The short answer
Most of what goes wrong with plumbing in a Northern Virginia house is a part you can change on a Saturday: a toilet flapper, a clogged aerator, a sink trap. What you should leave alone is anything with gas in it, anything inside a wall, and anything on the main line. Here’s what we’d tell a neighbor to go ahead and do, and where we’d tell them to put the wrench down.
Before you touch anything
Find the valve first. Find the main and the little ones under each fixture, and turn them to make sure they turn. Then if a repair goes sideways, you’re one quarter turn from it being a story and not a ceiling.
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Go ahead, you’ve got this
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| The job | How to do it | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Running toilet | Drop food coloring in the tank. Color in the bowl with no flush means a bad flapper. It’s a cheap part. The whole fix. | If it’s not the flapper, it’s usually the fill valve. |
| Weak faucet | Unscrew the aerator at the tip, rinse the grit out, put it back. | Every faucet in the house weak? That is a different problem. |
| Weak shower head | Soak it in white vinegar overnight, in a bag with a rubber band. Rinse. | Hard water does this. Here is why. |
| Slow sink | Put a bucket under it, take off the P-trap, clean it out, put it back snug. | Don’t overtighten plastic nuts. Hand tight plus a little. |
| Clogged toilet | A flange plunger, slow pushes, a good seal. Stop flushing while the bowl’s high. | What never goes down one. |
| Disposal that hums or won’t start | Power off. Turn the wheel with the hex key from underneath, then press the red reset button. | Never a hand inside. Fix or replace. |
| Loose shower handle | Pop the cap, tighten the screw. Usually five minutes. | If it keeps coming back. |
| Dripping outdoor spigot | Take the hose off before the freeze. Open and close it once a year. | What not to do when it freezes. |
Put the wrench down
Gas lines. A bad joint is a leak you might not smell at first. Leave gas to a licensed pro. If you smell it, go outside and call the gas company from there.
A burst pipe. Your job is the shutoff and a call. Here is what to do while we are on the way.
Anything inside a wall. You can’t see what the fix did until it’s already in the drywall.
The main sewer line. A rental auger can get stuck, or punch through an old pipe. Several drains backing up together is the main, and here is how to tell. Run a camera first, so nobody guesses.
Water heater replacement. A swap usually takes a permit, and the venting and the relief valve line have to be right. Here is what not to do to one.
Whole-house low pressure. That’s often the pressure regulator at the main, or a supply line problem. Start here.
Digging in the yard. Call 811 before you put a shovel in the ground, even for a small job. It’s free, and it marks the buried lines.
Three DIY habits we’d stop
Don’t use chemical drain cleaner before a plunger. The plunger costs less and doesn’t leave you a trap full of chemical. Don’t reach for the big wrench on old valves. A stuck old valve can snap, so call if it won’t turn by hand. Don’t keep tightening a dripping fitting. Past a certain point you’re cracking it. Knowing when to stop is most of the job.
Questions people ask
What plumbing can a homeowner do without a plumber?
Toilet flappers and fill valves, cleaning a faucet aerator or a shower head, clearing a sink trap, plunging a toilet, and resetting a garbage disposal. Those are all reasonable with basic tools.
What plumbing should I never do myself?
Gas lines, main sewer lines, anything inside a wall and water heater replacement. A small mistake on those is a leak you can’t see or a safety problem.
Why does a toilet keep running?
Most of the time it’s the flapper at the bottom of the tank, a cheap part. The next most common cause is the fill valve. Drop food coloring in the tank: if it shows up in the bowl without a flush, the flapper’s leaking.
Do I need to call before I dig in my yard?
Yes. Call 811 first, even for a small job. It’s free, and it marks the buried gas, power and water lines.
Book it
Tried it and the sink still won’t drain? Drain clearing is $99, up to the P-trap, the curved pipe under the sink. Deeper drain or main line work is a separate service, and we’ll give you that price before we start. Book it from goswiftpro.com/cookiesoffer and free MOLTN cookies come with the visit. Or call (703) 997-9757. SwiftPro is rated 5.0 stars across 1,138 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook, Virginia Class A license 2705192276.
