Sinks & Faucets

Bathroom Faucet, Drain and Sink Installation

Your bathroom should be an oasis. Whether you’re relaxing, preparing for the day or winding down after a long day, you need reliable faucets and sinks to deliver water to you. Plus, a seamless bathroom design can do wonders for your happiness and relaxation when you’re using the space. Both function and style impact the usability of your bathroom, and your local plumbing company should be prepared to help you with all your needs.

Earl’s Plumbing is the go-to plumber in Frisco, McKinney, Plano, Allen and surrounding areas for all of your bathroom faucet and sink concerns! From shape to style to material, we know everything there is to know about your sinks and faucets — and the plumbing that makes them work dependably!

Whether you need to replace a broken faucet or are simply updating your bathroom to reflect your home’s style, bathroom plumbing projects are best completed by a knowledgeable plumber. Although our team doesn’t usually sell the faucets or sink or faucet products, we’re happy to install your new fixtures flawlessly after you purchase them.

Installing Your Bathroom Faucet

If your faucets aren’t working or are outdated, it can make using your bathroom pretty difficult. For new home builds, you’ll also need brand new faucets installed with your sinks, but have you thought about all the factors that go into installing a new faucet?

A simple replacement of the same kind of faucet you already have can often be accomplished with common household tools, but you risk future water leaks if you don’t connect the new fixture correctly. While it’s possible to install a faucet yourself, there’s more to the installation process than you might think — especially if you’re changing the type, shape or material of the faucet for a new kind!

Not every faucet is designed the same way, and there are some important design and functionality mistakes that you can avoid by working with a professional plumber. Our expert plumbers don’t provide faucet products for your home, but we do have knowledge of the mechanics of installing faucets.

Once you purchase your new faucet — or before the purchase when you need to know what kind of faucet can be installed in your bathroom — our plumbers want the installation to go smoothly. This means being aware of the details of faucet installation and the specifics of the faucet you’ve chosen.

Deck Mount vs Wall Mount

Most bathroom faucets are separated into two main categories: deck-mounted versus wall-mounted. These two kinds of faucets determine what surface your faucet is designed to rest on.

Deck-mounted faucets are supposed to be installed on the countertop or sink surface while wall-mounted faucets are installed into the wall and hang over the sink bowl. Many faucets aren’t designed for both configurations, so knowing which surfaces are even possibilities for faucet installation is important. Some countertop materials may not pair well with certain kinds of sinks or faucets either, making your faucet installation more difficult or even impossible!

You don’t want to purchase a faucet and then find out it can’t be installed where you envisioned it!

What Are The Different Types Of Bathroom Faucets?

Home design is always changing, so there are constantly new and different fixtures trending. However, there are some common faucet types that our team installs frequently. Choosing between these kinds of fixtures determines how many holes must be present, what surface the faucet is installed on, what kinds of sinks can be paired with the faucet and many more details.

Centre-Set
Bridge
Single Handle
Spread Fit/ Widespread
Vessel

Make sure you know ahead of time which kind of faucet you have, and be prepared for our plumbers to make a strategy once we have all the information. Once we know what we’re working with, the plumbing fittings underneath the sink are relatively standard, and we can install the drain piping, supply tubes and even the shutoff valves as mentioned above!

Sink Installation

The majority of sink installations are actually NOT done by the plumber. However, at Earl’s Plumbing, some of our licensed plumbers have extensive remodeling background and the equipment to install drop-in and vessel type sinks, as well as reattach or install undermount sinks. Installing a sink and the method used is very dependent upon the type of sink and the type of countertop. Even if the sink comes pre-installed into the countertop, you should always have a professionally licensed technician complete the plumbing of the faucet, drain, tubular and possibly the AC condensation line.

At Earl’s Plumbing, every truck carries the specific types of specialty drains and fittings that are necessary for everything to function properly. We’ll make sure your brand new sink is connected properly, drains without leaking, and is ready to operate before we leave!

Sink Plumbing in Allen, TX

What are all those pipes underneath your bathroom sink? Installing sink plumbing is relatively easy to understand, but it’s still important to have a professional plumber complete the job.

1. Supply Tubes

First, there are two supply tubes — one for hot water and one for cold. They are usually silver wire mesh but can be made of different materials. Earl’s only uses the best products available, and those are the braided stainless steel supply lines. These tubes (supply lines) allow the hot and cold water to be delivered out of your faucet.

2. Shutoff Valves

All sources of water for faucets (and toilets) should have a functioning shutoff valve at the wall. There are different types and different varieties based on the plumbing pipe in your home. Most shutoff valves, also referred to as “angle stops”, have a limited lifespan before they stop functioning properly. That varies by type and manufacturer, but most builder-grade versions may last 10 years.

If you’re replacing the faucet or remodeling the bathroom, you should be prepared to replace your shutoffs. Most older shutoff valves are silver and have a football-shaped handle. In new homes with PEX water lines, yours may be white plastic and have the push and pull to open and close. You definitely want to upgrade these at the first opportunity.

3. Drain Assembly

Next is the actual drain assembly. This simply allows you to plug the sink. There are different types of these as well. The standard version is the “pop-up assembly”. This is usually operated by the plunger rod attached to the faucet. At Earl’s, we prefer to use a superior push-to-close/ push-to-open type. We feel that these last a lot longer, are more attractive and function better by actually stopping the water from draining. We offer these as an upgrade option, but sometimes this is the only version that will work in a remodel situation that has an AC condensation drain line or a countertop difference.

If there’s not an AC condensation line directly attached (usually 1 per AC unit), the next part is usually where the white tubular drain pipe starts. This is commonly referred to as the tail piece.

After that, you’ll see the infamous P-trap — this is the pipe that looks like a “U”. This may be the most important part of the drain pipe system. It creates a water seal that prevents smelly, noxious sewer gas from entering the home but also acts as a line cleaner. By design, the flow of water and change of direction creates a scouring effect that swirls away heavier debris. But this is also an area that can become clogged and must occasionally be disassembled and cleaned or replaced.

Also, there’s something that everyone should be aware of: any “accordion style” or “flexible drain” pipe should always be removed, and a proper drain pipe should be installed by a professional plumber. Just because it’s sold in one of the big box home improvement retailers doesn’t mean it’s proper, code-compliant or a good product.

After the P-trap is another piece of tubular drain pipe called the “trap arm”. It extends from the p-trap and securely connects to the pipe going into the wall at the “trap adapter”. And from there it all connects to the rest of the drainage system in the wall.

4. Watertight Components

A few other components not yet mentioned are all equally important and are often the cause of the majority of leaks under a sink. These are called the “threaded slip nuts” and the proper “slip nut washer”. These guys are what make everything watertight.

Far too often we see a bad DIY or handyman job where someone has installed silicone, caulk, pipe dope, plumbers putty, leak tape and/or all sorts of other products around these areas. Not only is this not necessary when installed “correctly”, but it’s also not proper.

Residential Bathroom Plumbing By Earl’s Plumbing in Plano

We can make your sink or faucet installation simple and hassle-free. Earl’s Plumbing is committed to giving Frisco the very best bathroom plumbing services, and we can prove it. Every one of our plumbers is trained and certified, ensuring that your home flows smoothly. When you need plumbing services that you can trust, call on our team!

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