Old valve, or only a loose handle?
Tightening a screw fixes a handle, not a valve. If the shower also drips once it’s off, the cartridge is worn, and the handle has to come off to reach it anyway.
Sterling, Virginia
Shower repair in Sterling.
For shower repair in Sterling, 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 Sterling are rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews and work under Virginia Class A contractor license 2705192276. Shower repair in Sterling, where many 1980s houses have an early single-handle valve: 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.
- 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 Sterling.
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 Sterling
Sterling’s showers mostly date from the 1980s, when single-handle valves were new and their cartridges were different.
If your handle wobbles, check for a screw hidden behind a colored button or a cap on the face of the handle. Years of daily turning work it loose. Snug it before you pay anyone. When the handle still spins on the stem, the teeth that grip are stripped, and a new handle or cartridge is the repair, not a new wall.
The typical owner home in Sterling dates from 1979, and a little over half of the homes here went up between 1980 and 1999. That’s the stretch when many builders put in an early single-handle valve, before the pressure-balancing cartridge was standard. The old cartridge or ball in those valves may have been discontinued or renamed, so the first job is matching the part. Sometimes the better spend is a modern valve, and we’ll say so if that’s the case.
If your Sterling shower runs cold or turns hot when the washing machine fills, that’s usually the valve design and not a worn part. An early valve without balancing can’t hold the mix steady. A newer cartridge can add that balance if the valve body will take one. If it won’t, a whole new valve with trim is $950 to $1,400, and it’s the only fix that holds.
About one Sterling home in five was built before 1980, and those are the ones that can still have two handles on the wall. Sugarland Run, Countryside and Cascades are all in the mix of eras. Detached homes make up 44 percent of the homes here and townhouses 35 percent, so the plan for reaching the valve changes house to house; we look at the wall before we quote.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
What wears out in showers across Sterling.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | 1979 | single-family houses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 5 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
| Lowes Island | 1996 | single-family houses, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
| Cascades | 1996 | townhouses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
| Sugarland Run | 1983 | single-family houses, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | A worn cartridge in an older single-handle valve. |
| Dulles Town Center | 1998 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 9 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
| Arcola | 2017 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
| Oak Grove | 2005 | townhouses, about 8 in 10 | gas, about 9 in 10 | A worn cartridge or a loose handle on a pressure-balancing valve. |
By the numbers
Sterling houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Sterling
- Built before 1980about 2 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 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.
The signs
When a shower in Sterling 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 Sterling?
A person answers day and night. See this month’s deals before you call.
Choosing who does it
How to pick who fixes a shower in Sterling.
Questions to ask anybody who pulls your shower handle off, us included.
Can they find a cartridge for a 1980s single-handle valve?
Ask them to read the brand off the old cartridge or valve body before they pull anything. If it’s out of production, a plumber worth hiring tells you that up front and prices a new valve next to the part.
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.
Tyson quickly/painlessly removed a broken shower nipple and installed a new shower arm and nozzle. Work was neat and efficient!
- 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 Sterling: Ashburn, Herndon, Reston, Great Falls and Chantilly.
Fairfax County
Arlington County
Loudoun County
Prince William County
Fauquier County
Stafford County
Every town on one page
Questions
Shower repair questions from Sterling.
My Sterling shower handle spins and the water won’t change. Is the valve shot?
Probably not. A spinning handle usually means the grip inside it, or the screw that holds it, is gone, and a new handle fixes it. If the stem itself is rounded, a cartridge swap is a $250 to $450 job.
The shower in my 1985 Sterling house scalds when the washer runs. Do I need a new valve?
If a cartridge can’t be found that balances pressure, yes. We pull the handle first and tell you which it is, before anything is priced.
How much is shower repair in Sterling?
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 Sterling 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.