A leak you cannot stop right now
Water spraying from under a sink or running down a wall from a tub faucet will not wait until morning, and our 24/7 line takes that call. Find the shutoff valve under the fixture and turn it clockwise. If it is stuck or missing, close the main valve where the water line enters the building, then open a faucet on the lowest floor to drain the pipes.
Test your main shutoff before you need it
MDC recommends finding and marking the main shutoff where the line enters the building, then closing it and checking that the faucets run dry. A valve that has not moved in years can seize or leak at the stem.
If yours will not turn, tell the dispatcher on the phone. It changes what we bring and whether the valve gets replaced on the same visit.
Find the leak by fixture
| Fixture | What you see | Usual cause |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen or bath faucet | Drip from the spout or puddle at the base | Worn cartridge, washer or O-ring |
| Tub faucet or shower valve | Constant drip, hot water that will not shut off, wet wall | Worn or stripped cartridge, failed stem seal |
| Showerhead | Slow drip after the water is off | Valve seat or cartridge leaking past the seal |
| Outdoor spigot | Water behind the handle or inside the wall | Worn packing, or a split from a past freeze |
| Utility or laundry sink | Cabinet floor wet, slow drain | Loose slip nut, cracked trap or supply line |
What a dripping faucet really costs
EPA says a faucet that drips once per second wastes more than 3,000 gallons a year, and a showerhead dripping ten times a minute wastes over 500. Bloomfield customers are billed by MDC for every unit through the meter, so that water is not free. The drip you stopped hearing last winter is still counted.
EPA also says fixing easy household leaks can trim a water bill by about 10 percent. A faucet is one of the cheaper places to start, and the repair is usually short.
Stripped handles, loose knobs and failed cartridges
Calls about a tub knob that spins without turning the water, or a handle that will not stay on, usually mean a stripped cartridge stem or a broken set screw. Single-handle faucets hide a cartridge behind a cap. Two-handle faucets use a stem and a seat that wear at different rates.
MDC states its water is soft, about 15 mg/L or 1 grain per gallon, so scale clogging aerators is less common here than in hard-water areas and plain wear is the usual culprit.
We pull the old cartridge to match the brand and model, then check the valve body for corrosion. If the body is pitted, a new cartridge will leak again within weeks, and we tell you before we install one. Behind a tiled tub wall, access matters. Some valves have a rear access panel in a closet or hallway, and some need a small opening in the wall.
Tub valve gushing or a sink line spraying?
Call the 24/7 line from beside the shutoff and describe where the water is coming from. We can often book a same-day appointment when the leak is slow, and overnight visits are available when it is not.
Outdoor spigots and a Connecticut winter
Winters here freeze pipes in outside walls, and a hose left on a spigot traps water in the barrel. When it freezes, the pipe can split inside the wall and you will not see it until spring. The first sign is water behind the handle or a wet spot on the basement ceiling below the spigot.
- Remove hoses and splitters before the first hard freeze.
- Close the interior shutoff to the spigot if your house has one, and open the outdoor valve to drain it.
- Replace a spigot you cannot get a hose off of before the threads strip completely.
- Ask us about frost-proof spigots when you add outdoor faucets, which is covered with plumbing installation.
Sink-side repairs under the cabinet
Not every sink leak comes from the faucet. A loose slip nut on the trap, a cracked supply line or a drain basket that lost its putty will all fill a cabinet slowly. We replace braided supply lines, reset or swap traps, and reconnect lines after a remodel or a new sink.
If a sink backs up and sends water out of a second fixture, the blockage is in the branch drain, not the faucet. That job belongs with drain cleaning, and we can handle both on one visit.
How a repair visit goes
Shut off and dry
We close the local valve, drain the line and set a light on the work area so we can see the leak path.
Find the source
Dye, a dry tissue and a flashlight tell us whether the water starts at the handle, the spout, the supply or the drain.
Replace the part
We match the cartridge, washer, seat or supply line to your fixture rather than forcing a universal part.
Test under pressure
We turn the water on, run hot and cold, and check every joint for a few minutes before we leave.
Do you need a permit for a faucet repair?
Bloomfield's exempt-work list says repairing leaks in pipes, valves and fixtures needs no permit when valves, pipes or fixtures are not replaced or rearranged. Faucets and water heaters are not addressed by name on that list. The Building Division at 860-769-3516 can confirm for your project. Adding or moving supply piping, as in a new bathroom, does need a plumbing permit.
Because the state code is built on the IPC, swapping valves or fixtures for new ones, instead of repairing what is there, moves the job outside Bloomfield's exempt list.
What shapes the price of a faucet or sink repair
Two faucet calls can look the same from the outside and be very different jobs underneath.
Ask your insurer how it treats water damage from a leaking fixture. Policies typically cover sudden and accidental leaks, not damage from a drip that ran for months.
Call us with the fixture, the symptom and the shutoff status, and we will give you a clear price before work starts.
We also take faucet and spigot calls from Windsor and nearby towns.
Faucet and sink repair questions
Yes. Our dispatch line is open 24/7. A faucet that will not shut off, a supply line spraying or water coming through a ceiling gets an overnight visit. A slow drip can usually wait for a same-day appointment when available.
Often, yes. Shut off the water at the fixture first. A single-handle faucet usually hides a cartridge under the handle cap. If the shutoff will not close, or the valve body is corroded, stop and call.
The stem or cartridge splines are stripped, so the handle no longer grips. The repair is a new cartridge or stem. We check the valve body first so the new part does not fail the same way.
Yes, including spigots that split after a freeze and ones with a stuck hose. We can also add new outdoor faucets as an installation job.
Dry the cabinet, then run the faucet alone for a minute. If the cabinet stays dry, fill the sink and let it drain. Wetness only while draining means the trap or basket.
EPA estimates a faucet dripping once per second wastes over 3,000 gallons a year. On a metered MDC account, that water is on your bill.