[Ethan104]

I am a do it yourselfer as I can not afford to pay for things to be fixed. I was wondering if you could answer some questions?

1. I have 3 faucet handles in the bathtub/shower. One for hot, one for cold and one to make it either shower or bath.

2. They all say STERLING on them so I think that is who makes them.

3. The hot water is the one that is leaking. It leaks when it is suppose to be on and when we take showers it leaks out of the bottom to..

My question is this: I have removed the screw that supposedly holds the handle in place. I have then tried to remove the handle however when I attempt that it won't budge. Now I've tried to WD-40 it and some other crud removers as that is what I was told to do. However nothing has changed it's still feels like the handle itself is on a screw in type fixture. So my questions is am I dealing with a handle that has a special way of removing that is not just slide off? I don't think it can slide off I think it has to be unscrewed accept I can't find any more screws than just the one I mentioned earlier?


Last question does the water have to be turned off or can I do it with it still on?

[ma0641]

Not uncommon with an older faucet that has leaked. You have corrosion build up between the faucet shaft and the handle. Keep working at it, pour some hot water over the handles and they will pull off. As far as fixing the valve, you stem packing is worn and/or the packing nut is loose. After you get the handle off, unscrew the escutcheon plate and you should see a large nut that goes oner the faucet stem. Turn on the water and see if the water comes out around the nut. If so, try to tighten the stem nut. This may be a bit tricky as some of the stem nuts are recessed in the wall and you will need a special deep socket. If that doesn't work, yes, you will need to turn off the water.. Open the valves and remove the nut that holds them in. There should be a space under the nut, between the faucet body and the stem where you would press in graphite or teflow stem packing. Wrap 4-5 turns of packing around the stem, tighten the nuts, install the stems and then close the faucet. Turn on the water and see if that doesn't fix it.

[hkstroud]

You need a faucet handle puller, shown below.

Available at Home Depot, Lowe's and hardware stores.

To use, you unscrew the handle of the puller until the tip will fit into the screw hole and the legs will hook behind the faucet knob or handle. Then tighten the puller handle to pull the faucet handle off. If, after tightening the puller handle about as much as possible, the faucet handle does not want to come off, smack the end of the puller handle with a hammer. The shock and vibration will break the corrosion and the faucet handle will pop off. This is better than trying to break the corrosion by simply tightening the handle.

[ballengerb1]

Follow Harold advice and the handle will come off but I am betting then next thing that needs to come off will be even harder. I do have a method to remove the handle without a puller but it may damage that brass screw a tiny bit. Unscrew the screw half way out so it stand proud of the handle. Pull out on the handle and smack the screw with a mallet, do it twice, if no love go get a puller