Faucet Repair
Which part is actually worn, which mechanism you have, and the date in 2014 that changes the replace decision.
Free to homeowners — the contractor pays us for the introduction, you never do.
Briefly
A drip from the spout and a drip from the handle are different faults with different parts, and the mechanism can be identified from the handle alone. Separately, until 4 January 2014 a faucet could lawfully contain up to 8 percent lead in its wetted surfaces.
Source: US EPA, Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, Fixtures, Solder and Flux for Drinking Water.
- You are never chargedContractors pay us when we route them a call. There is no cost to the homeowner, ever.
- Every figure names its sourceThe numbers on this site come from public data and the page says which, so you can check them.
- We say where we coverCalls are routed by ZIP code to independent contractors.See the coverage
- We say when not to callIf the fix is a few minutes of your own time, this site tells you that instead of selling you a visit.
Almost every faucet complaint is one of four faults in one of four mechanisms, and working out which pair you have takes about a minute at the sink.
What this site is
FaucetMend is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands. We carry out no work, we sell no fixtures, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call. Nothing here is a statement about the water at any address; only a test of that water can tell you about it.Start with where the water is
From the spout with the handle off is the shut-off failing. From around the handle is the seal on the moving stem. From the base, only while it runs is the spout O-rings — and that one is going into your cabinet rather than down the drain.
Water in the cabinet and nothing above is usually not the faucet at all.
Then work out what is inside it
Compression, ball, cartridge or ceramic disc — and you can tell which from how the handle moves. It decides whether the repair is a rebuild or a swap, and whether the part is a commodity or specific to one manufacturer.
The date almost nobody is told
Until 4 January 2014, a faucet could lawfully contain up to 8.0 percent lead in the brass its water touched. Since that date, lead free has meant a weighted average of 0.25 percent across wetted surfaces.
That is a fact about when a fixture was made, and it belongs in a replace decision for a kitchen tap. What changed and what it does not mean.
Source: US EPA, Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, Fixtures, Solder and Flux for Drinking Water; US EPA, How the Safe Drinking Water Act limits lead in pipes, fittings, fixtures, faucets, solder and flux.
And what we will not tell you
Nothing about the water at any address. Not a range, not a typical figure, not an implication. That needs a test by a certified laboratory and a website cannot substitute for one.
That refusal has its own page, along with the price and the repair-or-replace verdict we also decline to invent.
What this site does
We connect homeowners with independent contractors who cover their area, and the contractors pay us when we route them a call. You are never charged, and the first thing this site tells you to do about a slow tap is unscrew the aerator, which costs nothing.
The rest of the site
- A dripping faucetA drip from the spout and a drip from the handle are different faults with different parts.
- Which valveCompression, ball, cartridge or ceramic disc.
- The 2014 lineUntil that date a faucet could lawfully contain up to 8 percent lead in its wetted brass.
- One slow tapWhen a single faucet loses flow, the fault is almost always in the last two inches.
- Leaking at the baseWater appearing around the bottom of the spout when the tap runs is a different fault from a drip, and a different part.
- Under the sinkFour different things leak into the same cabinet and look identical once the floor is wet.
- Repair or replace
- What we cannot tell youWe publish the date the lead-free rule changed.
- CostWe are not the contractor and cannot quote.
Where we route calls
Tap your state for the towns and ZIP codes we route in, and the figures behind them.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this site is public and attributed. You can go and check any of them.
- HousingUS Census BureauAmerican Community Survey 5-year estimates — the housing figures on every town page, and the table each one comes from is named on the page.
- WaterUS Environmental Protection AgencyFederal drinking-water and plumbing rules, and the public water-system records behind the coverage pages.
What happens when you call
No form, no quote tool, no waiting for an email.
- You tell us what the water is doingOne short conversation. If it turns out to be something you can fix in five minutes, we will say so.
- We route the callWe match your ZIP code to an independent contractor who already covers your area — not a call center three states away.
- They quote, you decideWe do not set prices and we never charge you. The contractor pays us for the introduction.
What to do first
Four things worth doing first. They cost nothing and they can keep a small problem small.
- Shut off the water closest to the problemUnder a sink or behind a toilet there is usually a small valve on the supply line. Turning it clockwise stops that fixture without shutting off the rest of the house.
- If you cannot find it, use the mainUsually where the supply enters the building — a basement wall, a crawl space, or a covered box near the street. Then open the lowest tap in the house, which drains the standing water out of the pipes instead of out of the leak.
- Water and electricity: stay out of the roomIf water has reached an outlet, a panel or an appliance, switch that circuit off at the breaker before going near it. If you cannot do that safely, do not go in, and say so when you call.
- Photograph it before anything is movedInsurers ask for it, and a contractor can tell more from a photograph of the leak than from a description of it.
And one case where the answer is not to call us. If the water is surfacing on the street side of your meter, that is the utility's line and not yours. Report it to your water utility — they do not charge a homeowner to repair their own main.
Know the maker? Say so on the call.Cartridges are specific to a manufacturer, and the name on the handle is frequently the difference between one visit and two. We route you to a contractor covering your area, chosen on the ZIP code you give, free of charge to you. Faucets are simply our subject; the number itself handles any plumbing request.
Call (888) 754-1330
