Clients often need help fixing leaky taps and faucets. A helpful hint from Taskers with experience fixing or replacing plumbing parts, such as tub faucets, is that these tasks tend to be under-scoped. The most common reason? There are specific knobs/cartridges that go with specific brands of faucet. If you don’t find this out in advance, you may have to turn off the whole water supply, remove the faucet, bring it to a hardware store to identify which parts will work, and ultimately cost yourself time and the client money.
As with most Home Improvements tasks, asking the client for more information—or even a photo—can help. Tasker Joe A. says that asking your client for a photo of the faucet during scoping should help you identify what brand the faucet is so you can anticipate which supplies to bring.
Scoping the task:
- Do you have photos of the part that needs to be fixed?
- Have you tried to reset the circuit breaker? (For parts like a garbage disposer, the fix could be very simple!)
- Where is the faucet that needs to be fixed?
- Tasker Greg S. says that typically, kitchen faucets are easier, but in bathrooms you sometimes need to deal with the drain too, which can be harder to reach.
Special tools:
- Hex wrench
- Screwdriver set
- Snake
- Basin/sink wrench
- Headlamp and/or stationary handheld floodlight
- Adjustable wrench
- Teflon tape
- Extra towels and/or small bucket
Other task types can come your way if you’re handy with plumbing appliances. While many of these tasks invitations will come through the Plumbing category, keep an eye out for plumbing-related tasks in Home Improvements, too. James C. says sometimes the task is as simple as unscrewing an old toilet seat and screwing on a new one—a client who hires you to do this will be very grateful!
