How to Remove a Tap

Our quick, step-by-step guide on how to remove a tap will give you a good idea if you’re attempting some DIY in the bathroom. If you are concerned about shutting off water you should get in contact with a plumber and ask for a quote. The average quote to replace bathroom taps is in the region of £150. If you can perform this task by yourself you’ll only have to worry about the cost of a new set of taps. Even if you can’t perform every task required for a full bathroom demolition, you can save money by completing some of the jobs yourself. Unfortunately, not all taps can be lifted off in the same way. This is a fairly generic guide that should work with a lot of taps, you may have to do more research if it doesn’t apply to your own tap.

How to remove taps – What you may need:

Step 1 – Shut off the Water

You will first have to shut off the water supply to your basin taps. You should start by checking to see if the hot and cold pipes have an isolation nut. Leave your taps on to run slightly so you can see if what you do does actually isolates the water supply. If you turn the isolation nut and the water stops trickling you’ll know that you’ve been successful. If the water is still flowing you may have to locate your water stopcock and turn it off there.

Step 2 – Tap Head Removal

You may need a basin wrench to undo the nuts and tap from being securely in place. These nuts are often tight and in difficult-to-reach places for conventional wrenches. First, unscrew the connection between the water supply pipes and the tap. After you can loosen the nut that holds the tap in place, these are usually made of black plastic. From here you should be able to loosen the tap by hand or if not, with the assistance of your basin wrench. Make sure you don’t lose your rubber washers or have replacements for when you install new taps.

Step 3 – Additional Info

If you are looking to remove your sink basin as well as your taps you can read up on tips here. If you’re not installing a new tap straight away you will want to purchase some blanking caps to cap off the exposed water supply pipes. This will allow you to turn the water back on without it spraying everywhere.

How to get rid of taps, stainless steel and bathroom waste

With your newfound understanding of how to remove a tap you may be about to tackle your own bathroom demolition. Explore our quick and efficient options like a ‘Man and Van’ collection or Skip Bag service. The materials used in items like stainless steel taps can be recovered, melted down and recycled. At Clearabee are proud to be able to recycle 95% of the waste we collect from bathroom removal and other rubbish collections jobs. We have also planted our own Clearabee forests which have allowed us to become are carbon neutral company.