Plumber for faucets, showers, sinks and garbage disposals in Burbank

Faucets, showers and garbage disposals are the fixtures you use every day, and each fails in a predictable way. A faucet drips from a worn cartridge or washer, a shower loses pressure from scale, and a disposal hums when it jams. We send a local tradesperson to your Burbank home to inspect the fixture, and the price reaches you on paper ahead of any work. The pages linked below go deeper on each problem. Pick the one that matches yours, or request a visit from the quote page.

Where is the best place to shop for bathroom fixtures?

Shop wherever you can weigh the exact model, the warranty and the parts supply side by side. Home centers and plumbing supply showrooms let you handle the fixture. Manufacturers' own sites list spare parts and installation guides. Look for the finish, the valve type and whether the faucet fits your sink's hole layout before you pay.

Two checks save money later. First, confirm the cartridge or valve inside is a standard replaceable one, since a faucet whose parts are discontinued becomes scrap when the valve fails. Second, look for the WaterSense label on a bathroom faucet. That label means a maximum of 1.5 gallons per minute, which EPA says can cut a sink's flow by 30 percent or more from the standard 2.2 gallons per minute. If you plan to replace several fixtures, a plumber can advise on compatible valves.

Who has the best plumbing fixtures?

No brand wins every category, so judge a fixture by what is inside. A solid brass body, a ceramic disc cartridge, a finish with a long warranty and parts you can still buy in ten years matter more than a name. Price alone does not predict this. A mid-priced faucet from a maker with good parts support often outlasts a cheap one.

For showers, the valve behind the wall is the part that matters, since it is the hardest to change. A pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve protects against sudden temperature swings and scalding. Ask the plumber which valve type your wall already has, because the trim you pick must match it. A plumber will also tell you what the existing pipe allows. The money side sits in our page covering faucet replacement pricing.

What does a plumber for garbage disposal repair actually do?

A plumber freeing a jammed disposal turns off the power, clears whatever is caught, resets the unit and checks for leaks at the flange, the drain connection and the dishwasher inlet. If the motor is burned out or the casing leaks, the unit is replaced, since those failures are rarely worth repairing. The plumber also checks that the drain below it flows.

You can try the first steps yourself. Kill the power at the wall switch and the breaker. Fit the hex wrench into the socket underneath and rock the shaft back and forth, then push the red reset button. Never reach into the chamber, even when it is off. If the unit hums with no movement after that, or leaks from the body, call a plumber.

For a disposal that has been replaced, one national guide gives about $138 to $272 for typical installation labor, and another puts the whole job, with the unit, between $150 and $950. If the sink needs a new outlet, add about $120 to $165. Treat those prices as ballpark figures rather than a quote for your home. For a slow drain below the disposal, read clearing a clogged garbage disposal drain.

How does a plumber fix a leaking or low-pressure shower?

The plumber starts by finding whether the problem is the trim, the valve or the pipe. A dripping head or a feeble spray suggests scale or a tired cartridge. Damp wall material suggests a leaking supply or drain line. Typical shower repair runs about $238 to $595 nationally, from a cartridge swap to a bigger repair.

Valve and cartridge work is a normal one-visit job when the part is available. A leak inside the wall means opening it, and the tile or drywall repair is separate. Our shower leak and burst pipe guide shows how the source gets traced and what to handle during the first ten minutes. For a shower whose pressure has fallen, low water pressure walks through whole-house causes and descaling is handled in removing hard water scale, which deals with the showerhead.

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What can cause low water pressure at one kitchen sink?

When only one kitchen sink runs weak, the culprit tends to be a blocked aerator, an angle stop that is not fully open, or a supply hose with a kink. Hard water scale builds in the small screen of the aerator first. If the pressure is low at that sink only, the water system itself is fine and the cause is within a few feet of the faucet.

Twist the aerator off the end of the spout, rinse its screen, and leave it in vinegar if crusted over. Open both angle stops fully. If the fixture has a pull-out sprayer, check its hose for kinks. If the sink is fine after that, the next suspect is the cartridge. When the whole house is weak at once, call the utility first. Burbank Water and Power, Glendale Water and Power and LADWP serve different parts of the Valley, and each publishes a water quality report that covers hardness, if scale is a worry.

What about leaks under the sink and shower pressure that is low?

Leaks under a sink come from loose slip nuts, worn washers or a corroded trap, and most are straightforward to fix once you locate the wet spot. Low pressure in a shower is usually scale in the head or a cartridge that is partly blocked, and the cure is cleaning or replacing the part.

The guide to fixing a leaking pipe beneath the sink goes through tape, clamp and fitting options and where a DIY fix runs out. If you want a price across all leak work, see leak repair costs. The Lankershim Plumbing home page lists other plumbing we arrange around Burbank and the Valley.

Questions people ask

How much time should I set aside for a fixture repair?

A cartridge or washer swap is under an hour. Fitting a new faucet runs one to three hours. Swapping a disposal is roughly one to two hours, provided the sink already has an outlet. A leak inside a shower wall can take half a day with the wall open. The plumber gives you a better estimate after a look.

What questions go to the plumber before a disposal or shower job?

Find out if pricing is flat or hourly, who buys the part, and how the plumber handles a wall that must be cut open. Get the contractor's California license number and check it through the state's License Check page. Have the quote on paper first, with plumbing and wall repair itemized apart.

Does someone have to be at the house for the repair?

Yes, at the start and again at the end. You point out the shutoffs and look over the result. Hovering throughout is unnecessary. Empty the cabinet below the sink, or tidy the bathroom, ahead of time so the fixture is easy to reach.

Should a worn disposal be fixed or replaced?

A simple jam or tripped reset deserves a fix, since it costs nothing. A motor that has burned out, or a unit that leaks from its body, is usually better replaced, since the repair costs close to a new unit. An old disposal with repeated repairs behind it is a candidate for replacement.

Why does my faucet drip even after I replaced the washer?

A faucet that keeps dripping after a new washer usually has a worn valve seat, the metal surface the washer presses against. A cartridge faucet drips from a worn cartridge or seals. A plumber can reseat or replace it. For an old faucet with scarce parts, a whole new faucet often costs less than repairing it.