Open 24/7 for emergencies
For shower repair in Alexandria, the plumbing visit is $49, or $250 after hours. Call SwiftPro, rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews, at (703) 997-9757, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
SwiftPro’s plumbers in Alexandria are rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews and work under Virginia Class A contractor license 2705192276. Shower repair in Alexandria, from three-handle showers in Old Town rowhouses to West End towers: we pull the handle, show you the worn part, then price it. A cartridge, stems or a diverter usually lands at $250 to $450. A whole new valve, trim included, runs $950 to $1,400, and a new tub spout runs $200 to $400.
5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews
Two of our plumbers in a Northern Virginia basement, beside the water heater and the supply lines that feed the bathrooms upstairs.
Get your price in writing
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Rather talk now? (703) 997-9757
Licensed and insuredVirginia Class A contractor #2705192276
24/7 emergency serviceWe answer day or night, 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 it costs
These are the same numbers on our shower and tub repair page, from jobs we’ve billed. The visit fee matches our plumbing price list.
Plumbing diagnosis visit
$49
Plumbing diagnosis visit, after hours
$250
Shower valve repair (cartridge, stems, handle, diverter)
$250 to $450
Shower valve replaced, new trim included
$950 to $1,400
Tub spout or diverter spout replaced
$200 to $400
Prices checked .
Where a repair lands in that range depends on the valve brand and how stuck the old cartridge is. You see the number in writing before anything comes apart.
A dripping sink or kitchen faucet is a different repair, with its own prices on our faucet repair page.
What’s different in Alexandria
A loose shower handle is usually the easy one. There’s often a small screw under the cap in the middle, and once it backs out, the handle rocks. If the screw is tight and it still spins, the ridges inside the handle, or on the cartridge stem it grips, are worn smooth, and the handle or cartridge is the fix.
Close to three in ten homes in the City were built before 1960. In the rowhouses of Old Town and Del Ray, and the 1940s and 50s brick houses around them, plenty of tubs still have two or three handles on the wall, with no pressure balancing behind them. Those drip at the stems and washers, and they jump hot when a toilet flushes. We can rebuild them, and we’ll tell you when a new valve is the better spend.
Alexandria’s water is on the hard side for this area. Virginia American Water, which buys it from Fairfax Water, reported 4.6 to 11.2 grains per gallon in 2025, and Fairfax Water reported 3.0 to 10.8 on the county side. That leaves scale on cartridges and heads. A handle that gets stiff, then starts dripping, is often a cartridge that scale has worn down.
More than half of the City’s owner homes are condos, and in the West End towers, a shower often can’t be shut off by itself. Swapping a cartridge can mean the building engineer closes a valve for a whole stack, so we schedule with management first. On the Mount Vernon side, in Fort Hunt, Groveton and Hybla Valley, many split-levels and ramblers have the tub against a closet or a panel, which makes a full valve change a lot easier.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and what usually wears out in the showers of houses that age.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What usually wears out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Alexandria | 1970 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
| Rose Hill | 1969 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Stems and washers on a two- or three-handle shower. |
| Franconia | 1986 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
| Fort Hunt | 1963 | single-family houses, nearly all | gas, about 8 in 10 | Stems and washers on a two- or three-handle shower. |
| Kingstowne | 1994 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
| Woodlawn | 1976 | townhouses, about 4 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
| Lincolnia | 1982 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
| Mount Vernon | 1967 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Stems and washers on a two- or three-handle shower. |
By the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
The signs
On an older three-handle shower, the middle handle is the diverter that sends water up to the head. When it’s stiff or the spout keeps running, the stem behind it is worn, and that’s a part, not a new wall.
Usually a set screw under the cap that backed out, or worn teeth where the handle grips the cartridge. Tightening the screw only lasts if the teeth are still good.
On a single-handle shower that’s the cartridge. On an older two-handle or three-handle shower, it’s the washers or the stems. Either one comes out the front, and the wall stays closed.
Need shower repair in Alexandria?
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Choosing who does it
Questions to ask anybody who pulls your shower handle off, us included.
Many older Alexandria showers have valves from brands that changed hands or quit making parts. Ask whether they’ll match the stem first, and what the plan is if it can’t be matched.
Most loose handles and drips are a cartridge or a screw. A plumber who prices a new valve without looking inside first may be selling you a wall you didn’t need opened.
A shower that runs fine on its own can still jump hot when someone flushes. Ask them to run it both ways before they pack up.
Two of our crew going over a work order before the day's calls.
From our Google reviews
5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Hard to find service like this in Alexandria.
…we had swift and professional responses for multiple plumbing and HVAC needs in our Rosemont Alexandria condo
Tyson quickly/painlessly removed a broken shower nipple and installed a new shower arm and nozzle. Work was neat and efficient!
Where we work
Next door to Alexandria: Arlington, Springfield, Falls Church, Annandale and Fort Belvoir.
Questions
Tightening the handle doesn’t need the water off. A new cartridge does, and in many high-rises the only shutoff is on the stack. Ask management how they handle it, and we’ll set the time with them.
If it only drips, new stems and washers fix that. If it scalds or goes cold whenever someone flushes, a pressure-balancing valve is the real fix, at $950 to $1,400 with trim.
Most shower valve repairs we do run $250 to $450, with the visit at $49, $250 after hours. A whole new valve with trim runs $950 to $1,400, and a tub spout runs $200 to $400.
Not for a cartridge, a handle or a diverter. Those come out the front. A valve replacement goes in from an access panel when there is one, and when there isn’t, a larger trim plate can usually cover the opening so the tile stays.
Ready when you are
Call, or send the form at the top. We pull the handle, show you the worn part, and you get the price in writing before we fix it.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing
4230 Lafayette Center Dr N, Chantilly, VA 20151
44679 Endicott Dr, Suite 211, Ashburn, VA 20147
SwiftPro Plumber & Water Heaters
4200 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151
Virginia Class A contractor license #2705192276
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Alexandria and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
From SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Chantilly. Housing figures are the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024, for each place named; permit, water and sewer facts link to each office’s own page and were checked in September and October 2026.