Lost half a Saturday just trying to get one stubborn faucet handle off

Went to swap out an old kitchen faucet last weekend. Figured it would take maybe an hour tops, simple job right? Wrong. That handle just would not budge no matter how hard I pulled or twisted. Sprayed some WD-40, waited, tried again. Nothing. Went to the hardware store and got a proper handle puller tool for $12. Still stuck. Spent another 45 minutes tapping it with a hammer and a block of wood to break the corrosion seal. Finally got it off after like 4 hours total. The whole faucet swap ended up taking 6 hours because of that one stupid handle. Has anyone else had a simple plumbing job turn into a whole day project like that?

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elliot_king6d ago

Did you try heat? I had basically the same thing happen with a shower valve and a heat gun from Harbor Freight (like $15) broke the seal in about two minutes after I'd been fighting it for an hour. Just be careful around plastic or rubber parts, keep the gun moving so you don't melt anything, and have a pair of channel locks ready to twist once it expands.