Whew! I love it when a plumbing job works out. [View all]

I'm a great carpenter, a mediocre electrician, and a shitty plumber.

I have a $500 pull down kitchen sink faucet that was leaking (I installed it in 2015). I've repaired a shower faucet successfully before, but that had seats and springs. This kitchen faucet had a cartridge. I had to research how to fix it, as well as research the correct part numbers.

Couldn't turn of the water under the sink because I had to lay on my back and I couldn't get any leverage on them, so I shut off the water at the main.

Hit the handle set screw yesterday with some PB Blaster to let it soak in overnight. That still took me a good 5 minutes to unscrew.

Tried to remove the trim on the bonnet nut, it wouldn't budge. Wrapped it with electrical tape and tried again with the channel locks. The trim piece didn't come off the bonnet nut...instead, the entire bonnet nut came out with the trim piece still attached. So, I was glad I ordered a new bonnet nut because I had to put it tight in a vice, essentially crushing the old one, in order to get the trim piece off.

Plumber's grease on the O-ring on the new bonnet nut, installed like a charm. Took a good 15 minutes to get the handle back on, because my fat fingers have trouble with those little set screws. Everything is nice and tight now, no leaks, wife is happy. Less than 45 minutes, including clean-up.

Probably a $250 job if I called a plumber. DIY was less tan $20 in parts.

Money saved will be used for a fancy dinner at a favorite Italian restaurant.

I'm always on top of the world when even simple plumbing jobs work out, because I am really bad with plumbing.