Dwelling

Basin Buddy

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Universal wrench for replacing faucets

About a year ago, the cold water in the kitchen began to slow down to a trickle. Instead of changing the cartridge I decided to just change the entire faucet as the old faucet was nearing 20 years old and was getting rusty.

I bought this Basin Buddy socket and a regular basin wrench. I had never changed out a faucet before and did not know what would be the best to use. After shutting off the water and verifying that the water is off at the faucet, you can use the Basin Buddy to easily remove the supply lines under the faucet. Then you can also use it to remove the plastic retaining flange nuts that hold the faucet down to the sink.

The cut outs at the top of the tool grab the wings of the retaining flange. It comes with an adapter so you can use either a 1/4 or 3/8 ratchet. Using this socket and a ratchet and extension makes the entire chore much easier. You do not have to reach up so far. I did not even bother with the basin wrench. I returned it.

I reused the Basin Buddy socket the other day to replace the bathroom faucet. What makes it great is that it gives you better control over how much torque you’re applying. Supply lines usually are compression fitted, so you tighten it by hand as much as you can and then about another 1/4 turn of the ratchet and it is done. With the ratchet, it makes it easier to gauge how far you are turning it.

A plumber charges about $150 to $200 depending on your area to change out a faucet, so this tool easily pays for itself even if you just use it once.

As a tip, after turning off the water and making sure it is off, remove the supply line nuts at the bottom first just to verify that no water is trickling out. Because if so, you can easily twist them back on tight. It is easier to twist the bottom ones back on then the ones way up top under the faucet. And supply lines are pretty cheap at about $5 each, so it is cheap insurance to replace them at the same time that you are replacing the faucet.
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-- Justin Lamar 07/12/21

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