Help me before I destroy my bathroom sink.

April 29, 2012 3:30 PM

Plumbing - I need to replace the gasket and o-ring in this faucet, but I'm stumped on how to take it apart. Help! The handle was easy, but the body refuses to budge. The ceramic body & metal base move with a lot of resistance, but not in a way that suggests unscrewing. The top flange is immovable, but with no space to wedge in a screwdriver to pry it off. Ideas? Front view & Top View. Thank you!
posted by swngnmonk to home & garden (4 answers total)

That ring at the top of the onion, have you tried grabbing it with a pair of tongs (using a small rubber band or something to protect it) and turning to the left? It looks like that's what would be holding the ceramic part on.
posted by beagle at 3:49 PM on April 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

you might need a tool called a 'cartridge puller' for that one? our old-timey faucet did. which is why i call my plumber and have him do it.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 3:56 PM on April 29, 2012

What beagle said. That chrome ring is supposed to come off. Wrap white adhesive tape (the kind used for bandages) around the ring and use
waterpump pliers to wrench it off.

Plumbing is annoying, but it will respond to calm reasoning (although cursing like a sailor may relieve your frustration). It ain't rocket science, it's mechanics. There's always an obvious way to dismantle the faucet, but it often takes a while to figure it out.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:24 PM on April 29, 2012

Beagle, Johnny Wallflower, you were both totally right on. Thank you. Feeling a little silly now, but happy to have it resolved.

Of course, it turns out the mechanism is some kind of ceramic disk, and not the compression valve I expected, so I'll have to take another crack at it later, but regardless - huzzah!
posted by swngnmonk at 5:48 PM on April 29, 2012