My kitchen sink has recently become difficult to shut off (we have a pull-down spray nozzle with single handle control). It feels like we are fighting to shut the water off against a high water flow, but the water pressure coming from the faucet doesn't seem abnormal. The other night, the hot water started leaking under the sink, so my husband shut the hot water nozzle that's under there. That seemed to solve the shut off issue and we noticed significant less pressure/difficulty when turning it off and on. Last night, we noticed the pressure was back, and it's difficult to shut the water off again. Obviously, we need to fix the hot water leak, but is there any common issue that would cause this pressure/difficulty in shutting it off, and (if so) is it something a layman could fix?
High pressure and leak in kitchen sink
- Thread starter dogmomJen
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Check your incoming water pressure at one of the outdoor spigots. You can get them, which screw on just like your garden hose, for about $12. You may need to either add or replace your pressure regulator.
RickFlorida
Well-Known Member
What part of Florida are you in? Got any pictures of the shut off valves under the sink? This a bizarre issue of the difficulty in turning off the faucet as you describe, like it's under pressure? My gut tells me it's not really from water pressure. More likely I would think you are feeling resistance from a cartridge going bad or a silicone gasket that is pinched in the faucet? I like to fix/replace the cheap or easy stuff first. Maybe try replacing the cartridge in the faucet. My bathroom faucets often get gunked up and very hard to turn from the cheap metal corroding and expanding on the inside where the cartridge is supposed to rotate. Our hard water from city water makes it worse between humidity in Florida and then the cheap metal that even Moen or Delta now uses in their faucets. I think the old faucets were solid brass with chrome plating. But now... American executives are greedy and obsesses with short term quarterly profits so their faucets are not solid brass with chrome finishes but are pot metal like zinc and then they plate them.
If money is no object, there are a few smaller companies that make solid brass faucets that are then plated. They are probably worth it if you keep the house forever and live in high humidity and hard water environments. One of the professional plumbers here listed a company that sells such high end faucets. I didnt' even know they existed!
But if there is something weird about the water pressure/flow or venting, I want to know if you are on well water in Florida which means different equipment or are you on city water?
We are in Clearwater, on city water. Here are the valves my husband was turning (I didn't realize it was a splitter for the hot water in my original post). The one on the left, to the sink, is currently turned off because it was leaking. The one on the right, to the dishwasher, is on and appears to be functioning properly.
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RickFlorida
Well-Known Member
Everything looks normal and good here. Do I understand correctly that it's the faucet handle on top of the sink that feels difficult to close, correct? And you have normal looking water pressure/flow out of the faucet when it's on? I would try putting in a new catridge first. A genuine OEM catridge (moen if it's moen or delta if it's delta, etc).
I can think of what would cause it to be hard to turn off except something wrong with the faucet it's self. (inside the handle or cartridge is caked up with corrosion or something).
Thank you! It appears to have corrected itself again. sigh. Since I hate that faucet anyway (came with the house, not by choice lol), I'm inclined to just replace the whole dang thing at this point!
