It has been a very cold winter, and one evening our pipes froze. When they thawed, water started gushing out non-stop on the hot side. Turning the knob did nothing. The water still came out full force so I shut it off underneath the sink. The water was no longer gushing, but now even with the water source shut off there was still a steady stream. Here is a picture of my dilemma.
My father in law and I were messing with the knobs, switching parts back and forth to figure out what piece might be messed up. Nothing worked, the hot side still flowed. Finally, we decided the whole faucet must need to be replaced. I went to the store and bought the 2nd to cheapest faucet and sprayer set. I know it will probably not last very long, but we're still saving up for renovations and I needed a cheap fix. The box said, "easy", and now I was ready to take on my new project.
It actually was really easy. Pretty much all you need is a wrench to loosen and tighten the parts. All there really was to it was taking out the old, and putting in the new. The whole job took about 15 minutes, and this was my first time. One thing I do suggest is shutting off your entire water supply. I was soaked by the time I was finished.
Here is an after pic of my successful faucet transplant, and if you notice there is no leak!
I still need to clean up the old adhesive from the last faucet a little. Also, I don't think your suppose to see the black gasket around the base of the faucet. My leaky faucet is fixed, and I saved $50-100 by doing the job myself rather than calling a plumber.
Here is one of our pick up trucks. It's been in our family for over 13 years. It has about a million miles on it, but runs like a charm. About couple years ago the radiator got a hole in it, and needed to be replaced. Neither my husband nor I know much about cars, so I called around to get quotes for the repair. The lowest quote I received was $350. Well at the time we did not have an extra $350. Also, I couldn't shake feeling that the quoters were ripping me off. I decided to go look at the radiator myself. It looked like a pretty straight forward job. Just unplug a couple hoses, yank the radiator out, put a new one in. I thought to myself, "I bet I could do this". So I went on YouTube and found this video. Thank you Scotty Kilmer :)
Now I was really convinced I could do it. Now where to get a radiator? My frugal self found a discount parts store in Phoenix, AZ. If I was more into cars I would have thought this place was amazing. It was like a Costco for car parts. It was kind of funny because there was a line of like twenty men, and here I come in, a little housewife with my two kids in a stroller. I got my part for under $50, and was excited to get home and get to work. My husband thought I was nuts, but still very supportive. My father in law was worried I'd break more than I fixed.
My little assistant checking out my project
I started to remove screws and hoses. My little hands came in handy to get into tight spaces, but my lack of muscle made it hard to pull the hoses off. The only issue I encountered was that one hose was completely melted on. I decided to cut it off with a utility knife. I ran to a closer auto parts store, and picked up a new hose for just a few bucks. I got home and in under an hour finished the job. I was just as easy as I thought it would be.
Whew, got the old radiator out!
SUCCESS!!!
I felt amazing after completing this project, even though I was covered in grease. I saved $300, learned something new, and conquered a challenge. I still feel so proud when I look back at that accomplishment. Like I said earlier, that was a couple years ago and we haven't had a single issue with the radiator since my repair. This project helps me get the courage to conquer new challenges all the time. If I can change a radiator out, not knowing squat about cars, what else can I do? :)
