August 4, 2006, Newsletter Issue #26: Installing a kitchen spray hose

Tip of the Week

Here’s something you should know before you try to attach a spray hose to your kitchen faucet: Your faucet must be set up for a spray hose: Many are, some are not. You can’t just buy a spray hose and hook it up. No. When you buy a new kitchen faucet, you will know if it comes with a spray or not. In which case, attaching it is really very easy. Look underneath at the faucet’s plumbing, so to speak. You'll probably see two copper supply tubes. Behind these tubes you will see what is known as a stub-out, which is threaded and to which you screw on the spray hose. You can’t screw up; there is only one end that you can screw on. The spray head is at the opposite end. Apropos, you should probably make sure you have threaded the hose down through the hole in the sink designed to hold the spray head. (A minor, but important detail.) Use a basin wrench to tighten the nut. This is a useful tool with a springy swivel head and big teeth that allows you to lie on your back under the sink and twist the necessary nuts. To check to see how well you screwed up, so to speak, take out the aerator on the faucet and on the sprayer. Turn on the water slowly at first, then go back and forth between the faucet and sprayer. If the bugger leaks, give the coupling nuts another quarter twist with the old basin wrench.

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