Bathroom Guide

How do I loosen a very stubborn nut underneath my sink?

Here's the deal: I want to change my bathroom sink faucet. I was able to loosen the cold water nut underneath my sink with a basin wrench. But the hot water nut won't budge. It is like freakin' fused. I applied liquid plumber and WD-40, clamped onto it with a vise grips and tried turning the vise grips with a huge wrench. IT WILL NOT BUDGE!! I'm at my wits end! Any suggestions? Thanks to all who answer.

Public Comments

1. torch
2. Try a red (or flame) wrench. You may have to cut that sucker off. Actually, it sounds like a good time to call in a plumber, friend.
3. Try some grease that you can buy quite cheap from B&Q or most DIY stores. Hope this helps!!
4. you could get or borrow a Dremel tool with a cutting disc and make a cut through the nut and break it off, or if you can get the cutting disc under the nut you could cut the bolt off. I've had to do that in the past when i used to work as a maintenance man
5. Some of those old nuts under the sink are actually rusted on. I had one which wouldn't budge, and the plumber had to take the sink out and turn it upside-down to cut the nut off.
6. Go with the vise grips again,this time squeeze the nut super hard as to squish it a little,then move your grip to squish it back,this breaks the corrosion.
7. Try tightening it first. Use some force while tightening. See if you can get it to turn just a little by tightening it. Then try loosening it. Sometime the threads get a build up of either water deposits or corrosion, which could create a bond . When you try to tighten it, it could break the bond loose, between the threads and the nut. It kind of gives you the head-start you need to break the bond.
8. get a tool called a crows foot. This is basically a plumbing spanner that is bent over on the jaws so that you can get into tight places (presumably,this is your problem) .Then put a lever through the bottom end of the crows foot and turn. If it doesnt turn get a bigger lever until it does. It will turn! i suggest that you get someone to counter the turn on the faucet(tap to us english),otherwise you will damage the basin.
9. P.B. BLASTER its like wd40 but better
10. I would either us PB Blaster its a great penetrate or just torch it off the heat will expand it some and then you should be able to use your vice grips to break it loose ...just be careful it will be hot, but be prepared to change out the supply line after you get loose or just cut it off
11. Yip had the same problem today on my car sump nuts. Put a chisel on it and start to tap it with a hammer. If no luck let the hot water run through for 2 mins. This is why it is stuck, it heats and cools and heats and cools, this causes expansion and contraction which through time locks the nut. Make sure when you hit it with chisel you are going in the right direction. But firstly if the nut is not rounded get a decent tight fitting spanner, turn on the hot tap, let it run and im sure it'll give. Good luck