tub faucet repair gone bad

[Chuck Wintle]

Last night I decided to replace the washers in the faucets for the bathtub. Its supposed to be easy....op off a little cap, remove the screw holding the handle on and then remove the barrel and change the washer. I could not remove the screw on one side and not the screw head is mangled and the screwdriver will not grip properly. My thought now is to destroy the handle with is made of pot metal to get to the barrel...can I buy just one replacement handle? thx.

[Andrew Fleck]

I would epoxy an old screwdriver into the mangled screw. Once it cures you should be able to really crank on it. It;s certainly easier than cutting off the old one and cheaper than buying one.

[Joe Kieve]

Try Andrew's solution first. If that doesn't work, yes you can buy just a handle. I had a similar problem several years ago and was able to find a replacement handle for my Price-Fister faucet at Ace Hardware.

[Erik Loza]

What if you cut a large slot into the head of the screw with a dremel tool and then used a big flathead screwdriver to try to back it out?

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Chuck Wintle]

What if you cut a large slot into the head of the screw with a dremel tool and then used a big flathead screwdriver to try to back it out?

Erik Loza
Minimax USA
the problem is the screw is recessed into the faucet handle, i had to pop a little cap to get access...its a phillips head screw.

[Lee Schierer]

Sometimes a flat screw driver will work on a stripped philips head screw by gripping the outer edges of the philips slot. Before you try turning it again. Rap the screw with a hammer to get the corrosion loosened.

You could also try those screw remover bits they advertise on TV.

[Harry Hagan]

You need to order one of those miracle screw extractors advertised on TV. "You can remove any screw in ten seconds." So they say.

[Jerome Stanek]

Use a drill bit that is the just a little bigger than the theared part of the screw dill the head off and pull the knob off the stem leaveing the screw then use vise grips to remove the screw

[Chuck Wintle]

Use a drill bit that is the just a little bigger than the theared part of the screw dill the head off and pull the knob off the stem leaveing the screw then use vise grips to remove the screw

I should have said knob instead of handle..see attached photo....

Thanks that may work.284564

[Jim Koepke]

If you have enough room for a small pair of wire cutters you may be able to use the tip of the cutter blades to grip the screw on two sides and then extract it.

I have used this for broken screws a few times.

jtk

[Chris Padilla]

Google "easy out" and you'll find a plethora of screw extraction items designed just for your situation. They work very well.

[Mark Bolton]

When we run into those situations we just twist the handle right off the stem and it usually breaks the top off the stem. Then just pick up a new stem and handle. It sucks but there is no money in piddling around trying to save a 10$ stem.

Just below the spline the handle slides on there is a recess in the stem. It will generally snap off at that point. Often times you can grab the handle with a pair of channel locks and rack it up and down til that tip of the stem snaps off.

[Frank Drew]

Does the water need to be cut off to those lines to replace a washer?

[Chuck Wintle]

Does the water need to be cut off to those lines to replace a washer?

yes it does but it is not a problem. I know what i will do to repair it now...as was mentioned in a post i will crack the knob off and remove and replace both the barrel and the knob. Not really worth it to waste a lot of time mucking with it.