I have a Moen kitchen faucet that suddenly started dripping right after I put my house on the market to sell. Not exactly the look I wanted for showing – a spattered sink and dripping faucet.

A failing faucet cartridge is almost always the reason for a dripping faucet and is usually not a difficult fix.

Figuring out what cartridge you need

In the past I have taken bathroom faucet cartridges to the hardware store and they have matched it up to the correct replacement. This time I couldn’t even get the handle off and needed directions on how to accomplish that. There was a hole on the back of the handle and using a mirror I could tell there was a set screw in the hold that most likely needed an allen wrench. I tried and tried and could get a wrench to seat and couldn’t get the handle off. While most faucets are really easy to disassemble, this particular faucet was not a friendly design for repairs.

I searched the Moen site. Since I purchased this house as a foreclosure I had no idea what the model of the faucet was. I took pictures of the faucet and emailed them to Moen customer service and they emailed me back with the model number so I could order the replacement cartridge – this process took about 48 hours so be patient. (Note: if you are the original owner of the faucet, Moen guarantees their faucets for like and will probably send you a new cartridge for free.)

Unfortunately this Moen cartridge wasn’t available locally so I had to order it from Moen at over $20. Yikes.

Replacing the cartridge

When the cartridge arrived I called customer service to ask how to remove the handle. It required a 3/32 allen wrench – you have to be kidding me. They don’t etch sizes into little allen wrenches and I didn’t have a fold out tool that had sizes that small. Since it faced away from me I asked specifically whether I needed to turn the wrench clockwise or counter-clockwise and was told counter-clockwise while facing the faucet. That seemed counter intuitive to the lefty loosey/righty tighty idea, but okay. I assumed they knew their faucets. Note the instruction below do NOT show a faucet with a set screw in the back.

Before replacing a faucet cartridge TURN THE WATER OFF going to the faucet.

Working blind I tried allen after allen and finally felt one seat into the screw. I turned the wrench to the left or counter-clockwise and the handle wouldn’t let go. I didn’t want to ruin the set screw, so back on the phone to Moen to confirm which way would loosen. I had been told incorrectly —  I needed to turn it to the right or clockwise to loosen the set screw.

After figuring out the set screw the repair was a breeze. The handle came off, a top cover ring slid off, a nut easily came off and I was able to pull the old cartridge out by hand. I popped in the new cartridge, put all the parts back together, turned the water on and no drip!

Don’t ever let a faucet drip. Avoid the annoyance and the wasted water and do this easy fix as soon as it’s needed.