Gaah Leaky Faucet is Driving Me Insane

[russ_watters]

I have a tub in my bathroom that I have yet to use (I have a separate shower next to it), but it has recenly developed a 30 second drip that I can hear while lying in bed. It's driving me nuts. I've turned off the water and tried to take apart the valve, but can't seem to get it completely apart. And I have no access to the underside. Kohler is no help at all - their faucets don't leak, so why provide information on fixing them?

The stem turns freely when you take off a guard, but I'm not sure if it'll just pull up. I'm tempted to stick a screwdriver up under that hex-nut looking structure and go at it, but of course if I break something, I'm screwed.

My water here is so hard it was off the scale (no pun intended) when I did a test. It corroded my other shower's mixing valve stuck (I scalded a couple of friends who stayed over a few months ago), but I was able to get at that from the front to take it apart and clean it.

Help!

 

[lisab]

Turn up your radio .

 

[NeoDevin]

My best advice is sledge-hammer repairs... maybe not.

Edit: You could just get in the habit of turning off the water before you go to bed.

 

[lisab]

I can't help with the plumbing, but if it's the drip-drip-drip that's driving you crazy, I have a short-term solution.

Try running a string or yarn from the faucet down to the drain. Then the water will run down the thread - at least you won't hear the drip. Pre-wet it so the water will adhere better.

 

[turbo]

Get a HEPA air filter for your bedroom and turn it up. No drip-noises, and you'll suck in lest dust, etc while you sleep.

 

[Evo]

I'm really good at plumbing, but I'd have to look at it up close. If this is one of those washerless faucets, you may have to just replace it.

 

[Cyrus]

A hammer fixes all problems......ALL problems. Including noisy neighboors.

 

[turbo]

I'm really good at plumbing, but I'd have to look at it up close. If this is one of those washerless faucets, you may have to just replace it.

Evo is good at plumbing? The best result one might expect is a shower of water, and a mentor that is infected with some obscure water-borne illness that nobody near you has ever gotten.

 

[Moonbear]

That hex-nut looking thing is the part you turn to unscrew the faucet innards. I actually have a nifty little tool that fits over one of those perfectly, since it's hard to get a wrench down over it with the stem in the way. (The tool came with a replacement faucet I bought once upon a time...if I lived closer, I'd let you borrow it, but I think you could buy your own for far less than the cost of gas to drive here to get it. )

Once you get that part off, everything else should start looking like familiar faucet parts underneath, including whatever sorts of o-ring type thingamabobs need replacing to stop the leak.

Until you have time to start playing with the faucet, maybe sticking a towel in the tub under the drip would be quieter than letting it hit the tub surface? I'm not sure, I've never actually tried it. Or else, you could just close the bathroom door at night. Or would that mean you'd walk into the door if you got up in the middle of the night?

 

[Cyrus]

Russ needs a man around the house to take care of things...

 

[turbo]

Russ needs a man around the house to take care of things...

Are you volunteering, Cy?

 

[Cyrus]

Are you volunteering, Cy?

I helped my dad build a deck, and finish an entire basement. Did anyone notice the TWO hex bolts? Seems like they are locking. If you hold one fixed and loosen the bottom one it should come out.

 

[Moonbear]

Russ needs a man around the house to take care of things...

Nah, like most men, he needs a woman to tell him to quit complaining about the drip and fix the faucet already.

 

[russ_watters]

I'm really good at plumbing, but I'd have to look at it up close. If this is one of those washerless faucets, you may have to just replace it.

There is no way I'd listen to any advice you might have about plumbing!

 

[Moonbear]

I helped my dad build a deck, and finish an entire basement. Did anyone notice the TWO hex bolts? Seems like they are locking. If you hold one fixed and loosen the bottom one it should come out.

Where do you see two hex bolts? The smaller SQUARE thing (not a hex bolt) on top of the hex NUT (aren't you guys the engineers?) is part of the stem that turns the water on and off. Just the big nut needs to be unscrewed to get at everything under it.

 

[russ_watters]

That hex-nut looking thing is the part you turn to unscrew the faucet innards. I actually have a nifty little tool that fits over one of those perfectly, since it's hard to get a wrench down over it with the stem in the way. (The tool came with a replacement faucet I bought once upon a time...if I lived closer, I'd let you borrow it, but I think you could buy your own for far less than the cost of gas to drive here to get it. )

I did get a hex driver over it and applied a decent amount of torque to it, but it didn't turn and I'm afraid to apply more for fear of flooding out my house.

It seems with the stop removed, I can turn the valve a few degrees further and the water stops. I don't really want to have a freely spinning knob, but I might have to live with it.

 

[russ_watters]

Russ needs a man around the house to take care of things...

Know any?

 

[Moonbear]

There is no way I'd listen to any advice you might have about plumbing!

What's the matter? Afraid you'd flood your house with scalding water and wind up in the ER with third degree burns?

 

[russ_watters]

Where do you see two hex bolts? The smaller SQUARE thing (not a hex bolt) on top of the hex NUT (aren't you guys the engineers?) is part of the stem that turns the water on and off. Just the big nut needs to be unscrewed to get at everything under it.

I don't know what Cyrus is, but you're right - the square thing is part of the stem and spins freely. A little steel part fits on it to catch on the stopper tabs to keep the knob from spinning freely.

 

[Moonbear]

I did get a hex driver over it and applied a decent amount of torque to it, but it didn't turn and I'm afraid to apply more for fear of flooding out my house.

Turn the water off before you try that! It's a project to be started in the morning, so you don't have to be so nervous about breaking something since there's still plenty of time to get to the store to buy a new faucet if it doesn't come apart the way it was intended. You should probably scope out whoever sells replacement parts for that style faucet before starting anyway, just in case you get it apart and find out something has given up and fallen apart so you can't just put it back together.

 

[Cyrus]

Know any?

His name is Joe. Joe the...

 

[russ_watters]

Photo with the mechanical stop installed...

Incidentally, I have my main water valve on now and I'm not getting a drip, even with the stem turned to the stop (not past the stop). Maybe it just needed a good talking-to?

 

[Cyrus]

I don't know what Cyrus is, but you're right - the square thing is part of the stem and spins freely. A little steel part fits on it to catch on the stopper tabs to keep the knob from spinning freely.

Maybe this one is binding up. Try taking apart the other one to see if what you tried works on it.

 

[Evo]

There is no way I'd listen to any advice you might have about plumbing!

I repaired/replaced ALL of the plumbing in my old house! I'm actually really good!

I can even tear out a tile wall in the shower and replace pipe and replace the drywall and re-tile. I had a neat little tile scribe to cut the tiles to fit.

Don't let me near electrical wiring though. Even though my dad was an electrical engineer and showed me how to do household wiring, I have a fear of electrical wiring.

 

[Cyrus]

Photo with the mechanical stop installed...

Incidentally, I have my main water valve on now and I'm not getting a drip, even with the stem turned to the stop (not past the stop). Maybe it just needed a good talking-to?

The inner shaft spins freely?

What about that lower bigger hex bolt? Did you loosen that?

I'm telling you man, it's hammer time.

 

[russ_watters]

Turn the water off before you try that! It's a project to be started in the morning, so you don't have to be so nervous about breaking something since there's still plenty of time to get to the store to buy a new faucet if it doesn't come apart the way it was intended.

You mean I shouldn't have started after 2 hours of drinking and watching hockey? Noted.

Anyway, I'm not sure you see how impossible it is to replace anything not visible in the pictures. If I could get at the underside, I wouldn't be too worried, but I think if I broke a pipe, I might have to rip out my shower to get to it! (You can see it in the wide picture I took).

 

[russ_watters]

I repaired/replaced ALL of the plumbing in my old house! I'm actually really good!

Didn't you just say earlier today that you had a pipe burst?

 

[russ_watters]

What about that lower bigger hex bolt? Did you loosen that?

That's the one I got a nut driver over and applied a bunch of torque to. I heard some creaking, but it didn't break loose - I'm not even sure it is supposed to.

 

[Moonbear]

Photo with the mechanical stop installed...

Incidentally, I have my main water valve on now and I'm not getting a drip, even with the stem turned to the stop (not past the stop). Maybe it just needed a good talking-to?

Sometimes that's all they need. Since you said you had problems with things getting stuck with hard water deposits, maybe just fussing with it broke some crud loose? I've fixed things that way too...take it all apart, stare at it, decide I'm not sure what exactly I need to do to fix it so put it back together to work on another day, and it suddenly decides to work. Maybe it's a placebo effect.

 

[Cyrus]

That's the one I got a nut driver over and applied a bunch of torque to. I heard some creaking, but it didn't break loose - I'm not even sure it is supposed to.

I took the handle off the one in the master bath and i looked online. They seem to have something (similar) to your bottom big hex nut that needs to be undone. Try taking it off on the OTHER one. It might come off easy. Also, spray some WD40. I had to change my wiper blades in my car and one just wouldn't come off from rust. I sprayed it and it popped right off.

 

[lisab]

Oh my god...seriously, turn up the radio.

 

[Moonbear]

You mean I shouldn't have started after 2 hours of drinking and watching hockey? Noted.

Definitely not! Never start a plumbing project after much drinking...you might need to pee before you can get the water back on!

Anyway, I'm not sure you see how impossible it is to replace anything not visible in the pictures. If I could get at the underside, I wouldn't be too worried, but I think if I broke a pipe, I might have to rip out my shower to get to it! (You can see it in the wide picture I took).

Ah, I hadn't considered that. That would be awful to have to take out the shower wall to get at the plumbing.

I've always been able to access plumbing from panels inside closets. Not that it's much fun trying to solder pipes while crammed into a closet. Actually, where I currently live, there's an access panel in the ceiling over the stairwell that is under the tub. I'm not quite sure about the location though, since it seems to be at the end opposite the actual faucets and drains. It might just be to access the motor for the whirlpool thing. And if that's the case, then the way to get to the plumbing in the tub is through the wall about halfway up the stairs...I have NO idea how one would reach that without scaffolding. I'm glad I'm just renting so it's not my problem!

 

[Evo]

Didn't you just say earlier today that you had a pipe burst?

That was a pipe outside between the house and the water main under about 5 feet of dirt and some bushes had to be dug up in sub-freezing temperature. They had to dig up a length of 7 feet at 5' deep to find the burst. I hired a company to do that one. The PVC pipe had burst. It didn't even meet code. I had it replaced with copper.

 

[russ_watters]

Definitely not! Never start a plumbing project after much drinking...you might need to pee before you can get the water back on!

Why do you think I turned it back on! I have a leaky toilet on the ground floor and I used it thinking I had a free flush in it. Nope.

 

[Proton Soup]

looks like that nut just below the removable stop screws the whole valve stem out.

http://www.doityourself.com/icat/kholersterlhotstem