When you’re using a single handle kitchen faucet and you’re using it for a long time now, chances are your faucet will get loosened over time and use. Faucet is that kind of accessory that we use every day, here and there. They provide you with water and you live freely.
When it comes to tightening your loosened kitchen faucet, you’ll think of calling your plumber as the job is a bit hard to deal with. But why don’t you yourself give it a try?
When it’s the matter with water, there are your supply lines involved with it. That’s a bit messy indeed and of course, plumbing is a great option. But if you think about tightening the faucet, we think you should give it a go!
Loosened faucets require immediate tightening as it’s involved with water. Or else, you might face a dripping problem. Your faucet can lose some of its parts as well if you don’t tighten it at the right time.
In this article, we’re going to show you how to tighten a loose Moen single-handle kitchen faucet. What are the steps for it and what tools you need to perform the task properly?
Tools required
There are basically two types of problems in common. Your faucet base gets loosened over time as the water passes through it and it has to handle the pressure of water. The other thing is the handle. The handle gets loosened over-usage. Each time you turn the handle to turn the water flow on, it gets a bit loosened. Now, to tighten the faucet base and the handle, you need to follow a few steps. For this reason, our article will be divided into two parts. And the tools you need to perform this are:
- Masking tape
- Screwdriver (Flathead)
- Mini knife
- Adjustable wrench
- Flashlight
- Allen wrench/ Hex head wrench set (3/32 inch)
How to tighten the base of a Moen kitchen faucet?
A loosened base can be a real headache to you when it comes to kitchen faucets. Faucets need to move freely in order to give you the smoothness of water flow and other household works. But when it’s moving too much, it can cause water leakage or drip and that’s pretty embarrassing.
You can easily get rid of that issue once you tighten the base of your kitchen faucet. Now, the big question is, what are the steps of tightening a kitchen faucet base?
In this section, we’ll try to share the steps of tightening the basement and what you need to follow when you’re intending to tightening the base of your kitchen faucet.
Cover the drain system
This one is not a step. Basically, it’s a precaution for your process. When you’re willing to tighten the base of your kitchen faucet, you’ll be dealing with small particles and objects. This process is pretty important because if one of your faucet parts gets lost even if it’s smaller, you might not be able to find the exact one.
So, cover the drain hole first so that any part doesn’t go through the drain. When the precaution part is done, you can move forward to the next step.
Disconnect water supply lines
Before you start the process of tightening the basement, you need to turn off the water supply lines. There are two types of water supply lines for both cold and hot water supply. You need to turn both of them off before you start.
Go under your sink and you’ll be able to find out the two valves. Turn them counterclockwise to turn the water supply lines off. Make sure you’ve done it properly. When it’s done, drain the water remaining in the line.
Clear your sink
When you work with tools and things in your kitchen, you might kept your things in the sink. It’s essential that you clear your sink first in order to move to the next step.
If you don’t, they can be your obstacle while you’re tightening the base. So, it’s essential that you clear your kitchen sink pretty well.
Release all kind of water and air pressure
Before moving to the next step, you have to make sure that your faucet is free from all kinds of pressures. When you turned off the supply lines, water may give pressure to your faucet and when your faucet is pressurized, you can’t work with it smoothly. So, it’s essential to release all kinds of pressure from your kitchen faucet.
So, turn on the water on the handle to release air and water pressure immediately after you turned off the supply lines in order to move to the next step.
The water lines
When everything is done perfectly and smoothly, you need to pry off the water lines. Hold an adjustable wrench and set it in the middle of water supply lines and the intel. Now, move the wrench counterclockwise to pry off the water lines. This will give your basement tightening another speed.
Tighten the nut
Now, it’s time to tighten the nuts and screws of your faucet base that holds the faucet together. Check out the grip of the basement if it’s okay. Hold the loosened nuts with your regular wrench and turn them clockwise to tighten. When you’re tightening, you have to make sure that you’re not giving too much pressure on the nuts.
To tighten the nuts in between the faucet and the base, you need a basin wrench that comes up with attacking jaws. It’ll make your tightening easier and comfortable.
Check everything is okay or not
When you’ve finished tightening the faucet base, it’s time to check out your progress and tightening. If everything is okay, then turn the water supplies on. When water is coming clearly, turn the faucet on and check if there’s any leakage issue or dripping issue.
Uncover your sink drainage before turning the water on. If there’s no leakage and your faucet moving and operating smoothly, then you’re done tightening your faucet base. If you find out that there’s still some dripping issue, you need the basin wrench to tighten a little more.
How to tighten the handle of the Moen kitchen faucet?
When you use your kitchen faucet regularly, there are chances that your faucet handle is getting loosened over time and usage. When your faucet handle gets loosened, you need to fix it as soon as possible. Otherwise, bigger issues may occur. A loosened faucet handle is harmful and for this, you may notice water leakage.
So, the question is, how to tighten a moen kitchen faucet handle in order to make it like new? In this section, we’ll try to cover the steps of tightening your moen kitchen faucet handle. We’ll go step by step to make your faucet handle tightening easier.
Clear the sink and cover the drain
Remove everything from your kitchen sink. When you’re tightening the handle of your kitchen faucet, that’s a tricky job to deal with and you’re dealing with small particles. So, You need to clear the sink in order to work smoothly.
Besides clearing, make sure you blocked the drain system of your sink to prevent small parts from washing away.
Turn off the water supply lines
There are two water supply lines under your sink they provide hot and cold water. You need to turn them off before you move to the process of tightening.
Turn off the water supply lines by moving them counterclockwise. It’s essential to turn them off.
Study the faucet handle
In order to fix the handle, you need to study the handle first. Check the proper mechanism of your kitchen faucet and the handle to get the exact mechanism and how it works. When you’re dealing with a moen kitchen faucet, you can notice two things in the handle.
There’s a hex screw or nut at the entrance of the kitchen faucet handle. You need to take a look carefully. On the top of your faucet’s handle, you can find a cap.
Remove the hex screw
Removing the hex screw or nut is tough and tricky. You have to be very careful or you can damage your faucet. Both of the hex nuts or screws are smaller than other nuts. When you’re removing them, use a mini knife to help you.
The removing process may require a few minutes or a minute. But you have to be very careful as you’re dealing with the knife. Don’t damage other parts and finishes.
Find the setscrew
Now, you have to find out the setscrew that’s inside the faucet handle cap. Reaching it is a bit tough and tricky. Any kind of tools can’t reach there. You need to find it out carefully as it’s under the decorative cap.
Now, take a 3/32 sized Allen wrench to help you out. This wrench is designed to work with tough corners. It’s ideal for the faucet handle and it can make your work pretty easier. In most cases, this is the accurate size for tightening the screw inside the handle.
When you have the perfect-sized Allen wrench reach there and locate the setscrew. The reaching is all about feeling. You can feel it when you get there. If you don’t, try from different angles and different perspectives.
Tighten the screw
The hardest task is finding the setscrew. Once you found it, your work is almost done there. Tighten it with the wrench. Hold your screw with the Allen key.
Now, use a wrench to tighten it. To tighten the screw, you need to move the wrench clockwise. Don’t give too much pressure while you’re tightening. Screws inside the faucet handle are pretty sensitive. So, you have to be very careful when you’re tightening the screw of the handle.
Give the water supply
When the tightening is done and everything is completed, you can test the handle now. Attach the water supply lines that are located under the sink. Now, you have to check the tightness of your kitchen faucet handle. Make sure it’s comfortable.
If you feel like your faucet handle is not comfortable yet and it’s leaking still, you need to go through that process once again.
The process is not too difficult. By following these basic steps, you can easily tighten your moen kitchen faucet handle.
A few tips for the tasks
- When you’re dealing with metal objects, you need to wear hand gloves in order to prevent any upcoming mistakes. You may harm your skin if you don’t wear hand gloves.
- It’s essential to choose the right and appropriate gear to tighten the setscrew. They are pretty sensitive.
- While you’re doing these processes, don’t forget to use a flashlight to illuminate light and make everything clear.
- Keep someone with you when you’re doing the tasks. It may help you a lot when you’re doing the tasks.
Conclusion
So, this is how you can tighten your loose moen single handle kitchen faucet. The processes are the super easy and DIY type. Always use the right gear to perform the action and when you’re doing something with water, make sure you do it carefully.
In this article, we’ve tried to cover how you can tighten your loose Moen single-handle kitchen faucet. hopefully, this article will help you to understand everything and your problems will be solved. If you have any questions or queries, feel free to leave a comment here or contact us directly. Visit our website for more helpful articles like this one.
Thanks for sharing the actual Guide, Here you totally descrive that the procedure of tighten a loose moen single handle faucet.
Thank you Monalia,
I Appreciated to your Opinion.