Fixing a Faucet, MacGyver Style

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Last week, my kitchen faucet broke.  I’m ashamed to admit that my first thought was to call my husband and ask him to come home early to fix it {my second thought being, “I should skip the middle man and call the plumber directly since it will probably end up there anyways”, but let’s not tell my husband I said that, okay?}

Hold the phone.  CALL MY HUSBAND?!  What would Pretty Handy Girl say to THAT?  She’d say, “girl, you can do this thing.”  And you know what?  She’s probably right.

Pretty Handy Girl
I channeled my inner Pretty Handy Girl, unfortunately minus that hot pink toolbelt.

First things first.  Instead of calling my husband, I hit up my friend Google.  Almost instantly I got lost in lingo like ‘cartridges’ and ‘non-interchangeable parts’.  After tracking down the name of my faucet and probable item number of my faucet (I couldn’t find the exact item number), I took a deep breath and called the manufacturer (Moen).  I was kinda sure they’d tell me just to call a plumber, but it was a start.

Once on the phone, the customer service rep reiterated how important it was to have the exact item number of the faucet.  Which actually sounds like, “Carrie, get your crap together and organize your instruction manuals, will you?”  Thankfully she didn’t directly say that, instead she had me take a cell phone pic and email it to her.  Instantly she was able to identify that yes, I had the name/number correct (score one for the airhead!)

Fixing the Flow of the Moen Annabelle Faucet

After describing the problem (the water was hitting the aerator/sprayer full force, but only coming out a little bit), she said: “go grab a kitchen towel, a chip clip, and a wrench.”

Which meant a minute later I was doing this:

Fixing the Flow of the Moen Annabelle Faucet
pulling out the hose and attaching a chip clip so it didn’t snap back in

and this:

Fixing the Flow of the Moen Annabelle Faucet
unscrewing the sprayer; be sure to have something underneath like a colander to catch any parts that may fall out

and using some of these:

Fixing the Flow of the Moen Annabelle Faucet
taking out the small white plastic screen from the end of the hose, I used toothpicks to dislodge the debris stuck inside each tiny hole

14 minutes after first picking up the phone, my kitchen faucet was working again!  No husband or plumber needed.

Fixing the Flow of the Moen Annabelle Faucet

Just a chip clip, a toothpick, and my gal Nichole talking me through it.

You see, I may be able to make a gift card holder from a coffee sleeve but when it comes to household repairs I’m less than confident.  Not anymore.  As Brittany says, if a human can do it then there’s a 95% chance you can do it to.

As for me, you can call me Macgyver from here on out.  After all, I did fix a faucet with a chip clip and a toothpick.

Now I just need to get up the nerve to tackle this little guy.

Fixing the Flow of the Moen Annabelle Faucet

Installing a new bathroom faucet?  Pssssh, that’s nothing.  I fixed a freaking kitchen faucet with a chip clip!

{Wonder if my girl Nichole will talk me through the bathroom faucet installation, too?}

Any home improvements you’d like to tackle on your own?  Did you ever DIY something instead of calling a pro?  And have you MacGyvered anything recently?  Please share!

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