DIY Bathroom Faucet Replacement - solid supply lines?

Please bear with me, as this is my first attempt at a DIY plumbing project and I hit a snag out of the gate. As I was preparing to remove the old, very leaky fixture, I noticed that the hot/water supply lines were not what I was expecting. They aren't flexible hoses at all, but appear to be solid copper pipes that go all the way into the fixture.



I was really hoping to avoid shelling out more money for a professional, is there something I'm missing here? Do I need a certain kind of replacement fixture, or do I have to have the supply lines redone as well? This house was built in '94 and it looks like all the plumbing in the home is original, which is why I already had both bathtub setups replaced (to the tune of $400) and I'm hoping I don't have to write another big check.

just take a small tubing cutter and cut where the 1/2 pipe is solded to the sink connection. I'd try to keep as much of that 1/2 copper stub as possible. this way you keep your air chambers and valves. Then debur inside of pipe. Maybe clean outside of pipe real good, (not with emery cloth or anything too agressive) Then get some kind of a compression fitting that has a threaded end so you can connect flex hoses. My sink was like this, but didn't have shutoff valves, so I just bought compression fitting shutoff valves. You could always sodler a male end to the stub, but I image soldering is not in the cards.

So the 1/2 inch pipe is the "fatter" part of that copper pipe above the shutoff valves? (Not the really fat part behind [what is that part, anyway?] but the fatter pipe in front.)

I do also already have a replacement fixture that has the flex hoses built in.

Sorry to tell you this, but you will need more help from a plumber.

Re-do the supply lines, install new angle stops and new connectors, and of course replace the faucet.

You can get away by keeping the shut off valves and just cut the solid lines, install compression angle stops and new flex connectors to the new faucet. No soldering needed, only DIY knowledge.

Home ownership is fun, isn't it?

I'm not afraid to take it on myself even if it is a bit harder. Can you be more specific about the "compression angle stops" that I would need? Is this something I can find at a local hardware store?

You can find compression angle stops at your local store. An angle stop is a shut off valve.

A compression angle stop just goes on the copper pipe, after you cut it and clean it, you use two wrenches to fasten the angle stop nut over the sleeve, tight enough to have no leak.

So I did a little more research to see if I could just fix the existing faucet leak. It turns out the faucet I have is a Moen so I may be able to just get a replacement cartridge for it, which is likely the leak problem. Are most Moen faucets guaranteed for that?

The faucet, if it is old, and from the supply, looks to be that way, may not have any cartridge(s) in it. It may just have a washer and seat. You may be able to just replace the washer, and if the seat is worn, that as well.

Plumbing supply lines are stated by their ID, so if you are measuring the pipe, you'd find the OD is bigger to account for the pipe wall thickness. What is called a 1/2" copper pipe is actually about 5/8" OD. You need to know that to get the right parts.

I started to take apart the faucet to see if I could just replace a washer (which would be a dream at this point) but was stumped by what I saw. It turns out that what I was seeing was in fact a Moen cartridge. I found a video of fixing a leaky Moen faucet and it's almost an exact match for mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abSpgmaNXD0

I'm going to try to pick up a cartridge tomorrow and see if it can be fixed the easy way.