The drip is only on the hot side
In an older single-handle valve, the hot and cold seals wear at different speeds. When the drip is hot, the seat has often been cut by years of heat, and a new cartridge ends it.
Annandale, Virginia
Shower repair in Annandale.
For shower repair in Annandale, 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 Annandale are rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews and work under Virginia Class A contractor license 2705192276. Shower repair in Annandale, where eight in ten homes predate 1980: we pull the handle, show you the worn part, then give you the price. 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.
- The worn part shown to you before the price
- Our own licensed plumbers
- Run hot and cold, with a toilet flushed, before we leave
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
Send this and the office calls or texts you back to set a time.
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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
What shower repair costs in Annandale.
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 Annandale
Annandale’s ramblers and split-levels often hide an early single-handle valve.
If your Annandale shower handle wobbles, pop off the little cap and look for a screw. Snug it and the wobble often stops. If the lever still slips around the stem, the grooves that grip it have worn round, and what you need is a new handle or a new cartridge, whichever part is the smooth one.
Across Annandale, Wakefield and Woodburn, about eight in ten homes went up before 1980, and the median owner home dates to 1967. That is the age of the first single-handle shower valves, and many came from brands whose parts are scarce now. A drip from one usually means a worn cartridge or seat, and matching the exact one is half the job.
Around the business center on Little River Turnpike there are garden apartments and condos, and about one Annandale home in five is in a building like that. A loose handle there is a quick tighten. A new cartridge may need the building’s shutoff, so we check with management before we pick a time. Nearly a third of homes are rented, and a landlord usually approves the valve work, so send them our written price.
Fairfax Water opens hydrants from late March through June, and it says the flushing can stir up sediment. If the shower starts to sputter or runs weak in spring, grit lodged in the cartridge is a common reason, and cleaning or replacing it fixes it.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
What wears out in showers across Annandale.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annandale | 1967 | single-family houses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Stems and washers on a two- or three-handle shower. |
| Wakefield | 1968 | single-family houses, nearly all | gas, about 8 in 10 | Stems and washers on a two- or three-handle shower. |
| Woodburn | 1968 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Stems and washers on a two- or three-handle shower. |
By the numbers
Annandale houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Annandale
- Built before 1980about 8 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 1 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 7 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- Most houses here went up before 1980, and many still have the original single-handle valve, where the parts for the oldest brands can be hard to find. We check what’s in the wall before we promise a cartridge.
- Most homes here are detached houses, where the shower valve can often be reached from a closet or a panel behind the wall.
The signs
When a shower in Annandale needs a plumber.
The handle is loose or spins
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.
It drips after it’s off
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 Annandale?
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Choosing who does it
How to pick who fixes a shower in Annandale.
Questions to ask anybody who pulls your shower handle off, us included.
Can they find a cartridge for a 1960s single-handle valve?
Ask them to bring several on the truck rather than order after the handle is off. If the brand is discontinued, a good plumber says so and shows you the retrofit cartridge that fits the same opening in the wall.
Did they pull the handle before quoting a new valve?
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.
Did they test it with a toilet flushed?
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
What our customers say.
5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Prompt, courteous, knowledgeable and friendly. Job installation of kitchen sink faucet a little pricey but nowadays what isn’t.
- 5.0stars across 1,130 reviewsHow we count them
- ABBB Accredited, A ratingCheck it on bbb.org
- 2026Voted a Nextdoor Neighborhood Faves winner two years running: 2026 in 30 Northern Virginia neighborhoods, 2025 in Emerald Chase (Herndon) and Hunters Run (Chantilly)See it on Nextdoor
- #1BusinessRate Best of 2026: the top-ranked heating contractor in Fairfax, VirginiaSee our BusinessRate score
- Class AVirginia contractor, license #2705192276Look it up with DPOR
Where we work
Shower repair in every Northern Virginia town we serve
Next door to Annandale: Falls Church, Springfield, Dunn Loring, Burke and Vienna.
Fairfax County
Arlington County
Loudoun County
Prince William County
Fauquier County
Stafford County
Every town on one page
Questions
Shower repair questions from Annandale.
My Annandale condo shower won’t stop dripping. Do I call the building or you?
Call us for the shower and management for the shutoff. A drip from the trim is yours to fix. If the only way to stop the water is a riser valve, the building has to close it, and we set a time with them.
Is a loose handle in a 1960s house worth fixing, or is the valve done?
If the valve body is sound and only the handle or cartridge is worn, repair is the better spend at $250 to $450. If it leaks inside the wall, or parts no longer exist, $950 to $1,400 with trim gets you a modern pressure-balancing valve.
How much is shower repair in Annandale?
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.
Will you have to open the wall or break tile?
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
Get the shower back to normal.
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 Annandale 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.