Replacing the Bathroom Faucet in the RV…

As with a sticks and bricks home,  in an RV as it ages things wear out and need to be replaced. Sharon wanted me to replace our bathroom faucet for some time but being the frugal guy I am I just didn’t want to since it worked fine.

I did agree it looked a bit worn but it worked so I figured why replace it. Well several months after she mentioned replacing it it started to leak just a little bit around its base. I couldn’t discern where it was leaking so I gave in and decided it needed to be replaced. I mean after all it was broken now, right?

As many of you know there is little pleasure in doing plumbing in a house. Well, there is less pleasure in doing it in an RV. Why? Two reasons… One is RV’s are all Pex! While it makes it easy for builders of RVs to put in all the plumbing as it is more flexible than rigid pipes, it becomes a pain in the butt to work with later.

Here is my biggest gripe about working with Pex. In order to connect Pex pieces together you need a special tool. No biggie, right? Well this special tool is over $100.00 and it is a big tool which will then need to be stored. However, there is a solution!

You can plumb with Pex without the tool but you have to buy specialized plumbing connectors called “Shark Bites.” These babies are really nifty in making Pex plumbing practically a snap, notice I said practically.

So the other reason this job was a pain other than having to work with Pex, our faucet had two handles and three holes for the faucet to fit into on the countertop. It had a unique attachment to make it affix to the counter. When searching high and low for a replacement it took me a good while until I figured out any faucet would work as long as it had three holes, a pull to lift the sink stopper up and it had long enough threaded parts to go through the countertop so I could secure it firmly to the countertop.

I finally settled on a stylish Delta faucet Sharon liked and surprisingly it went in with little pain. After removing the old faucet by cutting the Pex lines (they are red and blue for hot/cold) I bought Shark Byte connectors to attach the new one. Instead of a simple union connector I spent a little more money for the Shark Bite shut off valve so in the future I could turn the hot and/or cold water off under the sink.

If you haven’t worked with Shark Bites before they are a blessing for weekend plumbers working with Pex. Once you have a cleanly cut end of the old Pex you simply slide the Shark Bite onto the Pex until it won’t slide on anymore and it is on there baby! Once on, I attached a normal braided flexible water line from the shut off valve to the new faucet. I have to admit this was the easiest plumbing job I have ever done.

I did wait to brag about how easy it was for at least a month before I blogged about it just in case it failed…. it didn’t. I am sure when Sharon returns from North Carolina she will love her new, much more modern bathroom sink faucet!

NOTE:  While Sharon is in North Carolina I am currently at Angler’s Retreat in Rockport Texas until  May 12th…