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I have a bathroom faucet with wide set taps made by 🤷🏻‍ who knows?

They are all messed up and I need to swap them out. But I simply have not been able to figure out how to remove the taps. The taps are metal with side levers like so:

The tap with its cover on

They have a vertical set screw and with some WD40 and a lot of swearing, I managed to get the set screw out and pull the main tap handle off. But now I have a wide piece that I don't know how to remove to pull through from the bottom:

base of the tap

Conversely, on the bottom, there was a plastic nut, which I loosened as far as it would go, but that didn't free it, because it's screwed onto a t-shaped piece (you'll see that the plastic nut has been loosened as far as it will go, but cannot be removed). So I can't pull the copper T up to remove the tap either:

below the sink

I'm at my wits end. Can anyone tell me how to get this thing off?

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  • Have you tried unscrewing the chrome piece from on top of the counter (maybe with channel-lock type pliers)?
    – RetiredATC
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 3:40
  • Not yet. I was going to try that next, but the top is somewhat irregular. I don’t know that it was meant to unscrew.
    – Robert P. Goldman
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 4:17
  • Yes - try unscrewing the chrome ring that's flush with the sinktop. It may be corroded so a little vinegar or penetrating oil might help. BTW - make sure the water supply is off!
    – HoneyDo
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 4:55

3 Answers 3

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If you aren't keeping the faucet then half the time it is easier to pull out the grinder and just cut it till it will fall through.

You have to be careful as you reach the porcelain but generally a grinder, a metal cutting disc and a screw driver to crack the pieces apart works wonders for old faucets.

You can spend a lot of time trying to pull them apart and if they are going in the trash then grinding through them is quicker and more fun.

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  • I should have explained why I didn’t do that (I used a sawzall to cut off the other tap), but I didn’t want to go into how screwed I was. Turns out that the shut off valve to this tap is no good, and I had to shut off the water to the whole house when I took the feeder hoses off this tap. I hastily screwed them back on for now. So I’d rather avoid destroying this until after I get the new fixture in, just in case. But if I could figure out how to plug the supply line, I could do that and saw this one off, too.
    – Robert P. Goldman
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 12:54
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    Sadly, @RobertP.Goldman, "avoid removing (destroying) the old faucet until after the new one is installed" isn't really an option in plumbing, no matter how easily the old fixture is coming out. You'll have to remove this one in order to get the new one in. Just bite the bullet, turn off the water, remove this one, replace the local shut off valves (may as well do both while you're at it, just to be safe), then install the new one.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 12:59
  • Thanks, @FreeMan -- I'm afraid installing shut-off valves is above my pay grade. I think there will be a plumber visit in my future.
    – Robert P. Goldman
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 15:47
  • Replacing a valve isn't all that difficult. Ask a new question if you can't find info here. Odds are good that you'll be able to do it!
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 16:42
  • Get piggy back shutoff valves - they just screw into the old ones.
    – Fresh Codemonger
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 17:17
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Next step,

Fist look it there is a pin here to pull out.

Then use correct size toll and unscrew the nut (marked with yellow lines) that is holding the ring down.

pin

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  • That could, in fact, be a set screw/locking pin, but that strikes me as a very unusual installation.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 13:00
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Remove the hoses from the "T-shaped piece" and unscrew it.

Then smack the exposed end with a mallet, upwards, if it hasn't come loose by itself at that point.

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