Faucet and Fixture Installation
A dripping tap is almost always a cartridge, not a tap. A wobbling new tap is almost always an installation, not a product. Both distinctions save money.
We carry cartridges for the common brands and we replace shutoff valves and supply lines as part of any fixture change.
Why taps drip, and what fixes it
Almost every modern faucet controls water with a cartridge, a replaceable ceramic-disc or ball-and-seal unit that does all the work. When a tap drips, the cartridge has worn, scaled or torn a seal. The body, the spout and the finish are typically fine.
This matters because a cartridge is a small part and a twenty-minute job, while a replacement faucet is a fixture plus an installation. A dripping tap being sold as needing replacement is one of the more common unnecessary expenses in plumbing.
The exceptions are worth knowing. A faucet with a corroded body, a cracked spout, seized handles that will not come apart without destruction, or a discontinued cartridge with no aftermarket equivalent is genuinely finished. So is a very cheap unit whose cartridge costs half the price of a new tap.
Two other faults masquerade as a failing faucet. A clogged aerator gives weak or spitting flow and is cleaned in five minutes, unscrew, rinse the screen, descale if needed. On hard water this is regular maintenance. High supply pressure destroys cartridges and seals across the whole house; if you are replacing cartridges annually, a pressure test at the hose bib is the more useful next step.
Cartridges, parts and brand reality
The single most useful thing to know when buying a faucet is whether you will be able to get a cartridge for it in eight years.
The major American brands hold parts for decades, offer lifetime cartridge warranties on many lines, and their cartridges sit on the shelf at every hardware store in Oregon. That availability is worth more than a marginal difference in styling, and it matters far more in Lakeview than it does in Lake Oswego.
Imported and house-brand faucets vary enormously. Some are excellent. Others use a proprietary cartridge available only from the original supplier, and when that supplier stops carrying it, which happens quickly on discount lines, a five-dollar seal failure condemns the whole fixture.
Construction matters too. A solid brass body outlasts zinc alloy, which corrodes from the inside on some water chemistries. Ceramic disc cartridges outlast compression washers and ball designs. A metal, not plastic, mounting system holds the tap steady on a thick countertop.
We are happy to fit a fixture you have bought. If it is a design with a known parts problem we will mention it once, fit it properly, and leave the decision to you.
A dripping tap is usually a cartridge. Ask before replacing.
Call Now: 1-866-203-6890Choosing a faucet that lasts
Hole configuration. Single-hole, three-hole 4-inch centerset, or three-hole 8-inch widespread, the sink or countertop decides what will fit. A single-hole tap on a three-hole sink needs an escutcheon plate; the reverse does not work at all.
Reach and height. A high-arc kitchen tap is convenient for pots and a nuisance under a low window; the spout should reach the middle of the bowl, not the edge, and on a double sink it should swing to both.
Pull-down sprays. Genuinely useful. The hose and docking magnet are the wear points, so brands that sell replacement hoses matter.
Finish. Chrome is the most durable and the easiest to source parts for. Brushed nickel hides water spots best, which on hard water is a real consideration. Living finishes and matte black look excellent and mark more readily, worth knowing rather than avoiding.
Valve type. Ceramic disc for longevity. Avoid compression washer designs outside of period restoration work.
Flow rate. Modern taps are 1.2 to 1.8 gpm and feel entirely adequate. A very low aerator on a kitchen tap slows filling a pot noticeably, which is the one place a higher rate is worth having.
Accessibility. Lever handles are usable with wet hands, an elbow or limited grip. Cross and knob handles are harder. Touchless taps are useful where hands are dirty and need power at the sink.
What a proper installation involves
The difference between a fixture that feels solid for fifteen years and one that loosens in a season is entirely in the installation.
We start by shutting off and checking the existing shutoff valves actually hold, frequently they do not, and discovering that mid-job is how a simple tap change becomes a flooded cabinet. Then the old fixture comes out, which on a corroded mounting nut under a deep sink is the genuinely hard part of the work.
Before the new tap goes on, the deck gets cleaned of old sealant and mineral crust, and any surface damage under the base is noted. The tap is set with the correct gasket or a bead of sealant depending on the design, and tightened evenly so it sits square rather than being pulled to one side.
Then new braided stainless supply lines, we do not reuse old flexible lines, because they are the single most common cause of an unattended under-sink flood and they cost a few dollars. Connections made up cleanly, no over-tightening on plastic threads, and the aerator removed for the first flush so debris from the pipework does not lodge in it.
Finally: run hot and cold, check every joint under pressure, check the handle range and temperature at the spout, test the spray and its docking, and check underneath again after ten minutes. Then clean up and take the old fixture away.
We never reuse old flexible supply lines. Ever.
Book an InstallationShutoff valves and supply lines
These two unglamorous parts cause more water damage than any faucet.
Shutoff valves. The old multi-turn stop valves under sinks and behind toilets seize with age and disuse, and they fail exactly when you need them, during an emergency, at speed, under stress. Many will not close fully, and some snap or start weeping the moment they are turned after a decade. We replace them with quarter-turn ball valves as a matter of course during any fixture work, because the cost is small and the consequence of a failed stop is a house-wide shutoff during a leak.
It is also worth knowing where your main shutoff is and whether it works. We check it on request, and on an older house we frequently recommend replacing it, a main valve that will not close is a genuine liability.
Supply lines. Braided stainless with a proper ferrule, not the old plastic or thin chrome lines. Never reused. The washing machine hoses deserve the same treatment and rarely get it, a burst washer hose at mains pressure delivers hundreds of gallons an hour, and replacing both hoses every five years is the cheapest insurance in the house.
Other fixtures we fit
Kitchen sinks, drop-in, undermount and farmhouse, including strainer and tailpiece, trap rework where the new bowl depth demands it, and dishwasher and disposal connections with a proper high loop or air gap.
Bathroom basins and vanity units, pop-up waste assemblies, traps, and the supply reworking that a new vanity almost always needs because the old stub-outs never quite line up.
Laundry sinks and utility taps, including washing machine boxes with proper valves.
Instant hot water dispensers, filtered drinking taps and pot fillers, which need a supply, sometimes a drain, and often power.
Bidet seats and fixtures, which need a cold supply tee and, on heated units, an outlet within reach.
Garbage disposals and shower and bath fittings have their own pages, linked below, because both involve more than the fixture itself.
Outdoor taps and freeze exposure
Hose bibs matter more in Oregon than the fixture cost suggests, and they matter differently depending on which side of the Cascades you are on.
A standard hose bib holds water right at the wall, where it can freeze, split the valve body or the pipe behind it, and then discharge inside the wall when it thaws. A frost-free sillcock puts the shutoff eight to twelve inches back inside the heated envelope, so the exposed section drains empty when the tap is closed, provided the hose is disconnected, which is the detail that defeats them. A hose left attached traps water in the exposed barrel and a frost-free bib freezes and splits exactly like an ordinary one.
Frost-free bibs also need to be installed with a slight downward pitch to the outside so they actually drain, and they need a vacuum breaker for backflow protection. Both are commonly omitted.
In Central and Eastern Oregon and the mountain communities, we also fit isolation valves inside for outdoor lines so they can be shut and drained for the season, and we cover full seasonal shutdown on our winterization page.
Old multi-turn stop valves fail when you need them most.
Get a QuoteServices that often go with this one
- Toilet repair & installation
- Shower & bathtub plumbing
- Garbage disposal repair
- Outdoor & hose bib repair
- Water pressure regulator
- Leak detection
Where we cover
Available in all seven regions, 155 Oregon communities.
Faucets and fixtures, answered
Repair, in most cases. A drip is nearly always a worn cartridge, and a cartridge is inexpensive. Replacement is warranted when the body is corroded, the spout is cracked, the handles will not come apart, or the cartridge is discontinued with no equivalent available.
Yes, and we do it regularly. We will fit it properly and mention any concern about parts availability once. Where a fixture arrives damaged or missing components we will tell you rather than improvising around it.
Almost always the mounting. Thick countertops, plastic mounting hardware and uneven tightening all let a tap work loose. It is corrected by pulling the fixture, cleaning the deck, and remounting square with appropriate hardware.
Usually the aerator, which clogs with scale and debris, unscrew and rinse it. If that does not fix it, the cartridge or the supply line to that fixture is restricted, and on an older galvanized system the branch may be corroding closed.
As a matter of course during fixture work. Old multi-turn stops seize and often will not close fully, which turns a small future repair into a whole-house shutoff. Quarter-turn ball valves cost little and work when needed.
It moves the shutoff back inside the heated wall so the exposed section drains when closed. Worth having anywhere in Oregon, and important east of the Cascades. It only works if the hose is disconnected in autumn, a hose left attached traps water and the bib splits anyway.
Disconnect the hose in autumn. Frost-free bibs still split.
Talk to a PlumberFitted properly, checked under pressure, old one taken away
New supply lines and working shutoff valves as standard, cartridge repairs offered before replacements, and a straight answer about which your fixture actually needs.
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