Faucet Repair near you

Before anyone buys a part, the faucet has to be identified, and the handles give it away. Two handles that turn through several full rotations before the water stops mark a compression faucet, the design common in older housing stock. A single lever that swings side to side and tilts up and down is a cartridge, ball or ceramic disc faucet, and each of those wears out in its own way.

When one faucet suddenly runs weak or sprays crooked while the rest of the house is fine, the aerator threaded into the tip of the spout is the first suspect. Its screen traps scale, grit and fragments of pipe stirred up by work on the water main. Unthreading it, rinsing the screen and soaking off the mineral crust solves that complaint more often than any other single step.

The aerator is also the cheapest place to change how much water a faucet uses. EPA reports that WaterSense labeled bathroom sink faucets and accessories use a maximum of 1.5 gallons per minute, cutting a sink's flow by 30 percent or more from the standard 2.2 gallons per minute, and that replacing old bathroom faucets and aerators with labeled models saves the average family 700 gallons of water a year and nearly 11,000 gallons over the lifetime of the faucets. EPA has since published a draft specification proposing to lower that labeled maximum from 1.5 to 1.2 gallons per minute.

The label is not a claim a manufacturer awards itself. EPA states that WaterSense labeled products are backed by independent, third-party certification and have to meet its criteria for performance as well as for efficiency. It does not cover every fixture in the house, though: kitchen faucets are among the categories EPA lists as ineligible for the WaterSense label.

Not every puddle under a sink comes from the faucet. Dry everything with a towel, then run the hot and the cold separately and watch where the first bead forms. A leak that shows up only while the basin drains is on the waste side; one that is present with the faucet closed is on the supply side, which stays under pressure day and night and can fail suddenly rather than gradually.

A drip on a structurally sound faucet is normally a parts job, and repair is the sensible call when the body is solid, the finish is intact and the cartridge or washer kit is still sold for that model. Widely distributed American brands keep parts available for a long time, and many honor a warranty on the cartridge itself, so it is worth checking before buying anything.

Replacement wins when parts are discontinued, when the body is cracked or pitted through, when leaks return after each repair, or when the faucet is corroded at the base where it meets the deck. Because the sink is already apart, it is also the practical moment to fit something more efficient, and EPA's product search lists the bathroom sink faucets and accessories that carry the label.

Replacement also has a materials dimension that pure repair does not. Anything newly installed on a potable line should meet the lead-free standard described below, which is worth confirming for a faucet bought secondhand, salvaged from another house or imported through an online marketplace.

Swapping a cartridge or cleaning an aerator is homeowner maintenance anywhere in the country. Once work reaches the supply piping, a new shutoff valve, a relocated sink or a fixture where none existed, it becomes regulated plumbing work, and in the United States that regulation is set by the state rather than by Washington.

The materials rule, by contrast, is federal. EPA explains that Section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act defines lead free as a weighted average of 0.25 percent lead across the wetted surfaces of a pipe, pipe fitting, plumbing fitting and fixture, and 0.2 percent lead for solder and flux, and that the Act prohibits using anything that is not lead free in the installation or repair of plumbing providing water for human consumption. EPA also notes that since September 1, 2023, manufacturers and importers introducing regulated plumbing products into commerce must have them certified as lead free.

Licensing differs sharply from state to state. California licenses plumbing contractors under the C-36 classification, which the Contractors State License Board describes as providing a supply of safe water, ample in volume and of suitable temperature, along with proper disposal of fluid waste. Washington instead certifies individual plumbers, and its Department of Labor and Industries sets the journey level credential at four years or more, at least 8,000 hours, working as a trainee under a certified journey level plumber. Ask for the license or certificate number that applies where you live, and confirm it with the agency that issued it.

On LokalMatch you describe the faucet once — the style, where it leaks, roughly how old it is and whether the shutoff valves still work — and plumbers covering your ZIP code get in touch with you directly. Those pros pay for the requests they receive. LokalMatch does not carry out the repair, does not set what any plumber charges, and does not vet, rank or recommend the people who respond, so compare the plumbers who contact you and verify each license yourself.