Faucet repair in Los Angeles for drips, low flow and leaks under the sink

Older two-handle faucets use compression valves. Each handle presses a rubber washer down onto a brass seat. When the washer hardens or the seat gets pitted, water slips past and the spout drips. We replace the washer and either dress the seat smooth or swap it for a new one.

Most faucets installed in the last few decades use cartridges or ceramic discs instead. A cartridge controls both volume and temperature in a single-handle faucet. When it wears, you get drips, stiff movement or poor mixing. The fix is a new cartridge that matches the brand and model, which we identify from the faucet body and the old part.

Ball-type faucets, common in older kitchens, have their own kit of springs, seats and O-rings. Each style fails in its own way, and knowing which one you have is half the diagnosis.

Much of the water supplied across Los Angeles comes from the Colorado River and the State Water Project, and both are hard. Calcium and magnesium leave white crust on aerators and inside cartridges, where they grind against seals every time the handle moves. That scale is why faucets here often wear out sooner than the same model would elsewhere.

Cleaning the aerator every few months helps, and so does replacing a stiff cartridge before it cracks. For houses where scale keeps coming back on every fixture, a water softener treats the problem at the source. Our article on what hard water does to LA fixtures covers the signs in more detail.

• Soak aerators in vinegar to dissolve scale
• Replace cartridges that feel gritty or stiff
• Swap rusted supply stops before they seize
• Use braided supply lines in place of old rigid tubes

Not every faucet leak comes from the faucet. The two angle stops under the sink and the supply lines that run up to the faucet are common culprits. Old chrome stops seize from scale, and the rubber washers inside them dry out and weep at the stem. Plastic supply nuts can crack when overtightened.

We usually replace old stops with quarter-turn valves and new braided lines whenever we are under the sink. That way you have valves that will actually close the next time something leaks, and you avoid a call when the old ones fail.

A solid brass faucet from a known brand is usually worth repairing. Parts are available, and a new cartridge can make it feel new again. Inexpensive faucets with plastic bodies or no-name cartridges are harder to source and sometimes cost nearly as much to fix as to replace.

If the body is cracked, the finish is flaking, or parts for your model are no longer made, replacement is the better choice. We can handle that through our faucet and sink installation service, and on a remodel, through kitchen plumbing work that updates the whole sink setup.