Pecan Street Plumbing installs and repairs faucets, sinks, showers and tubs in Georgetown, Pflugerville and Round Rock.
01Faucets and fixtures
Each of these points somewhere different. The cause is confirmed at the fixture.
A supply line, a shutoff valve or a drain connection that has loosened or worn. Caught early it is a small repair; left, it swells the cabinet floor.
A worn cartridge, seat or washer. Replacing the part stops the drip; when the faucet itself is past it, a new fixture is the better spend.
Mineral buildup in the aerator or showerhead, or a blockage in that fixture’s supply. If the whole house is low, the cause is somewhere else.
Usually a worn cartridge, or a pressure-balancing valve that no longer compensates when other water runs. Replacing the valve part restores a steady temperature.
Swapping fixtures is straightforward when the supply and drain connections are done right. It is also the moment to replace tired shutoff valves.
02Repair or replace
The quality of the fixture and the part that failed decide it.
A well-made faucet or shower valve with one worn part: a cartridge, a washer, a seat or an O-ring. The part is replaced and the fixture carries on as it was.
The body of the fixture is corroded or cracked, parts for the model are no longer made, or the part costs close to a new fixture. Replacement is also the obvious moment to change the style or how it works.
Faucets & Fixtures
Serving Round Rock, TX.
03Urgency
Most fixture problems can wait for a convenient time. Water escaping where it should not is different.
None of this repairs the fixture. All of it limits the damage.
Close the Fixture’s Shutoff Valves
Most sinks and toilets have small valves on the supply lines beneath them. Closing them stops water to that fixture alone; a valve that is stiff is left rather than forced.
Use the Main Shutoff Where There Is None
Showers, tubs and many older sinks have no valve of their own, so the main shutoff is what stops a leak there.
Keep the Cabinet Dry
Emptying the cabinet and catching drips with a bucket or towels protects its floor while the repair waits.
04Behind the fixture
A new faucet or shower trim is the visible part of the job. Behind it sit the supply lines, the shutoff valves and the drain connections, and those decide whether the new fixture stays trouble-free or starts leaking into the cabinet or the wall below it.
Valves and supply lines are easy to overlook. An old valve can seize or fail to close fully, which only shows on the day water needs to be stopped. Replacing tired valves and worn supply lines while a fixture is already being changed adds little work and removes a common source of leaks.
05Cost
No two fixtures take the same work. These change it most.
Replacing a cartridge or washer is a smaller job than removing a fixture and installing a new one.
A sink faucet is more direct than a shower valve, which sits inside the wall behind the trim.
Open space under a sink is quick to work in. A valve reached through tile or a cramped cabinet takes longer.
Shutoff valves or supply lines that are worn or seized are replaced along with the fixture.
06Questions
A good-quality faucet with a worn cartridge is worth repairing. A budget faucet, a corroded body or a discontinued model is usually replaced, since the part can cost as much as a new fixture.
Usually mineral buildup in the aerator or cartridge, or a shutoff valve under the sink that is partly closed. When every fixture is low, the cause is in the supply to the house instead.
Often, yes. Most cartridges and valve parts are reached from the front once the handle and trim come off. Opening the wall is usually only needed when the valve body itself has failed or a connection behind it leaks.
If water is actively leaking, yes: the fixture’s own valve, or the main if it doesn’t have one. A slow drip can wait, but a bucket under it will not hurt.
Where the problem is, when it started, what changed, whether the water is off, and the age of the fixture or heater involved. A photo of the problem and of any visible model label helps too.
Pecan Street Plumbing
Pecan Street Plumbing installs and repairs faucets, sinks, showers and tubs in Georgetown, Pflugerville and Round Rock.