The small leaks that cost the most
Most plumbing damage in a house does not start with a burst pipe. It starts with a drip nobody hears: a faucet that weeps at the base, a braided supply line that has aged at the nut, a toilet that runs for a minute after every flush.
A drip under a sink wets the cabinet floor for weeks. A running toilet pushes water through the bowl all day, and you pay for it on every bill. A supply line that lets go while you are out of the house can put water across a floor in an afternoon.
These are the jobs a handyman handles every week, and they are small fixes next to what they turn into. If you can see a stain, a swollen cabinet or a damp spot, call and describe it.
How a fixture swap is done
The order never changes. Find the shut-off valve for that fixture and close it, open the faucet to bleed the pressure, then disconnect the old unit and clean the mounting surface so the new one seats flat.
The new faucet, toilet fill valve, supply line or trap goes in with fresh connections, hand-snugged and then finished with a wrench so nothing is overtightened. Under a sink, the trap and the drain connections get the same attention as the faucet, because that is where most slow leaks live.
Then comes the part that counts: open the valve slowly, run the water, flush, fill and drain the basin, and check every joint with a dry fingertip and a flashlight. The job is not done until the joints stay dry.
When it is bigger than a handyman job
Some plumbing belongs to a licensed plumber: a main water line, a sewer or drain line that backs up across the house, gas lines and water heaters. JRC Sandy Handyman does not take those on as handyman work.
If your call turns out to be one of those, the team will tell you honestly on the call, so you do not pay for a visit that cannot fix the problem. Many times the leak you are worried about turns out to be a fixture, and that part they can handle.
Not sure which kind of problem you have? Describe it by phone, in English or Spanish, and you will get a straight answer about what the job is.
