Fixture swaps look simple until the shut-off valve underneath the sink will not close, or the closet flange under the toilet has rusted away, which is roughly half the time in a house over thirty years old.
AT A GLANCE
- Typical visit
- 1 to 3 hours per fixture
- Bring your own fixture
- Yes, and we will tell you first if it will not fit
- Commonly replaced at the same time
- Angle stops and supply lines, which are usually older than the fixture
- Permit required
- Not for a like-for-like swap
The part that decides how long it takes
A faucet swap is thirty minutes of faucet and, in an older house, an hour of everything else. The everything else is almost always the shut-off valves under the fixture and the supply lines running to it. Those are frequently original, frequently seized, and are the reason a plumber sometimes has to shut off water to the whole house to change one faucet.
We check them first, before anything is disconnected, and we tell you then rather than mid-job.
Toilets and the flange problem
The single most common surprise on a toilet replacement is the closet flange — the fitting that anchors the toilet to the drain and gives the wax seal something to seal against. Cast-iron flanges corrode. PVC ones crack when someone over-tightens the bolts. And any time a floor has been tiled over without adjusting the flange, the flange now sits below the finished floor, which means a standard wax ring cannot seal properly and the toilet will rock and eventually leak.
None of this is visible until the old toilet is off the floor. What matters is that you find out immediately, with a revised number, rather than getting an invoice with a line item on it.
Fixtures you supply
We are happy to install fixtures you bought. The useful thing is to send the model number ahead of the visit — that lets us check the rough-in dimensions against what is actually in your wall, and flag things like a widespread faucet ordered for a three-hole centreset sink before we are standing in your bathroom.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Flat-rate quote before any work starts
- Replacement of the shut-off valve and supply lines where they are past service
- Correct rough-in check before we remove the old fixture
- Disposal of the old fixture
- Leak test under pressure and a check for movement before we leave
COMMON QUESTIONS
Can I buy my own faucet and have you install it?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Send us the model before the visit and we will tell you whether it fits your existing rough-in and whether the supplied hardware is adequate. The one thing worth knowing is that warranty on a fixture you supply is between you and the manufacturer — we warranty our labour either way.
Why does replacing a toilet sometimes cost more than expected?
Because of what is under it. If the closet flange has corroded, cracked, or sits below finished floor level after someone tiled over the original floor, it has to be repaired or raised before a new toilet will seal. You cannot see any of that until the old toilet comes off. We will tell you as soon as we do, with the revised number, before we go further.
Do you replace the shut-off valves too?
We check them, and we recommend it whenever they are original to an older house. Multi-turn angle stops seize with age, and the moment you need one is the moment you have water running. Replacing one during a job you already booked costs very little; discovering a seized one during an emergency costs a lot.
Can you install a garbage disposal?
Yes, including the electrical connection where a switched outlet already exists. If there is no power under the sink, that part needs an electrician and we will tell you before quoting rather than after.