HOW TO CHANGE YOUR KITCHEN SINK STEP BY STEP

It's something every DIYer would like to try but often cleaning out the kitchen cupboard underneath can strike terror even into a hardened plumber. All those pipes, different coloured valves and often all hanging in mid air because the previous guy didn't bother to clip anything.

Watch our step-by-step guide on how to change your kitchen sink and that should see you right. James, the plumber, will show you how to turn off the water, remove your old sink and get the new one in in no time. We also have another article on what's under your kitchen sink here. Enjoy!

Hopefully the video above helped you out, but if it didn't follow our simple step-by-step instructions below:

1. First thing to do is turn your water off to the taps on the sink that you want to change. If you have to turn the whole house's supply off, then so be it. You don't want to be getting soaked later! Make sure it's all turned off by opening the tap on the sink. Water might run for up to a minute (if emptying the expansion pipe) so be patient.

2. Undo the flexible connectors to the bottom of the tap. If you don't have connectors then you will either have to cut the pipes using a pipe slice or undo a compression fitting nut. After this you will have to undo the pipes going up into the tap. Most just undo like a screw.

3. Locate the clamp at the bottom of the tap and undo it. Sometimes there are two nuts, or sometimes a large single nut. It depends on the tap manufacturer. Once you've undone this you should be able to lift the tap out. Being stingey and using the old tap? Now is the perfect time to give it a good clean.

4. Refer to the video above. Note the little clamps on the underside of the sink? There's usually about 10 of them. Use the appropriate screwdriver and undo each one. This will unlatch the sink from the worktop. I prefer to remove them totally, but you can just flip the clamp towards the centre of the sink.

5. Remove the waste pipe connections. Hopefully you'll be lucky and not have to deal with a macerator. If you are then follow the manufacturers intsructions. If a standard connection, most nuts on waste systems are 'hand tight' so you shouldn't need any tools to remove them.

6. Remove the old sink. Sometimes there's silicone underneath effectively glueing the sink down. Use a knife to cut this away whilst adding upward pressure. Try not to prise againts the worktop - they're easily damaged. Once out I'd recommend you grab a cloth and have a good clean up. Get all the old stains and dirt out from under the old sink. Remove old silicone using a knife or window knife.

7. It's a good idea to lay out a nice fluffy towel to work on your new kitchen sink without damaging it. It's also best to install your wastes and new/old tap to your sink. It's no big deal if you don't now, but you'll thank me for it as it's slightly less time under the sink in a minute. Make sure your new wastes are lined up and tight. Make sure your tap is in the position you want it.

8. Lay in your new sink. If you need to alter the pipework, measure it now. Remove the sink and then do the work. You'll thank me for not banging your head. Then lay the sink back in and do your final connections.

9. It's a good idea to add valves at this point if there aren't any there.

We've also created another article that might help you out. It's all about the pipes under your kitchen sink and the way to design them to make more use of your cupboard. Just click here to have a look!