How to Install a Kitchen Faucet

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods.

 

Sure, there’s the super cool downtown area with the tall buildings and architectural river tours and magnificent mile shopping extravaganza and The Bean …

 

but to the north and south and west (but not east because east would put you smack dab in the middle of Lake Michigan) you’ll find Chicago’s varied and diverse and amazing neighborhoods …

 

When a Chicagoan meets a fellow Chicagoan we immediately talk neighborhoods.  It’s like our zodiac sign.  Because each neighborhood has it’s own name. And personality. Lakeview. Lincoln Park. Old Town. Bridgeport.  Logan Square. Bucktown. Beverly. Sauganash …

 

And the minute you hear the neighborhood someone lives in, a map pops up inside your head.  And you immediately know if that fellow Chicagoan lives north or south or west (but never east, because east is at the bottom of the lake) of the cool downtown metropolis with the tall buildings and killer shopping and architectural river tours …

 

and The Bean.

 

There are so many things I love about Chicago’s neighborhoods.  There’s that small town feel in a big city.  With favorite and familiar haunts.  The coffee shop.  The grocery store. The local pub. The hardware store with the helpful employees …

 

And then there’s the diversity.  And I’m not just talking about racial diversity.  On a single block you can find a doctor and a plumber and a lawyer and a carpenter and a ad exec and a mechanic living side-by-side …

 

a side-by-side close proximity living arrangement that came in very handy when we tackled our latest project.

 

You see I had the bright idea that we (and when I say “we” I mean my husband) could install a new kitchen faucet in my neighbor’s home.

 

But let me back up a bit here.  Back right on up to when Ace Hardware contacted me and asked if I’d like to be part of their new Ace Bloggers Panel.

 

 

Um, yea.

 

It was a no-brainer.

 

I mean, I’m all about the neighborhood.  And Ace is all about the neighborhood.  They are the helpful neighborhood place, after all …

 

And I’m a frequent visitor. Seeking out advice on how to fix this or that.  Thrilled beyond belief when the Ace experts help me find the perfect screw or washer or sandpaper or paint brush …

 

and I trust their advice.  Implicitly. Because, after all, Ace Hardware is more than just a store. They’re my neighbors too!

 

And when Ace presented our first mission … a neighbor project … I proudly embraced the challenge.  And when they generously opened up their doors and let us pick the products and projects of our choice, I knew immediately that the recipient of Ace’s generosity would be my friend and neighbor Maribeth.  A single mom.  Who works hard. Very hard.  She’s created a lovely home for her three children.  And newfound cat.  Well, lovely with the exception of her kitchen faucet …

 

It was time to go.  In fact, her sprayer decided to kick the bucket  the very same day we arrived …

 

Proudly bearing a shiny new and amazing Moen® High Arc Spout Pull Down Kitchen Faucet in Stainless Steel that  Ace Hardware sent to us for this project!

 

We started under the sink turning off the hot and cold water line connections …

 

Maribeth also had a connection coming in from the outside line under the sink.  We shut that off too.

 

Then it was time to disconnect the faucet lines (the white hoses) to the hot and cold water pipes.

 

So far, all was going according to plan.  But then it was time to remove the old faucet.  Which was tricky.  It didn’t want to go.  And fought us tooth and nail …

 

You see, trying to get a tool to reach the nuts and bolts connecting the faucet to the sink in a confined space between the back wall and the sink basin was close to impossible …

 

 

Luckily, Maribeth’s father – who also lives in the neighborhood! – and had come to supervise our handiwork was able to quickly run back to his home and return with an amazing box of drool worthy tools.

 

The socket wrench was our saving grace.

 

Now it was time for the new faucet install.  And it was at this point in the day that Maribeth and I decided to break open her new blender.  A Hamilton Beecher Smoothie Blender …

 

 

… another generous gift from Ace Hardware …

 

and mix up some Carmeltini Smoothies.

 

At this point in the day,  I may have forgotten to take pictures of the install.  And instead took pictures of our yummy Carmeltini Smoothies …

 

 

Which Maribeth made with a few parts Baileys Irish Creme.  And a splash or two of carmel flavored vodka.  Topped off with 3 or 4 tablespoon squirts of carmel topping.

 

 

But for the kitchen install how to, Mike and I both watched this YouTube video here …

 

and in the video they talk about how sometimes the newer faucet connections may not be the same size as the old pipe connections.  And how adapters may be needed.  We thought that was the case at Maribeth’s too.  But when all was connected, we had a drip …

 

and that’s when the neighbor who is a plumber was called in.  He came the next day.  And it was a quick fix for which he only charged a neighborly $25.

 

Phew.

 

Mike and I were sweating it out there for a bit.  Worried we had left Maribeth with a beautiful new Moen faucet and soap dispenser …

 

 

but with no water with to wash away the soap that could successfully be dispensed!

P.S.  One of my fellow Ace Blogger Panel bloggers is a neighbor too.  Okay, not in my Lakeview Chicago neighborhood.  But Kim and her husband at Yellow Brick Home  lives in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.  And you can find her neighbor project here …

 

P.P.S.  Erin from How to Nest for Less doesn’t live in my neighborhood.  Or Chicago.  But she’s on the Ace Blogger Panel and shared her neighbor project here …

 

This post was written as part of my partnership with Ace Hardware as a member of the Ace Blogger Panel.  Ace Hardware provided me with all the materials needed to complete this neighbor project, including the Moen kitchen faucet and Hamilton Beecher blender.  However, all opinion about the faucet, the blender and Ace Hardware are 100% my own.