Turn off the water supply under the sink, disconnect the old tap with an adjustable wrench, and lift it out with its fittings. Drop the new tap through the mounting hole, tighten the fixing nuts underneath, reconnect the supply hoses, and turn the water back on. Check every connection point for drips. Most installs take thirty to sixty minutes.
Installing a tap isn't nearly as intimidating as it looks. You're disconnecting two water supply hoses, removing a couple of bolts, then doing it all in reverse. That's genuinely it. Take Sarah from Bristol who replaced her kitchen mixer tap last spring — no plumbing experience, done in forty minutes, saved herself £140 in call-out fees. The trickiest part isn't the tap itself. It's the cramped space underneath the sink. Bring a torch, grab a small mirror to see the back nuts, and accept that you'll probably bang your head at least once. Tool-wise: an adjustable wrench, a basin wrench if your sink cabinet is narrow, plumber's tape, and a bucket — because water will spill when you disconnect those hoses, no matter how careful you are. Most standard taps share the same hole spacing, so compatibility is rarely the issue people worry it will be. Disconnect carefully, install cleanly, check for leaks. That's the whole job.
If you're swapping an existing tap for a new one — same hole configuration, accessible shut-off valves underneath — you're in the sweet spot for doing this yourself. Already bought the replacement and watched the old one drip for three months? Installing it yourself saves somewhere between fifty and two hundred dollars in labor costs alone. Renters often handle this themselves because it's faster than waiting on maintenance. That said, stop and call a professional if you're rerouting supply lines, dealing with corroded brass compression fittings you've never touched before, or your sink cabinet has no shut-off valves at all. Those aren't beginner jobs. But a straightforward like-for-like replacement on a standard kitchen or bathroom sink? First-timers handle this every day.
People think you need a plumber's license to touch any plumbing. You don't. Replacing a tap is basic maintenance, not restructuring your home's plumbing system. Here's another one: that all taps fit all sinks. They don't, but single-hole and double-hole setups cover most kitchen and bathroom sinks just fine. What about flooding? You control the water through valves under the sink, so you won't accidentally trigger a disaster. And the biggest myth of all? That this is harder than it actually is. Spend twenty minutes on YouTube and grab basic tools, and most homeowners pull it off. Don't let fear talk you out of trying.
Start by checking that the shut-off valve under your sink is fully closed — some older valves don't seal completely and will keep letting water trickle through no matter what you do above them. If the valve is fully closed and you're still seeing drips at the tap body, the packing nut probably needs another quarter-turn. That's the large hexagonal nut where the tap meets the sink deck. Turn off the water, snug it down a little more with your wrench, and test again. Don't overtighten — firm hand pressure is enough.
Yes, use it. Wrap the threads on your supply hose connections three to four times with PTFE tape, going clockwise so the tape doesn't unwind when you screw the fitting on. It costs less than a dollar, takes thirty seconds, and prevents the majority of minor leaks that catch DIY installers out after they turn the water back on. Don't skip it to save time.
Spray WD-40 or a penetrating oil like Liquid Wrench around the base of the fixing nut and give it a full fifteen minutes to work into the threads — not thirty seconds, fifteen minutes. Then try your wrench again with slow, steady pressure rather than a hard jerk. Still not moving? Wrap a rubber band or wet cloth around the nut for extra grip and try a longer-handled wrench for more leverage. The one thing you don't want to do is crank it violently — old ceramic sinks can crack under that kind of force, and that's a much bigger problem than a stubborn nut.