A dripping faucet is the repair everyone puts off, and the one that quietly costs the most in a place where water is not cheap or plentiful. The good news is that most faucet problems here trace back to the same culprit, and once you know what it is, the fix and the prevention are straightforward.
Whether it is a worn cartridge, a scaled aerator, or a full fixture swap, faucet work is where hard water shows up first and most visibly.
Hard water finds the faucet first
Fixtures are where 16 to 20 grain water does its most visible damage. Mineral scale clogs the aerator so the stream weakens and splits, it builds up inside the cartridge so a handle gets stiff or a faucet starts to drip, and it leaves the white crust on spouts and handles that no amount of wiping keeps away for long. A faucet that has gone from a smooth stream to a weak or spraying one has almost always got a scaled aerator, and that is often a clean rather than a replacement.
The deeper fix is upstream. A home with a water softener stops feeding scale to its fixtures, which is why softened homes replace cartridges and aerators far less often. Treating the faucet without treating the water is treating the symptom.
What we handle on faucets
From the smallest drip to a full fixture change, it is the same visit.
- Drips and leaks from worn cartridges, seats or O-rings
- Weak or spitting flow from a scaled aerator
- Stiff or stuck handles from mineral buildup inside the valve
- Leaks under the sink at the supply connections or the base
- New kitchen, bath, and outdoor hose-bib faucet installation
New fixtures, installed to last
When a faucet is worth replacing rather than repairing, usually because the finish is failing or the cartridge is obsolete, the install is a chance to fix the small things that were wrong underneath. That means checking the supply stops so the next repair does not fight a seized valve, replacing brittle supply lines, and making sure a new outdoor hose bib is a frost-resistant type, because the handful of hard freezes the area does get each winter can split a cheap exterior faucet. If a supply stop under the sink is weeping, that is a small leak worth catching now rather than after it warps the cabinet floor.
Cabinet floor damp under the sink? A slow faucet leak warps it before you notice. Call and we will sort it.
Call (520) 347-8179Why the same fixture keeps needing attention
A faucet that scales up, drips, and stiffens again a few months after it is fixed is not a bad faucet. It is a faucet on untreated water, and the durable answer is upstream. A water softener is why the same fixture lasts for years in one home and fails yearly in the house next door. While we are under the sink, a weeping supply stop is a small leak worth catching before it warps the cabinet, and a slow drain at the same fixture is a quick add to a drain cleaning visit. Treating the water treats the cause; treating the faucet alone just resets the timer.
Questions we hear on this job
Why is the water pressure at one faucet so weak?
Nine times out of ten on this water it is the aerator, the small screen at the tip of the spout, clogged with mineral scale. It is often a quick clean or a cheap replacement rather than a plumbing problem. If cleaning the aerator does not restore the flow, the next suspect is the cartridge or a supply stop that is partly closed or scaled.
Is it worth repairing a faucet or should I just replace it?
It depends on the faucet and what failed. A quality faucet with a worn cartridge is usually worth repairing, since the cartridge is the part that wears. A builder-grade fixture whose finish is peeling or whose parts are no longer made is usually better replaced. We tell you which one you have rather than defaulting to the more expensive path.
Will a softener stop my faucets from scaling up?
Largely, yes. Most of the aerator clogging, handle stiffness and premature cartridge wear on local faucets comes straight from the mineral content of the water. Softened water carries far less of that, so fixtures stay clear and last longer. It is the reason the same faucet fails often in one house and rarely in the house next door with a softener.
Need a Faucet Repair & Installation in San Tan Valley?
Call and describe what is happening. You will reach a plumber, not a form.