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How to Install a Faucet WHILE UNDER ATTACK!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Moen, Incorporated. All opinions are 100% mine.

Recently the kiddos and I dropped in to my parents' house to give their kitchen a quick little spiff-up. The very nice people at Moen had sent me their Kiran Spot Resist one-handle pulldown kitchen faucet and I thought my parents would be pretty pumped about getting a new faucet, so the three of us invaded. I mean visited.

My parents fell out of love with their current faucet loooong ago and were eager for a replacement!
Faucet - before
My dad and I removed and replaced it together – kind of a daddy/daughter DIY date! – which means that I unpacked the new faucet and took photos while he did the heavy lifting. The first step was removing his sink. By the way, if you ever decide you want to replace your faucet, this step is totally unnecessary. I debated with my dad for about 10 minutes to try to talk him out of taking the entire sink out, but he felt strongly that with the sink removed, the whole job would go much faster.

And since he’s the guy doing the work and I’m just the one writing the blog, he won. 😉

It only took him ten minutes to get the sink out. (In retrospect, he was right. Don’t tell him I said that.) There are just four clips under the sink that you pull off with a screwdriver, then the whole shebang pops right out.

It took him ten minutes to do that…. WHILE UNDER ATTACK! It takes a special kind of skill to remove a faucet with children crawling all over you.

First they just crawled on him, then somehow my son hijacked my dad’s tool and my dad ended up with his toy tool. I don’t recommend trying to install a faucet with a plastic wrench.

Could my mom and I have removed the children from the situation? Yes. But it was more fun to see how quickly he could install a faucet while under attack from the grandkids! Muahaha.

Ten minutes later, he had unscrewed the existing plumbing supply lines and the whole sink was out, and I had to admit – this did make it a lot easier to access the faucet situation. (If you have an undermount sink or just don't want to do that step, you can totally skip it.)

To remove the old faucet, he just unscrewed all the nuts on the back of the sink. It was a pretty quick process and straightforward: just do what ya gotta do to get all the old stuff out.

Meanwhile, I played with the pretty shiny things. I mean, helpfully unpacked the new faucet. Here's what comes inside the box.

It actually came with new plumbing supply lines! Very nice. We thought we'd have to do a quick run to the store to get more, but there they were. Egg not included.

He just threaded the new faucet with supply lines attached through the hole in the sink.

I was worried because my parents had four holes in their sink before, and this faucet only uses two, but it came with this pretty plate to cover the old holes.

Once the new faucet was threaded through, it just took a couple quick turns of the wrench to tighten down the nuts. This was the first time I'd ever participated in installing a faucet (yes, this totally counts as participation!) but my dad was very impressed by how nicely it tightened down. It feels very sturdy and well-built. That's actually a cool function called the Moen Relex system, which makes it feel SUPER smooth, easy to move and securely docked. Thumbs-up from us!

And less than an hour later – including the time it took to corral two very interested children – we had this!

Isn’t this just the sexiest faucet you ever did see?

Aside from her stunning good looks, she’s also fingerprint- and spot-resistant. And that pretty high arch also pulls down to make dishwashing a cinch. If you’re looking for a quick, high-impact change in your kitchen, you can grab a Moen Kiran faucet at your neighborhood Lowe’s. You can also swing by and “like” Moen on Facebook for more pretty faucet inspiration.

Have you ever installed a faucet on your own? Do you ever have to do DIY projects with kiddos underfoot?

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Comments

  1. What a fun daddy/daughter DIY playdate….with little munchkins crawling all over Grandpa! That is awesome. I was contemplating switching out our leaky and intensely unattractive bathroom faucets myself…so thank you for posting about this!

  2. Haha, loved the title! For some reason it made me think of aliens…
    My kids attack too when we try to do projects 🙂

  3. Much better! My dad and I do daddy/daughter DIY all the time! In fact, I think it’s in the grandparent codebook to learn to do it with small children climbing on you, asking you a million questions, and requesting bridges and play structures be constructed at the same time:) My dad even goes to my sister’s house every week for 2 hours to do fix-it stuff with her (since my house is new we have more time for cosmetic diy:)

    Jessica

  4. I was shocked last year at how easy replacing a sink faucet can be! I wish I’d known that remove-the-sink trick though 🙂

  5. Lovely faucet! Kudos to Grandpa…patience is definitely a virtue and wins brownie points with kids and their kids. (So what do they think of their sink, now that they have a spankin’ new faucet??) Hey, anytime Moen or anyone else wants someone to try out their products for free, I’m a willing guinea pig! Lessee….I can have a list of 20 things faster than you can blink! 🙂

  6. That is one sexy faucet! And these pictures of your dad with the kids just make my heart smile 🙂 How sweet!

  7. haha those pictures make this THE most entertaining post about installing a sink. 🙂 Adorable!

  8. Yep, a sexy faucet for sure. And I think you have an idea for a new DIY/HGTV show — DIY Under Attack! It could be a competition show… you’re welcome. 🙂
    xo Heidi

  9. Ohhh. Definitely sexy 😉

  10. I wish my chickens would lay us a new faucet. All we get are eggs. At least you answered the age old question of what came first, the egg or the faucet.

    Bliss

  11. Loved how your dad ended up with the toy wrench! Ha. Ha. Beautiful faucet!

  12. I wish my parents were closer so I could just invade with the kids like that. Love the new faucet 😉

  13. It looks great – nice little face lift!! I’m sure the kids were very good “helpers”

  14. Lol! I feel like most of my projects are done “while under attack”! 😉 Your dad is such a trooper! And the faucet looks fantastic!!! Hope you had a great weekend, Kelly!

    ~Abby =)

  15. Favorite line: “Egg not included.” LOVED this post, Kelly. The new faucet looks awesome! And I’m so impressed with the outcome considering the attackers your Dad had to deal with. Ha ha. (Some of the cutest attackers I ever did see.)

  16. My fave kind of faucet hands down! Great memories all around too. 😉 {I love to participate with my eyeballs too} Hehe!

  17. How awesome of you to give that beautiful faucet to your parents! And your dad rocks — he knows what to do and can still concentrate while under attack by the cutest kiddos EVER!

    🙂 Linda

  18. This is a great idea! Super easy!! Thanks for sharing.

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