The shower head drips after it’s off
The cartridge inside the valve is worn. On an older two-handle shower, it’s the washers or the stems.
A new cartridge is the repair, and the wall stays closed.
Shower and Tub Repair in Northern Virginia
Most shower valve repairs run $250 to $450, and a new shower valve runs $950 to $1,400. A plumbing diagnosis visit is $49, or $250 after hours. Drips, temperature swings, weak pressure, tub spouts and drains.
Get your price in writing
Send this and the office calls or texts you back to set a time.
We’ll call or text this number about your request. By sending it you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Rather talk now? (703) 997-9757
- Dripping showers and tub spouts
- Moen, Delta, Kohler and Pfister valves
- Tub drains and diverters
5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews
Licensed and insuredVirginia Class A contractor #2705192276
24/7 emergency serviceOften same-day, and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
Our own plumbers, our own trucksNobody here is a subcontractor with a magnet on the door
The price is settled before the workYou see the number in writing before anything is taken apart
What’s wrong with it
What your shower or tub
is trying to tell you
The shower and tub calls we get, what they usually turn out to be, and what you can check first.
It goes cold or scalding when someone flushes
An old valve with no pressure balancing, or a balancing part inside a newer valve that’s sticking.
A new pressure-balancing cartridge or valve fixes it. On an old shower, this is the best reason to replace the valve.
It won’t get hot enough
The stop inside the handle that limits how hot it gets is set low, the cartridge is in backwards, or it’s the water heater.
If the sinks run hot and only the shower doesn’t, it’s the valve. If nothing’s hot, start with the water heater.
Weak pressure in the shower only
A shower head clogged with minerals, a flow limiter inside it, a clogged cartridge, or old galvanized pipe narrowed inside.
Try a new shower head first. If that doesn’t do it, the plumber looks at the cartridge and the pipe.
The tub spout won’t send water up to the shower
The diverter in the tub spout, or the one in the valve, is worn out.
A tub spout with a pull-up diverter is a quick swap. A diverter inside the valve is a cartridge job.
A stain on the ceiling under the bathroom
A leak at the valve, the shower arm, the drain under the tub or shower, or water getting past old caulk and grout.
Stop using that shower and call. Finding it before anyone opens the ceiling is leak detection.
Cartridge or valve
A new cartridge, or a
new shower valve?
- A cartridge is the part that wears out. A new one fixes drips, stiff handles and most temperature trouble, and the wall stays closed.
- The whole valve gets replaced when the body is cracked or corroded, the parts are gone, or the shower has no pressure balancing.
- A new shower valve has to be pressure-balancing or thermostatic under the plumbing code, with a stop that caps how hot it gets. Nobody gets scalded when the toilet flushes.
- Getting to the valve is from an access panel behind the wall when there is one. When there isn’t, a larger trim plate can often cover the opening so the tile stays.
- Tub and shower together run off the same valve, so a dripping tub spout and a dripping shower head are often the same repair.
What it costs
Shower and tub repair
and valve prices
Our own prices in Northern Virginia, not a national average. Yours is written down before any work starts.
Plumbing diagnosis visit
$49
A plumber at the house to find the drip or the leak and price the fix. $250 after hours.
Shower valve repair
$250 to $450
A new cartridge, stems or washers, the temperature stop set, and the handle and trim back on.
Shower valve replacement
$950 to $1,400
A new pressure-balancing valve, with the trim to match. Getting to the old one moves the price.
Tub spout or diverter replaced
$200 to $400
A new tub spout, with the diverter that sends water up to the shower.
Tub drain and overflow replaced
$1,150 to $1,400
The drain and overflow under the tub replaced, reached from an access panel or the ceiling below.
How the call goes
Four steps, and you
approve the third one
Often same-day, and we will tell you honestly when we can get there. We run 24/7 emergency service.
- 1
You call, we tell you when
A person answers, day or night, and gives you a real arrival window and a call when the plumber is on the way.
- 2
Diagnosis, $49
The plumber pulls the handle and trim, looks at the cartridge and the valve, and checks the spout, the drain and the pipe it’s fed by.
- 3
The price, in writing
Before anything is cut, opened up or ordered. Approve it or don’t, and nobody makes a no awkward.
- 4
Fixed and tested
Run hot, cold and everything in between, with the toilet flushed to test the balancing, before we leave.
What customers said
Showers and tubs calls, in our
customers’ own words
5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews. These two are about showers and tubs.
Tyson quickly/painlessly removed a broken shower nipple and installed a new shower arm and nozzle. Work was neat and efficient!
…I had leaking from shower and bath faucet.and changed other by other plumber but still leaking. … plumber Zabi came knew right away which was cartridge were installed incorrect.…
Shown as written on Google, cut to the part about the job. Read them all.
Who turns up at the door
Licensed plumbers from Chantilly,
not a call center
SwiftPro is family owned and based on Lafayette Center Drive in Chantilly, and every plumber who comes to your house works for us.
- A dedicated plumbing team. Our plumbers do plumbing every day, and our heating and cooling team is a separate team. When a gas line feeds a furnace, both trades are in the same company.
- Virginia Class A contractor license #2705192276.
- Fully insured. BBB Accredited with an A rating.
- 5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews, and you can read them all.
- More about the people: about SwiftPro.
The SwiftPro plumbing team in front of our wrapped vans, with the drain machine, sewer camera and water jetter they bring to the job.
Where we work
Plumbing in every
Northern Virginia town we serve
Out of Chantilly and Ashburn, across Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington, Fauquier and Stafford, and a lot of these calls come from Alexandria, Fairfax, Springfield, Herndon, Reston and Annandale. Pick your town for its plumbing page.
Fairfax County
Arlington County
Loudoun County
Prince William County
Fauquier County
Stafford County
Other plumbing jobs
More plumbing repairs,
priced the same way
Every one of these has its own page with our prices, what usually causes it and what to do first.
Toilet repair$250 to $900Running, leaking at the base, rocking or clogging.Faucet and sink repair$150 to $400Drips, leaks under the sink, new faucets and sinks.Garbage disposal repair$550 to $900 replacedHumming, jammed, leaking or dead.Pipe repair$450 to $650Burst pipes, pinhole leaks and frozen pipes.Hot water recirculation pumpsHot water at the tap without the long wait.Gas plumber$250 to $500Gas leaks, cap-offs, new lines and hookups.Drain cleaning$200 to $800One slow fixture, or the main line to the street.Sump pump repair$697 replacedRunning nonstop, won’t turn on, alarms.Sewage ejector pumpsBasement bathroom alarms, smells and backups.
Asked on the phone
Shower and tub questions,
answered straight
How much does shower valve repair cost?
Most shower valve repairs run $250 to $450, and a plumbing diagnosis visit is $49, or $250 after hours. Replacing the whole valve runs $950 to $1,400, depending on how the plumber gets to it.
Can a dripping shower be fixed without opening the wall?
Almost always. The drip is the cartridge, and it comes out through the front once the handle and trim are off.
When does a shower valve need replacing?
When the valve body is cracked or corroded, the parts aren’t made anymore, or the shower scalds or goes cold when someone flushes and has no pressure balancing.
Why does my shower go cold when someone flushes the toilet?
The toilet pulls cold water away from the shower. A pressure-balancing valve adjusts for that in a split second. An old valve without one can’t.
Do you fix tub spouts and tub drains?
Yes. A dripping or broken tub spout, a diverter that won’t send water up, a tub stopper that won’t hold water, and the drain and overflow under the tub. A new tub spout runs $200 to $400.
Do you replace bathtubs?
Setting a whole new tub is remodeling work. Ours is the plumbing that makes a tub work: the valve, the spout, the drain and the overflow.
Do you work on Moen and Delta shower valves?
Yes. Moen, Delta, Kohler and Pfister are the shower valves we repair most.
Do I need to replace the tile to replace a shower valve?
Not usually. The plumber gets to it from an access panel behind the wall if there is one. If not, a larger trim plate can often cover the opening in the tile.
Shower dripping or tub leaking?
Call now, or tell us
what the shower is doing
If water’s coming through the ceiling below, call. Not urgent? Send the form at the top and the office calls or texts you back.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing
4230 Lafayette Center Dr N, Chantilly, VA 20151
44679 Endicott Dr, Suite 211, Ashburn, VA 20147
Virginia Class A contractor license #2705192276
Prices are SwiftPro’s own in Northern Virginia; yours is written down at the house before any work starts, and the diagnosis visit is separate from the repair. Moen, Delta, Kohler and Pfister are trademarks of their owners.