I have been trying to fix a leaky faucet in my bathroom. It's an older home and the faucet is a wall mount faucet. When I unscrew the handles, they don't come off. Any tips about how to stop the leaking?

put 'faucet handle puller' into google so you will know what you need and buy one. they are not expensive and if you are going to do your own repairs, they are essential.
once you pull the handle you need to unscrew the domed shaped escutcheons and then the hex shaped top of the stem assembly will be right there.

The handles are just stuck. You need a handle puller, or some leverage behind them, to pull them off. It is an American Standard faucet so the repair parts are available.

Thanks for the handle puller tip, handle is now removed, but now none of this will budge. Any tips for loosening this up?

you need an actual 'socket' type tool NOT channel-lock pliers

they would be called a shower stem socket set



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also add some 'ooooomph'

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

make sure the stem is 1/2 way open. a 10 inch pipe wrench should give you enough leverage to loosen the nut. it will come out..

Be careful with a pipe wrench or pliers, because if you damage that nut, the chrome rings wil not screw back on. Use a deep socket with an 18" breaker bar.

If he's got to break out an 18" breaker bar, chances are he'll also be replacing the entire sink and faucet too.

so, take the running thread nipple out of the chrome ring and screw it into the female threads on the nut. if it distorts slightly it doesn't matter as the chrome ring will still screw onto the outer end.

excellent - 'DOH' to me

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

The socket will probably be 1/2" drive so the most common 1/2" breaker bar is 18" long. What "I" would use and what he may need to use are two different things. But, then, I would have had the faucet repaired and on to the next job, in the time it took him to take the pictures, log on, and submit the question.



Edited 1 times.

quote; so, take the running thread nipple out of the chrome ring and screw it into the female threads on the nut

1. If the nipple is in the cap, it will NOT distort
2. In many cases you need a lot of luck getting the nipple out of the escutcheon without damaging ITS threads.

Hey, we have a faucet set exactly like the one in the photo. We would like to know what size socket you used on it (ie, was it one of the ones that typically are found on the socket sets you buy 21/32 and up)? We had a set like that for the bathtub faucets in the old house, but left them with the house when we moved. We need to replace the washers sometime soon.