If you need to make repairs to any faucets in your home, you will probably need to first determine what kind of faucets that you are dealing with. There are four basic types of faucets that are commonly used in the USA today; compression faucets, cartridge faucets, ball faucets, and disc faucets.
Compression faucets are the old style, traditional faucets that most of us grew up with, and they have the two handles, one each for hot and cold water. Inside each handle is a valve that opens up to allow the water to flow and closes to block the flow when you turn it off. A rubber washer on the base of the valve gets "compressed" to block any small amounts of water from flowing and causing drips.
Cartridge faucets which can be either single handled or double handled. On the inside of the faucet there is a stem cartridge that moves up and down to control the flow of the water. Single handled cartridge faucets operate up and down to regulate water flow, and left to right for temperature control. Double handled cartridge faucets look similar to compression faucets, but they feel different since they stop the water flow without you having to actually "turn off" or compress a washer.
Ball faucets are easy to identify since they have a single handle that attaches to the faucet base with a round base. The ball shaped control has chambers built into it to control water volume and to mix the hot and cold water. These are increasingly popular today.
Disc faucets are the most recent awesome development in faucet technology. Once again these disc faucets are also single handled, and they have a cylindrical shaped body. Inside the faucet are ceramic discs that slide over each other, controlling the flow of the water and the temperature.
Faucet Repair Basics
No matter what kind of faucet you are dealing with, there are some basics when it comes to repairing any of them.
Always turn off the water to the faucet. You would be surprised how many people forget this step! There maybe individual water shut-off valves under the sink or you may need to shut off the main water supply for the whole house, until you do the repair job.
Open taps and let any water in the pipe drain out completely. You wouldn’t want any surprises when you are working, such as a spray of water in the face from water still in the lines.
Put the drain stopper or a towel in the sink, just in case you drop anything at all…you wouldn't want it going down the drain, which would possibly create a huge headache.
To make sure you that you get the proper replacement parts, take any parts you remove from the faucet with you, if you go to the plumbing supply store, this way you'll be sure to get an exact match. Or better yet, visit www.MasterFaucet.com. where they have the world’s largest and best supply of everything for the kitchen or bathroom!
