How can I replace an 80 year old kitchen faucet?
Does anyone know of a new kitchen faucet that would fit as a replacement for my 80 year old Crane faucet, preferably a reasonably priced one? It is a slant back faucet on a 6 foot long, cast iron, enamel sink with 9 inches between handles. The hole between the handles used to hold a pull out sprayer. The small shelf above the faucet can be easily removed. Thanks.
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I would take the photo to Home Depot, Lowes, or Menard's. You need a faucet that has separate spout and handles not connected together under the sink.
I doubt your faucet is 80 years old. I am 84 and I don't remember sprayers when I was a child. However think you are stuck with using the current holes for the faucets, but maybe if you take this pic to a big box store or a kitchen store they could advise differently! Good luck!
You really can't. Crane was very inclusive to their own parts. You'll have to use plumbing plugs to cover old handle holes and go to a single hole faucet system. That means removing shelf permanently or at least cutting it back flush with wall. Single hole faucets can be found at any hardware store in all price range. It will be ok.
Also, the holes for the faucet are all 1 inch in diameter. Correction, the sprayer hole is 1" but the other three are larger. I think they are 1-5/8 inches.
Replacement faucet should cover the holes. You would need a widespread faucet, which are expensive, or do as Kelli suggests and install a single handle faucet. Wide spread faucets have separate valve bodies and spout. Single handle faucet you would need to cover the three holes. They sell chrome plugs for that.
Check out chicagofaucetshoppe.com. They claim to have to have the largest selection of online Crane faucet parts. Perhaps you can salvage your existing faucet with the parts not working. Best of luck! Your sink and faucet are a beauty! :)
Look for a new faucet set you like at a home/hardware supply store. Most are a different width between handles. Standards are 4" and 8". So keep the handles where they are but use the new knobs there. Use the faucet where the old one is unless the plumbing is in poor condition. If you must replace the entire plumbing setup you may need a plumber to help extend it to fit the odd width between the handles. Sets come in big price ranges.
Look at the old plumbing underneath and determine the condition. Look to see if it's been extended to fit. Then take pictures if you can. Go prepared to ask for help. Pictures from above and underneath along with exact measurement from the centers of those knobs will help determine what you can do. Most places will help you figure it out. I go to Home Depot to ask for help but any reputable store where you are will help.
If you find a set that fits, usually a wrench to tighten things that are threaded will be all you need. There are faucets that rise high and some are low. A long faucet that swivels is a must to fill both sides of your sink. High or low is something you can choose. Most sets range from cheap around $50 to hundreds of dollars. I just paid $80 for an upgrade for the repo mobile home I'm repairing. I choose a high arched faucet for filling large pots. I don't have a sprayer but I do like them.
Re: Emily's comment
Yes, Wendy's kitchen unit is definitely c1940. Here is an advert from that time, showing what looks to me to be an identical unit. Depending on where you lived, you may not have seen sprayers on sinks, but Crane and Kohler both made them.
When United States entered WW II in 1941, this style of faucets were largely discontinued for domestic use, due to their wartime metal restrictions, and not more readily seen again until the 1950's.
Why replace it? It's a rare thing to find nowadays, keep it.
I want to replace the faucet, not the sink. I can find parts for the original faucet but I don't think they make the entire faucet anymore. I would like a faucet that has separate handles but would be nice to have more modern features. Also, I'm in California and I have to get one that is California compliant. I have found a few that might work. I made a mistake about the diameter of the holes. I believe they are greater than 1". The sprayer is 1" but I won't know the hole size on the handles until we take it apart and I have no other sink to use if I do that. Does anyone know the size of the other holes? I believe they are 1-5/8". I found a picture of a similar sink and the other 3 holes are much larger that the sprayer hole. I love this sink. :)
You should try to find a faucet that will fit your measurements or slightly bigger and replace it. I feel like it's possible to do. The sink looks sturdy enough. We did something similar at my mother's house. Her plumbing was horrible (I mean the house is from the late 60s') and we thought it was time to make a change, especially since she was always in the kitchen. We consulted a professional and he agreed to do it. He just told us to pick a faucet (which was a struggle) and he would do the rest. It was really hard to pick one because there are so many options on the market. We ended up finding a list of the best ones with their characteristics (you can check it here: Kraus faucet reviews) Thankfully we picked one. In the end it turned out really nice and my mom is happy with the improvement even though she was skeptical at first
I’d like to purchase your faucet.
by the way, you should contact deabath.com they would have some faucet suggestions.
regards, Matt
We had to replace our faucet on a similar sink. We opted for the widespread faucet from Kingston Brass, model KS2791AXBS though there were others with different handles that they carry as well. Our challenge was that the handles turned out not to cover the top of the flared escutcheon that houses the ceramic cartridge. Since we have hard water, we worried that water from wet hands on the faucet would work its way down in there would get the threads caked and it would, even with grease, become impossible to remove that threaded part to change out the future. Also the instructions were not clear with this unit. They said to just screw on the escutcheon after sliding the base valve through from the back, but that would mean that every time you wanted to change out the cartridge, the entire unit would drop loose out of the sink and disappear below decks. We eventually realized that they had provided a spare large brass nut that could be placed above decks, not pictured or mentioned in any of the instructions, nor in the schematic for assembly, however it fit in nicely under the faucet trim ring. We preferred to abandon using the spout trim ring, as it might stick out too far over the slanted section. We added another oversized washer behind the sink faucets, as the holes on the crane sinks are pretty large. To solve the problem that it appears water dripping from the handle can get down into the escutcheon area, we added a large stainless finish washer just below the handle, to divert water away from the area. You could use a brass lamp part alternatively if you didn't mind the color... it barely shows behind the faucet. On our sink it ended up looking like the attached photo. To reason we chose this faucet was that the handles were not very tall, didn't protrude so far out that they would be in the way when wrangling a large pot. Kingston faucets have a 10 year warranty.
Call in a Plumber! If you really want to do it yourself, Buy a Book on Plumbing DIY.