We have hard water. Seriously hard water. The mineral deposits build up on the faucet screens and send water shooting in every direction but where you want it to wash your hands. A vinegar soak solves the problem, but that requires removing the aerator. Unfortunately, the mineral deposits can make that hard, too.
In the past, my handy-dandy vice grips solved the problem. Okay, they scratched the aerator a bit, but these 80s contractor special faucets have much bigger cosmetic issues than a few scratches. And, worst case, replacement aerators are readily available.
This time around the faucet gave before the mineral deposits. Now, instead of just spraying water around the counter and sink, the busted faucet sprays water around the counter and sink and leaks water back down into the cabinet. Not good. Cue new faucet.
In theory, installing a new faucet is a piece of cake. It involves cramped working conditions and some awkward positions, but putting in a new faucet really isn't hard. Removing the old one? Now that is a royal pain in the patootie. Especially when dealing with contractor-grade, no-name fixtures that have been subjected to decades of our insanely hard water.
The biggest fly in the ointment with this project is removing the nuts that hold the faucet and handles in place. (This is a wide-spread, two-handled faucet.) There's not enough room to get a wrench on them and even if you can, applying leverage while lying on your back and reaching over your head is virtually impossible. I was able to get one of the handle nuts and the drain nut loose with my vice grips. The other handle nut & center faucet nut are being considerably more stubborn.
There are actually some specialty tools for just this purpose. The most common is a spring-loaded basin wrench that looks something like this:
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If the darn nuts weren't so thin, this would probably work quite well. As it is, it's tricky to apply the required force to keep it in position while you try to rotate the nut. If the nut is stuck in place...good luck.
The Rigid Faucet Tool can be configured to suit a variety of nut sizes & is a bit easier to use. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit the nuts on these Delta-clone faucets.
 This time around, I came across these basin sockets from an Aussie company. They look awesome...but also don't come in a size big enough for these stupid nuts, even if I could get them here. 
So...I got some smaller vice grips and some Liquid Wrench. If that doesn't work, I will resort to drilling/cutting the darn thing loose. The existing faucet is slag, and I'm not overly worried about damaging the counter top...it's an 80s cultured marble number that has not aged well. I want to gut the entire bathroom and start over...but in the meantime, we need a functional faucet!
To be continued...
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