A handle that won’t stay in place
On a newer single-handle shower, a handle that droops or won’t hold its temperature means the cartridge’s spline or its seals are worn. It’s a part, and it comes out through the front.
Lorton, Virginia
Shower repair in Lorton.
For shower repair in Lorton, 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 Lorton are rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews and work under Virginia Class A contractor license 2705192276. We cover shower repair in Lorton, from 1960s split-foyers in Pohick Estates to Laurel Hill townhouses under twenty years old. Most of what we fix here is a cartridge. 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
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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 Lorton.
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 Lorton
Lorton’s water runs softer than most of the county and its showers are young, so a drip is usually just a worn cartridge.
The median owner home in Lorton went up in 1997, and over four in ten homes were built since 2000. A shower valve in a house that new is a single-handle, pressure-balancing type, and the usual story is the cartridge inside it wearing out, not the valve itself. Many of those cartridges are past twenty now.
Fairfax Water says southern addresses generally get Griffith plant water, and Griffith’s 2025 tests ran 3.0 to 8.0 grains per gallon, softer in summer and hardest in winter. That’s easier on a cartridge than the north county’s water, so when a Lorton handle drips, wear is more likely than scale.
Pohick Estates is the older pocket, 263 houses built from 1957 to 1972, many of them split foyers, on LaGrange, Sylvania and DeVries Streets. Any shower there that has never been changed may still be a two-handle valve, and we’d rather rebuild it with new stems than replace it if the stems are the only problem.
A third of Lorton’s homes are townhouses. In Laurel Hill and the newer rows, the upstairs bath often sits over the kitchen or a finished room, so a drip behind the trim reaches finished ceiling sooner. We check the valve and the trim together.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
What wears out in showers across Lorton.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorton | 2001 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
| Newington | 1981 | townhouses, about 6 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
| Laurel Hill | 2002 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
| Mason Neck | 1973 | single-family houses, nearly all | electricity, about 6 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
By the numbers
Lorton houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Lorton
ZIP 22079 as a whole: every Lorton address. Most of Newington, in the table, has Springfield mail.
- Median home built1997 Census
- Built before 1980about 2 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 4 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes here are townhouses or condos, where the shower often sits over somebody’s ceiling, so a drip behind the trim gets fixed before it shows up as a stain below.
- Many houses here were built since 2000 with single-handle pressure-balancing valves, where a loose handle or a drip is almost always a cartridge.
The signs
When a shower in Lorton 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 Lorton?
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Choosing who does it
How to pick who fixes a shower in Lorton.
Questions to ask anybody who pulls your shower handle off, us included.
Do they bring cartridges for the common builder-grade valves?
Many Lorton houses share a few popular valve brands. A plumber who has the right cartridge on the truck can finish in one visit. Ask before you book.
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 Lorton: Fort Belvoir, Springfield, Woodbridge, Fairfax Station and Burke.
Fairfax County
Arlington County
Loudoun County
Prince William County
Fauquier County
Stafford County
Every town on one page
Questions
Shower repair questions from Lorton.
My Laurel Hill shower dripped for a month. Did I do damage?
Probably not, but check the ceiling or wall below for a stain. A cartridge swap, at $250 to $450, ends the drip. If anything below looks damp, tell us, and we’ll look at the trim as well.
Should I redo the old two-handle shower in my Pohick Estates split-foyer?
If it only drips, new stems are the cheaper answer. If it scalds whenever a toilet flushes, a pressure-balancing valve at $950 to $1,400 with trim is the better fix.
How much is shower repair in Lorton?
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 Lorton 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.