Minor Plumbing: Leaky Faucets, Running Toilets & the Fixes a Handyman Can (and Can't) Do

Most of the plumbing calls VHS gets start the same way: "the bathroom faucet has been dripping for a year and I've just been living with it."

Or: "the toilet runs every 20 minutes and I think it's costing me money."

Or my personal favorite, said with mild embarrassment: "the garbage disposal made a funny noise three months ago and now it just hums."

These are exactly the jobs a handyman should handle. They're small, contained, behind a shut-off valve, and the parts are at the Home Depot in Stafford for under thirty dollars. You don't need a licensed plumber for any of them — you need someone who'll show up, do them right, and not turn a $20 cartridge swap into a wall opening.

But there's a real line between "minor plumbing" and "you need a plumber." Knowing where that line sits will save you money, time, and — in the worst cases — a hole in your drywall. Here's how I think about it.

What Counts as Minor Plumbing

If the water comes out of a fixture, the fix is usually on the fixture or just behind it. That's handyman territory. Recent jobs in Northern Virginia included:

• Bathroom faucet cartridge swap. Single-handle Moen that had been dripping for nine months. Pulled the handle, popped the cartridge, dropped a new one in. Twenty minutes including cleanup.
• Running toilet — flapper + fill valve combo. The flapper was warped and the fill valve was bypassing. Both parts together cost less than a takeout dinner. Toilet ran silent within an hour.
• Garbage disposal replacement. The old one had seized. Pulled the unit, swapped to a new 3/4 HP InSinkErator, reconnected the dishwasher discharge, checked the trap. Done before lunch.
• P-trap leak under a kitchen sink. Old slip nuts had gone brittle. Swapped the whole P-trap assembly, tested for an hour, no drip.
• Supply line replacement on a vanity. The braided line had a slow weep at the angle stop. New 3/8" supply line, new washer, tested under pressure.
• Shut-off valve (angle stop) replacement. Old multi-turn valve was seized open. Cut it off, soldered or push-fit a new quarter-turn ball valve in, tested.
• Dishwasher hookup. New dishwasher came in, old one came out, supply line and discharge reconnected, air gap or high-loop confirmed.

Notice the pattern: everything happens behind a shut-off valve, in plain sight, on a fixture you can hold in your hand. No wall opening. No torch in a stud bay. No permit.

Where We Don't Go

Now the other side. There are jobs that look small on the surface but are absolutely a licensed plumber's call. VHS will diagnose them, tell you what we're seeing, and refer you out — but we won't touch them.

• Rough-in plumbing for a new bathroom, kitchen, or addition. New drain stacks, new vent runs, new supply lines inside walls — that's permitted work in Virginia and it needs a plumber.
• In-wall pipe replacement. If a copper or PEX line inside a wall is leaking, you need someone licensed and insured to open the wall, fix it, and pressure-test before it gets buried again.
• Sewer line work. Cleanouts, main line clogs past 25 feet, anything with the word "scope" in it. Call a plumber with a camera and a snake truck.
• Water heater installation. Tank or tankless, gas or electric — these need permitting, gas line work, T&P discharge sizing, and (in some Virginia jurisdictions) inspection. Plumber.
• Repiping or PEX conversions. Whole-house work.
• New shower or tub installs where you're cutting tile and tying into a new drain. That falls into our Refresh category and we partner with a licensed plumber on the rough-in.

Why the hard line? Three reasons: liability (a hidden leak in a wall I touched is on me forever), permitting (Virginia has rules and the homeowner pays the price if they're skipped), and expertise (a real plumber does this every day; I do it occasionally and I respect the craft).

The Red Flags: When a "Quick Fix" Becomes a Plumber Job

If you're trying to decide whether to call a handyman or a plumber, here's the cheat sheet I give every customer:

Symptom	Who to call
Faucet drips, fixture is accessible	Handyman
Toilet runs, flushes weakly, or won't shut off	Handyman
Garbage disposal hums, leaks, or won't spin	Handyman
P-trap or supply line dripping under the sink	Handyman
Angle stop won't shut off all the way	Handyman
Water stain on a ceiling below a bathroom	Plumber
Water in the wall, or a wall that's wet to the touch	Plumber
No shut-off valve at the fixture	Plumber first, then handyman
Persistent leak after a fixture was already replaced	Plumber
Sewer smell, slow drains throughout the house	Plumber
Anything involving a water heater	Plumber
Anything with the word "main" in it	Plumber

The three I want to underline: water in the wall, no shut-off, and persistent leak after a fix. Any one of those means stop. The cheap-feeling thing is to ask a handyman to "just take a look." The actually-cheap thing is to call a plumber on day one and avoid the drywall repair, mold remediation, and floor refinishing six months later.

How These Jobs Fit a Day Block

Almost every minor plumbing job is a half-day item on its own — and most are well under that. A faucet swap takes 30 to 60 minutes. A toilet rebuild is under an hour. A disposal swap is 90 minutes.

So minor plumbing almost never books as a standalone visit. It rides along with the rest of a list:

• Half-day combos: faucet swap + toilet rebuild + new shower head and curtain rod. One bathroom, four tasks, three hours.
• Half-day combos: disposal replacement + dishwasher hookup + a few cabinet pulls. One kitchen, half a day.
• Full-day combos: every fixture in a guest bath + supply line refresh + vanity hardware + caulk reset. A small bathroom refresh without touching tile.

That last one is the gateway from "handyman plumbing" into Refresh territory. If you're swapping every fixture in a room and adding a new vanity or mirror, you're in refresh territory, not day-block territory.

Send the List

If you've got a faucet that's been dripping, a toilet that runs at night, or a disposal that's "making a noise" — send it over. Include a photo of the fixture and a photo of the shut-off underneath it if you can find one. We'll size the work, tell you honestly if it's a handyman job or a plumber job, and book the block that fits.

The dripping faucet that you've been living with for a year is a 30-minute fix. Send your list through the Handyman Day Request form and let's get it done.