You don’t realize how much you use your kitchen sink sprayer until the day it stops working. Suddenly you can’t rinse dishes as well as you used to. Your sink isn’t as shiny and clean as it once was. Like any plumbing fixture, kitchen sink sprayers can stop working for several reasons. They could rust, clog, detach from their housing or water supply, or simply bend wrong.
No matter how it broke, you probably want to replace your kitchen sink sprayer right away. Luckily, replacing a sink sprayer isn’t too difficult or expensive. In fact, it’s a DIY plumbing project that most homeowners can handle on their own. Of course, if you don’t want to tackle this project on your own, you could always call a pro for help, too.
If you’re interested in replacing your kitchen sink sprayer yourself, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll walk you through the process step by step:
Step one: gather your needed materials.
You’ll need to gather a few things before you start your kitchen sprayer replacement project. Obviously, the first thing you’ll need is a new sprayer. Determine at the manufacturer of your first sprayer for a visible serial number if you want an identical replacement.
If you plan on getting a different sprayer, don’t purchase it before you make absolutely sure it can fit in the existing mounting hole. Along with the new sprayer, you’ll need to acquire some installing tools. Grab two pairs of tongue-and-groove pliers, a basin wrench, and a container of plumber’s putty.
Step two: turn off the faucet’s water supply.
Either turn off the water for the sink itself or go to your home’s water main to turn off all your water. There are small valves beneath your sink or a larger, red valve that can be found at your water main. Either works. You just need to make sure no water will come bursting out at you once you detach the sprayer from the hose.
Step three: go under the sink to remove the sprayer’s flex line.
Now you’ll get underneath your sink. You should be able to look down from your sprayer on the counter and see it’s accompanying flex line beneath. The flex line is attached to a brass connector by a nut. That connector is itself attached to a copper tube coming from the main faucet.
Use one pair of pliers to grip the brass connector and use the other to unscrew the connector nut keeping the hose attached. Be careful! Use the pliers to stabilize the brass fitting so you don’t accidentally break the copper tubing. It’s more fragile than it looks! After you’ve detached the nut, the hose should fall away from the faucet.
Step four: remove the old sprayer housing.
Next, pull the old sprayer housing out from under the sink. All you should have to do is pull the hardware up top upwards and out of the mounting hole. If there is a mounting nut keeping you from pulling it out, remove it by using your basin wrench. The sprayer housing might try to move with the nut, so do your best to keep it steady.
Step five: install the new housing.
Installing the new sprayer is the same process as removing the old one, but in reverse. Take your new sprayer’s housing and insert its tailpiece into the open hole. If it has an existing gasket, you’re good. If it doesn’t, use a small portion of plumber’s putty under the base to seal it. Use your basin wrench once more to attach the housing to the mounting nut beneath the sink.
Step six: re-attach the hose and turn water back on.
Now you’ll have a stable housing up top with a tail and hose hanging below. Thread the fitting on the end of the hose onto the brass connector on the copper tubing. Use both of your pliers again to safely secure the hose to the pipe.
Step seven: test the sprayer to make sure there aren’t any leaks.
At this point, everything should be good to go. Turn the water back on, give it a few minutes to start flowing, and test out your sprayer. If there are any leaks or problems, you can make sure to re-secure or tighten all existing fittings to fix them.
There you have it. How to replace your kitchen sink sprayer in seven easy steps. If you have any questions about how to do this, give the team at Ben Franklin Plumbing a call. If you’d like a professional’s help, we’re standing by and happy to help.