1. Shut the water off. You will need to turn the water off to your faucet. Check under The  sink for the pipes that run  to your faucet.   Somewhere along the route of those pipes  will be handles (See First Picture) turn this valve to shut the water off to your sink.
2. Turn the handles to the right clockwise to shut off the water.  Turn the handle right to shut off.Remember  “Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey”.If by some chance there is no shut off you will need to shut off your main water supply which is located near your water meter. 
   

   Stop up up the sink drainafter you have turned off the water. Use either the stopper on your sink for plugging the drain, or do it yourself with a rag. You dont want anything to go down the drain, more trouble.
3. Take the faucet handles off. Take out the screw Picture (2) that is holding them on. Use the screwdriver for this. Some faucet handles might hide their screws behind plastic or metal caps. You might have to pry the cap off with a flathead screwdriver to get at the screws holding the handles on, or unscrew a cap. Once you’ve removed the screws, pry the handles off with a flathead screwdriver. Some handles might come off easily without the need for prying.
   

   

   Picture 2

4. Once you have the faucet handle off (Fig. 3), remove the old washer that was behind the handle. If there is no washer behind the handle, that is okay, you are going to add one.
5. Take the washer you’ve purchased. Simply place the washer where the old washer was. (Fig. 4) Basically the hole in the washer should be just slightly bigger than the post that the handle turns.
   

   

   Fig. 3

   

   

   Fig. 4

6. Put the faucet handle back on the post and put the screw back in. Tighten the handle until it is “hand tight”. That means tighten the screw until it feels tight without you having to use extra strength to tighten it.
7. Turn your water back on by turning the handles under the sink counter-clockwise (remember, “Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey”).
8. Check it. If everything went well you shouldn’t have a leaky faucet any longer. If your faucet continues to leak, try tightening the screws on the faucet handles just a bit more. If the faucet still leaks, then it really is time to call a plumber.

 
 How to Fix a Sink Pop-up Stopper

 Handyman uses this diagram should help you identify the problem so that you can fix it.

If your sink pop-up won’t pop up or seat properly, fixing it is quite easy’usually just a matter of adjusting a few parts. The culprit is often a buildup of hair around the base of the stopper or the pivot rod mechanism. Or, the clevis (see the illustration at right) may be out of adjustment. Here’s how to fix it: 1) With a slight twist, try to lift out the stopper. If it seems to be linked to the mechanism, reach under the sink and unscrew the pivot rod retaining nut and pull out the pivot rod to disengage it.              2) Lift the stopper from the drain. Clean off all hair and debris. If the stopper is broken or its seal looks worn, replace it.       3) Face the hole at the bottom of the stopper toward the pivot rod’s location, and drop the stopper back into the drain hole. Insert the pivot rod so that it engages the hole in the bottom of the stopper, and tighten on the retaining nut with the stopper in its up position. 4) Loosen the set screw on the clevis, and adjust the strap up or down so that it operates the pivot rod to open and close the stopper. Retighten the set screw.   Check out our Garden tips.

There is no tried and true way to know precisely when a water heater needs replacement. Obviously, a leak in the body of the heater requires immediate replacement. If there is a major malfunction, such as complete or partial loss of hot water supply, leakage around plumbing fittings, or the appearance of excessive corrosion on the heater body itself or at the heater’s plumbing connections, AND the unit is more than eight years old, replacement may be preferable to repair (if a repair is possible, that is). I would leave this up to your budget and repair skills.

All the active parts and most of the plumbing parts–the heating elements, thermostat, anode rod, and the various valves–are designed to be replaceable. The main obstacle to disassembly is corrosion. A water heater corrodes more quickly than other plumbing fixtures because of the constant high temperature at which it operates, and the fact that sometimes the water heater acts as an electric ground, accelerating this corrosive process. Corrosion makes replacing any parts chancy, since the replacement may leak, necessitating the replacement of the entire heater. So, like a conscientious Boy Scout, be prepared for the possibility of replacement even when the repair seems simple and straightforward. So it goes with plumbing!

In most case’s, with a water heater more than 13 years old, repairs are probably not cost-effective, since the life expectancy of a water heater is only 8-12 years. As they age, they become less efficient. This is true for all heaters, but more for electric types. Modern water heaters have better insulation and are more efficient “out of the box,” so you may notice dramatic savings in fuel and/or electric costs by replacing it.Oh and by the way,check out the Garden section on this site.