holes.

If keeping the same basin, look at the existing hole placement. How many holes are there, one or three? How far apart are the three holes? It makes a difference when purchasing a new faucet.

Different types of faucets:

• Single-hole- which can have one or two handles sometimes this type comes with a plate that will cover the extra 2 holes in the basin
• Widespread-Your basin will have 3 holes that are spaced greater than the 4″
• Vessel- these faucets are much taller and are indicated for use with vessel sinks
• wall-mounted-used for free standing basins, keep in mind, these will not work with basins that have the pre-drilled holes
• 4-inch center set- This one is for basins with pre-drilled holes that the handles are 4″ apart, usually, the spout and handles are all mounted together.
• If buying a new basin make sure the holes line up with the faucet.

Consider this information while buying new basins/faucets too.

Tip 12. Don’t Forget the Caulk

Once the faucet is hand fastened into place don’t forget to use a silicone caulk around the faucet base to prevent water getting into places you don’t want. This takes a couple extra minutes and can easily be done. For more information about caulking check out this post, here.

The bathroom faucet I love is currently on a great sale! Run and get one while they last, it comes in 4 colors.

Before and After.

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Parting Thoughts.

There are many helpful resources on the internet and in the plumbing aisle of the hardware store. Take a few minutes before starting this “simple” DIY home improvement project to learn a little more about what’s under the sink. I hope these tips helped save you time, money, and hassle when installing a new faucet. This should leave more time so you can move onto the next “hunny I can do it myself” task on your list.

Have you ever changed out a faucet before? If you did, did you think was more or less difficult than you thought it would be? Let me know in the comments section below!