Skip to Content

How to Remove and Replace Your Kitchen Faucet

Learn how to remove your outdated or broken kitchen faucet and replace it with a new one. Easy to follow steps.

Let’s talk kitchen faucets!

There are so many cool styles in a variety of price points available today it can be a bit overwhelming to pick one when you need one.

But it’s one of those things that unless you absolutely need a new one you don’t think much about.

A couple weeks ago we were at that point.

We needed a new kitchen faucet!

kitchen double basin sink with single handle faucet in granite countertops and wood cabinets

We had a single handle pull out chrome faucet by Moen.

Over the past 12 years we had to replace the faucet cartridge and then the pull out hose.

With both things we had to replace Moen sent us the parts free of charge.

Their customer service is awesome!

And no I’m not being paid to say that. LOL

We just had a great experience with Moen and I want to share that with you.

Why Did I Need A New Faucet?

single handle kitchen faucet dripping water

Our faucet started to drip…again.

And we decided it was time to get a new faucet.

Remember I told you earlier there are some pretty cool styles out there now!

I really loved the look of the new black matte kitchen faucets. My sister got one for her new home and it looks great!

But with our dark counters, I didn’t think it was the right choice for our kitchen.

Our old faucet wasn’t the easiest to keep clean with the shiny chrome finish so I decided I wanted a brushed nickel finish this time around.

So that was one thing decided!

Phew!

The next feature I was looking for was a pull-down sprayer rather than a pull-out sprayer like our old faucet.

Two things decided!

Whoo-hoo!

And finally I wanted to go with another Moen faucet since we knew they had exceptional customer service and saved us several years before having to replace our faucet.

Moen kitchen faucet laying in open box

Looks fancy doesn’t it?

Ha ha ha!

Don’t worry you’ll get to see the installed gorgeous new faucet soon!

This post contains some affiliate links which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read our full disclosure policy here.

How to Remove Old Faucet

man laying under kitchen sink disconnecting water supply lines tools laying on towel beside man

Removing the old faucet is really simple.

The first and most important thing is to turn the water off under the sink.

Next disconnect the water supply lines with a wrench.

And then remove the old faucet by loosening the nut under the sink that holds the faucet in place.

We thought it would be easily removed using our channel lock pliers but that darn nut was too difficult to get to with our pliers because there wasn’t enough space.

So we ran out to our local home improvement store and bought a basin wrench.

Once we had the correct tool the nut was super easy to remove.

kitchen faucet removed from countertop laying on side with pull out hose laying in sink

That’s it…once the water is turned off, the supply lines are disconnected and the faucet is pulled out of the countertop you are done with removing your old faucet.

Check New Faucet Connections

man with phone in hand on facetime under kitchen sink

Now that our old faucet was removed we checked the new faucet connections for compatibility with our existing water supply lines.

Learn from our mistake!

You may want to do this beforehand so you don’t need to run back out to the home improvement store…again.

Our supply lines were SharkBite connections but the new faucet used traditional connection sizes (3/8 compression).

Hmm we weren’t sure what to do so…

So we called in reinforcements…

We called my dad who is a plumber for advice.

Thank goodness for FaceTime!

water supply line connectors one in package and one out of package both laying on wood table

My dad suggested we purchase connectors (3/8 compression x ½” threaded connector) which saved us from having to replace the SharkBite supply lines and shutoff valve in the correct sizes.

So back to the home improvement store we went.

hands under kitchen sink attaching connector part to water lines on faucet

With the new connectors, it was simple to attach to the existing SharkBite water line on one end and the new faucet water line on the other.

under kitchen sink cabinet showing water lines for faucet

You will need to do this for both the hot and cold water lines.

water and faucet lines zip tied and attached to inside back of cabinet

Since we had excess lines under the sink we used a zip tie and a small command hook to pull them together and hook them to the back of the cabinet to get the water lines out of the way.

This leaves a little more storage space under our kitchen sink.

How to Install New Kitchen Faucet

kitchen faucet with single hole in countertop

Every new faucet comes with an instruction manual.

Be sure to follow the directions for your particular faucet installation.

Faucets are super easy to install once you have all the supply lines connected.

new kitchen faucet with pull down spout installed in countertop for sink

Most faucets come with a standard design mount for a sink or countertop.

They also come with a deck plate if you are replacing a three-hole faucet with a one-hole faucet.

Our new faucet was a countertop single hole mount with a pull-down spout.

And since we were replacing another single hole faucet we didn’t need to use the deck plate.

kitchen sink area vase of flowers and striped kitchen towel to one side of sink and pedestal with candle and soaps on other side of sink window above sink

I’m so happy with this new faucet. Just click that link if you are interested in the same one!

The pull down spray style faucet has been so easy to use.

And the best part…the new kitchen faucet is spot resistant!

Pin it to Remember it:

Pinterest graphic