DIY Tips – Replacing a tap

The modern tap is so much better than its predecessor and with a huge array of taps using modern technology at UK Bathrooms; it is worth considering replacing the old ones in your bathroom. This is not a difficult job and is something that a person with some basic DIY skills and tools can do easily.

The first thing that you must do of course is to turn off the water supply. Now this may not be as straightforward as you think because with the cold supply this can be directly fed from the mains, but in a property that has been built within the last fifty years, it will almost certainly have an indirect supply. This means that only the cold water to the kitchen will be fed directly from the mains supply, the remaining taps in the home, both hot and cold are supplied through a tank in the roof space and it will be necessary to drain this.

Turn off the supply to the house and then run the water off through the hot and cold taps. When the water stops running you can now set about replacing the taps.

One of most fiddly parts of this job is getting the old tap off which is held in place with a large back nut. You may find this to be quite inaccessible; you will need a basin spanner which can be bought from a hardware supplier or plumbers merchant.

Firstly unscrew the nut holding the water pipe to the tap and then unscrew the back nut holding the tap to the basin you should now be able to remove the tap from the basin. Now put the new tap in place and make sure that it has a slip washer or a silicone bed to sit on and ensure that it is securely tightened.

If the tap you are removing has a flexible connector then it is straightforward, simply reconnect it. If not it will pay to fit a flexible connector which again you can buy at a plumbers merchant. It will be necessary to cut the existing copper pipe down in order to accommodate the flexible connector. This can be done with a junior hacksaw or pipe cutter.

The flexible connector fits onto the copper pipe by using a compression fitting and this requires a couple of spanners. Put the nut of the compression joint onto the end of the pipe, and then push the “olive” ring onto the end of the pipe. Next push the body of the flexible connector on to the pipe and screw it up with the nut, using the spanners to tighten up the nut. As you tighten it up the brass “olive” is compressed and creates a water tight seal.

Turn on the water supply to fill the cold and hot supply tanks, then stand back and admire both your handy work and your modern up to date taps.