Hey everybody, have any of you replaced your own kitchen faucet in your Swiss apartment and if so, do you have any tips? I’ve changed out kitchen faucets before in the US and it’s an easy procedure. My current kitchen faucet looks easy enough, except that I haven’t found the water shut off valve yet. Does anyone know where they typically are?
I’ve attached some pictures from under my sink. The water shut off you see in one picture only shuts off water to the dishwasher and not the faucet.
I’m not interested in hiring someone to install it so it would be great to skip posts about that. I have permission to change it out as long as I switch it back before moving. I would like a more modern one to match my new fixtures and that has higher clearance to fit my watering can under. Since they’re pretty cheap, I feel it’s worth it to get it and just switch it back one day when we move.
Resisting the urge to mention stop-cocks and so on... as you say it's an easy job but check how to remove the faucet (tap to the English among us ) first, can you get access with the tools into the space to remove and then install the new one? Often this requires a long wrench, it's a specialist tool but CHF 30 if you need it and you'd get your money back if you have to install this and remove it later.
Also it's worth knowing where the mains valve is so you can shut all the water off, perhaps not for this job but just in case one random day something else leaks. It might be close to the meter or next to the hot water tank etc.
That's the tool. I did look at the photos - yes, it's 2019 and some people still read things in full - and thought it could be that with a normal wrench you're doing 1/8th of a turn before having to reset the tool, 1/8th of a turn again etc. If Starbuck can manage without, all the more economical
Hey thanks for the info everyone! I have a basin wrench already, which is certainly needed for this right space. And after more searching, I found the mains shutoff in the storage room :-). I’ll order a faucet now that I know I can do the job. Anyone have suggestions of where to buy one? This isn’t my permanent home so I don’t plan to spend a lot. I looked at a kitchen and bath store here and it was very expensive. Coop Bau und Hobby was also more than I was expecting. So currently I’m looking at buying one from amazon.de (shipping to a German friend who travels here for work).
Reviving an old thread for kitchen faucet question. Cartridges for regulating water flow in the faucet - how often do these need to be replaced?
I ask because we're 5 1/2 years into a Franke faucet and already replaced it once when it was not functionally perfectly (Slow leak). Now the single handle faucet seems to not stay open (Slowly closing on it's own, unless fully opened).
I assume it is the cartridge again but curious if this is normal maintenance
I recently replaced one on our outside shower, the cartridge had a 2006 date code on it.. It was working ok apart from a slight leak but looked physically ok..
A few days later i attempted replacement for a leaky bathroom tap and when i opened it, the whole cartridge and area holding it was totally calc'd to death, i destroyed it trying to get it out and had to replace the whole mixer tap.. That one was dated 2004..
So 5 1/2 years sounds short from the very little experience i have.
I've just replaced the whole tap assembly for our kitchen sink. We had a Frank Armatur (Argos Eco Schwenkauslauf) and was 5 years old. It started shedding plastic fragments from where the handle joins the body.
Normally, that would not have bothered me too much, but the design of the whole thing is suspect and it was not the first one we've had. When the kitchen was newly installed, the then new tap had a leak and sprayed water through a hole in its housing as soon as it was turned on. That was immediately replaced by the fitter.
Anyway, I have now fitted an equivalent Grohe tap unit. Incidentally, this needs a box spanner to fit it, not the standard basin wrench.
Lots of firms offer replacement taps, but very few supply sufficient information for you to determine their suitability. For example, there are taps for low and high pressure systems. Hornbach.ch product information includes a complete manufacturers data sheet, so I bought it from there.
Cheers for that, I do wonder if calcification is a culprit because I know this can be an issue. So we already replaced it once maybe 2 years ago (3-3.5 years into it being new) and now I can only speculate the cartridge again but wondering if this is just a water issue or defect with the faucet
I will reach out to a neighbor who does plumbing work for some advice
