Tried to fix a leaky faucet last Saturday and now my kitchen floor has a new pattern

Spent $40 on a faucet repair kit from Lowe's and somehow made the leak worse. Anybody else ever turn a $20 plumbing fix into a $200 problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

williams.sage1mo agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Dave tried that last spring with his bathroom sink. He spent a whole Saturday wrestling with some brass fittings from Home Depot and ended up snapping the shutoff valve clean off under the cabinet. Had to call a plumber on a Sunday, cost him around 250 bucks for the emergency visit plus the new valve.

the_anthony1mo ago

Yeah that "snapped clean off" part hurts to even read. 250 bucks for a Sunday lesson learned the hard way.

the_harper1mo ago

My buddy read this article about how most DIY plumbing fails happen because people underestimate water pressure in older homes. @williams.sage's story about the shutoff valve snapping is exactly what the article warned about, said those brass fittings get brittle over time. Had a similar thing happen to me with a kitchen faucet, ended up flooding the cabinet and had to replace the whole floor board underneath. Sometimes that $40 fix turns into a $300 mess real quick when you don't account for how worn out the old parts are.