Why Is My Kitchen Faucet Leaking at the Base?

Water can leak and drip not only from the spout of your non-compression faucet but from other parts of the faucet assembly as well. If you have a faucet with a swing spout, it is possible for the swing spout to leak around the base. You will see this as drops of water, or sometimes as a tiny rivulet in the case of a bad leak, running down the fixture and into the sink.

• Before doing this repair, close the valve controlling water flow to the faucet. Check to make sure it’s closed by turning the faucet handle to its open position.
• Rotate the connecting ring counterclockwise. You can use a wrench for this, but channel-lock pliers will be better and easier to work with. To keep from marring the finish of the fixture, put a strip of adhesive tape around the connecting ring.
• After you have loosened the connecting ring sufficiently, you will be able to remove the swing spout just by lifting it. At the base of the swing spout, you will find an O-ring. Get a new O-ring at your local Concord plumbing supply or hardware store, but make sure it is the same size as the old one. Coat the new O-ring with some heat-resistant grease and then reassemble your faucet.

WHAT THE PROS KNOW: If your faucet has a plastic ball, replace it with a metal one. Plastic types can wear out in less than a year, which means that you’ll be doing this repair again before you know it.