How To Remove Faucet Handles

How To Remove Faucet Handles Without Screws

For many years faucets handles were easy to remove. Turn the screw in the middle of the handle and off it came. New designs and new technology take made the spiral in the faucet handle almost a thing of the past. How then do you remove a faucet handle with no screw?

Close off the water and close the drain with a pocket-size towel so that nothing falls down it. Grip the faucet handles with pliers and twist them. Pull on the faucet handles until they come off, and grease them if you need to.

If that gentle tug doesn't work, don't despair. There are several other methods of attaching faucet handles without screws that are almost as like shooting fish in a barrel to remove. We will await

at these unlike methods of removing screwless faucet handles in this article.

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What Kind of Faucet Handle to You Have?

There are several unlike methods that faucet manufacturers apply to attach faucet handles to the stem of the faucet. Determining how the faucet hand attaches to the stem may exist the biggest challenge of fixing your faucet. Among the methods used by faucet manufacturers are:

Capped and hidden screws
Side-mounted set screws
Flange threaded mounts
Friction fit mounts

Friction Fit Faucet Handles: Push and Pull

At least one faucet manufacturer has started using friction fit faucet handles. Some older models of faucets likewise featured a push on faucet handle blueprint. If you are the possessor of one of these new models or if you lot are a vintage faucet user, the removal of the faucet handle can be as simple as giving the faucet handle a bit of a pry.

A small screwdriver or a scraper with a sparse, flexible blade is often the tools of pick if your friction fit faucet handle needs a bit of encouragement to come loose.

Gentle is the Key: Things to Remember about Friction Fit Faucet Handles

There are a few things to remember most friction fit faucet handles, especially with older faucets

Older faucets may endure from corrosion and thinning of the metal. Take care if you intend to keep the faucet
Newer faucets with friction fit faucet handles may have plastic stems that can bend easily.
Frequently the friction mechanism may be damaged during removal and may not fit if reinstalled.

A Gentle Turn May exercise the Trick

At least on faucet manufacturer features a combination faucet handle with an elevated base of operations. The faucet handle and base are all one unit. The faucet handle includes an attached stem that fits into the bodily faucet valve. The handle base threads onto the faucet trunk and holds the unabridged associates in place.

If you suspect that your faucet is this type, to remove the faucet handle, grasp the handle firmly and, with your other manus, gently turn the base of the handle counterclockwise. The base of the handle should come loose, and the unabridged handle and faucet handle base should lift abroad.

Corrosion May Be A Problem: A Little Pre-Treatment May be in Order

If yous live in an expanse where the h2o has a lot of mineral content, build-upwardly around the faucet handle may create problems. This build-upwardly can sometimes most cement the handle or stem to the rest of the faucet.

Using vinegar or other products that remove mineral build-up may assistance in removing the faucet handle. Utilise these products earlier trying to remove the faucet handle. Follow the manufacturer'southward directions carefully.

The Mystery of the Subconscious Screw

Many new faucet styles characteristic a hidden spiral to requite the faucet a sleek await. At that place are several dissimilar styles, but nigh fit into 2 categories

Hidden or Capped Screws
Gear up Screws

Finding the Magic Spiral: Knowing Where to Await

Many of these faucet styles with hidden screws put the screws where you would expect them. The screws themselves are hidden with caps or plugs to brand the faucet wait like information technology has no screws.

Examine the top of your faucet handles advisedly. Most have a small-cap roofing the screw. These push caps are friction fit and should remove easily with a small screwdriver.

The Chase for the Elusive Set Screw

Some double-handle faucets and almost unmarried handle faucets utilise set up screws. These set up screws often hibernate on the side of the faucet handle. A trim ring or push cap may hide some set screws on faucet handles.

In one case y'all accept located the set screw, you will demand the right size of the hex wrench to loosen the set screw. If yous hadn't kept the hex wrench that came with the faucet, a multi-hex-wrench tool is handy to find the right size.

Take a Few Precautions: The Unexpected May Happen

Before you begin working on a faucet, there are some precautions you should take. Nosotros never want to take bad things happen when nosotros are doing dwelling repairs. A few simple steps may relieve you frustration and grief later.

Step one: Turn off the H2o

Before yous begin to detach your faucet, turn off the water at the shut-off valve under the sink. At that place should exist no problem with removing a faucet handle with the water turned on, but failures have happened. Turning off the water at the supply prevents a fountain should the valve trunk be broken or defective.

Stride 2: Close the Bleed

You will be dealing with tools and small parts. Inadvertent slips happen and closing the drain or putting a small towel over the opening will prevent tools or small parts from finding their way downwards. Why add to your workload by creating the need to disassemble the drain besides.

If you lot practise happen to driblet something downwardly the sink drain, here is some advice on how to remove a P-Trap.

Pace 3: Protect your Faucet

If you find that y'all need to use gripping tools such every bit pliers to grasp parts of your faucet, utilise an old cloth to protect the stop on your faucet. Avoid scratching or gouging the cease on your faucet body or handles, if possible.

What'south Inside: Going Across the Faucet Handle

One time y'all remove the faucet handle, you should notice either a compression-valve or a cartridge valve. Repairing these ii types of faucet valves requires a different approach.

Compression Valves: Putting the Squeeze On

Compression valves work past squeezing a soft safety gasket against a valve seat. Over time both the safe gasket or O-ring tin can go worn out and needs to be replaced. If water has been leaking through the faucet, the valve seat may wearable enough that it needs resurfacing.

Cartridge Valves: The Plug and Play Solution.

Newer faucets frequently accept cartridge valves. The cartridge that is the bodily valve is easily removed and replaced with a single unit. Nigh of these replacement jobs are well within the telescopic of almost home do-it-yourselfers.

Don't Forget to Stop the Alluvion Earlier it Happens

No matter the blazon of valve in your faucet, before yous remove the valve torso, be certain that both the hot and common cold h2o supplies are off. Once you unscrew the valve stem or remove the cartridge, in that location is nothing betwixt yous and a major water upshot if the water is not shut-off.

For more information about faucet problems, see the article at this link.

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The Screwless Faucet Handle Unmasked

Even though your faucet handle appears to have no screws, more than likely, the screws are there. In some cases, your faucet handle may be a true screwless design and a gentle tug is all you need. Nevertheless, a little diligence and intendance will often reveal the subconscious faucet handle screws.

Good luck with your plumbing project. We hope that this article has helped you respond your questions about the missing faucet handle screws.

Dennis Howard

Dennis is a retired firefighter with an all-encompassing background in construction, abode improvement, and remodeling. He worked in the trades part-time while serving as an agile firefighter. On his retirement, he started a remodeling and home repair business concern, which he ran for several years.

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