Faucet Repair in Falls Church, VA

Falls Church faucets

Falls Church is an older, close-in city, and many houses still have original or decades-old faucets, especially in secondary baths and basements. Water service in the city comes from Fairfax Water, which took over the former city water utility in 2014. Fairfax Water's supply is moderately hard, about 70 to 185 mg/L at its Potomac plant, and some of its customers receive Washington Aqueduct water instead. Either way, scale builds up on aerators and cartridge seals over the years.

Fairfax Water owns the line up to and including the meter, and the homeowner owns the plumbing after it. In houses this age, the shutoff valves under the sinks are often the original multi-turn type and may not close when you need them, so it is worth testing them before a faucet fails. Outdoor spigots on older homes are another weak point after a cold winter.

What to do right now

1. Close the valves under the sink. Turn them clockwise. If they will not close, use the main shutoff.
2. Drain the faucet. Open it to relieve pressure.
3. Find the source. Look at the spout, the handles and the lines underneath.
4. Write down details. Brand, number of handles and when the problem started.
5. Clear the space. Empty the cabinet so the plumber can reach the valves.

Symptoms and likely causes

Cost factors

A straightforward rebuild on a common faucet is the simplest job. Old compression faucets with worn seats, seized mounting nuts or discontinued parts take longer, and sometimes a new faucet is the more sensible fix. Old stops and supply tubes are often replaced in the same visit. Inside city limits, the City's Code Administration (703-248-5080) handles permits for work beyond a direct swap; Falls Church-addressed homes outside the city are permitted by Fairfax or Arlington County. Fairfax Water uses chloramines most of the year and free chlorine from about April through June, so filter faucets should be rated for chloramine.