Three Common Repairs in the Kitchen
Your kitchen is probably the most used area in your home. Appliances and fixtures will break down or require maintenance of some type.
Replacing a cartridge in your faucet is inexpensive, when compared to purchasing a new one. Garbage disposals will often freeze up, especially if not used on a regular basis, and is rarely a serious problem and easy to correct. Drains will clog, but with the proper tools, you can easily fix the problem.
Repairing a Cartridge Faucet
1. Go to your local home improvement center, with the make and model of faucet, purchase a replacement cartridge kit (a cartridge puller should be included, if not buy one).
2. Turn off hot/cold water supply to faucet.
3. Pry off cap, remove faucet handle by unscrewing phillips screw on top of cartridge, lift off handle.
4. Remove plastic retaining nut with channel lock pliers, then remove 'C' retaining clip with needle-nose pliers, lift off faucet spout.
5. Take off O-ring at bottom of faucet housing, by slipping over cartridge, if stuck use a small screwdriver to release it.
6. Lift cartridge out with cartridge puller, do not use pliers as this may damage faucet assembly, clean area that houses cartridge of any dirt and sediment.
7. Coat new 'O' with silicone grease, and roll down into its groove.
8. Install new cartridge according to manufacturer's instructions.
9. Reinstall faucet spout, reassemble; 'C'-clip, plastic nut, screw down faucet handle and replace cap.
10. Turn on hot/cold water supply and turn on...if hot and cold water are reversed, disassemble and rotate cartridge 180 degrees and reassemble.
Unclogging a Garbage Disposal
1. Turn on garbage disposal, if no noise is present, turn off and press the reset button located at the bottom of the garbage disposal, turn on again, if it still does not work...proceed.
2. Inspect drain/disposal opening with a flashlight to check for any objects that may prevent the impellers and grate from spinning, clean if necessary, turn on, if no improvement, turn off and unplug disposal, if there is no way to unplug unit, shut down corresponding circuit breaker, and proceed.
3. Place the end of a broom or mop handle into the drain/disposal against a corner, leaning handle against drain opening, rotate clockwise. This will free the impellers and grate of the gunk that is prohibiting them from spinning.
4. Nine times out of ten, the above techniques will correct your garbage disposal problem.
5. If the impellers and grate spin when using the broom/mop handle, but the disposal still does not work, the unit motor may have burned out. In this case, it is best to replace the garbage disposal.
TIP: Never put hands or other objects into garbage disposal without first making sure all power is cut from unit. Always run the water when using the garbage disposal. Run your disposal every other day to prevent it from freezing up.
Unclogging a Kitchen Drain
1. Take a flange plunger, plunge the drain aggressively and repeatedly for 10 to 15 seconds, repeat this process two more times. If this fails to remove the clog, you will need to start working under the sink.
2. Put a bucket under the water trap (u-shaped pipe) to catch water.
3. Loosen slip nuts by hand or with a pipe wrench, and remove the water trap pipe from both ends (drain pipe from sink, drain pipe to sewer).
4. Inspect water trap as there may be a build up of grease, old food and other objects that may be the cause of your clog, if not you will need to 'snake your pipes'.
5. Go to your home improvement center and purchase a hand auger (snake). Use the auger according to manufacturer's directions.
TIP: Buy a long (15-25 feet) auger, as you can use this auger in the future to unclog other drains and toilets in your home.
6. Feed the auger cable into the pipe leading to your sewer, turning clockwise.
7. Bends in the pipe can feel like clogs, so move the cable in and out, and if it hits a bend it will pass after a couple of tries.
8. Keep feeding the auger, until you meet a resistance that will not budge, retract auger, if there is clumps of gunk and hair on the tip of the auger, you have found the clog.
9. Reinsert auger to the point of the clog, keep turning, backing off, and pushing forward again, retract auger completely again as it may pull out the clog, but in most cases, you will have to push it through.
10. Steps 8 and 9 may need to be repeated numerous times until you are successful, be patient and keep working the auger, until it pushes the clog through, then keep feeding auger to full length, retract auger, reconnect water trap pipe to both sink body and sewer pipe.
11. If you are unable to break the clog, your problem may be in the main drain, in this case, it would be best to call in a professional.
Maintaining a working kitchen will need some work. Naturally, appliances will break or require attention, but correcting these problems need not be expensive or time consuming. As with any other problem that arises, a little patience and knowledge will help you with any repair.
