DIY - Kitchen Tap Job

Steps towards being able to reach the tap

The pipe spanner being used.

Hello Fellow DIYers,

It has been a while since my last DIY update, but I have been ever busy with DIY jobs and have managed to cross 3 off of my long to-do list that has got me in the good books of my wife for a few days at least. This week I also repaired the Air Fryer where a screw appeared from somewhere so I had to investigate and fix that up. It was a nice and simple job in the end.

I gave a hint yesterday about the tool I used and for what job it might be. @beststart came close with a heating repair job, but the repair was much simpler than that luckily. Although I do have an issue with my heating with some damaged vents, I needed to call a heating engineer to fix that for me as it is a tough one for me to fix myself.

Today we had a loose kitchen tap that needed investigating. First up, I had to take the cupboard door and shelf off and clear out the cupboard to try and get access to the tap. You can see in the photos that the access to the tap was tucked away very tightly behind the sink.

Once I leaned on my back and could see it, I discovered that the bracket holding the tap in place had become loose and needed realigning. I brought out my regular spanners and the smallest adjustable spanner that I had but I just couldn't get a grip on the screw, therefore I thought that I would need another tool so I searched Google for what tools plumbers are usually using for these types of jobs. I am not so good at remembering their names.

After some research, I found out I needed a Pipe Spanner that would slot over the screw nicely as you can see in the photo. Unfortunately, I didn't have a set at home and needed to buy one so I checked my local DIY store online and they had some available. They are called Doppelseitiger Rohrsteckschlüssel in german and as my wife was driving past there decided to pick up the one we needed on the way back home. The tool costs €3,85 and will be a useful addition to the toolset for when the kitchen tap needs tightening in the future or I want to replace the sink.

When I installed the bathroom sink, I didn't need this tool as it was more easily reachable, but it can be pretty tight underneath the kitchen sink. With the tool in hand, I was able to quickly loosen up the screw and bracket. I aligned everything up and then re-attached it until it was very tight. A nice and simple job that you can do yourself and save money than call out a plumber or handyman.

All photos are my own.

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