• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
469-634-1145 Schedule Service Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Benjamin Franklin Dallas

Benjamin Franklin Dallas

  • About Us
    • Blog
    • Coupons
    • FAQs
    • Plumbing Videos
    • Testimonials
    • What Hiring Us Gets You
    • Schedule Service
    • Employment
  • Plumbing Services
    • Plumbing Repair
    • Drain Cleaning Services
    • Faucet Repair & Installation
    • Emergency Plumbing
    • Garbage Disposal Repair
    • Pipe Replacement & Repair
    • Sink & Bathtub Installation & Replacement Dallas
    • Water Filtration
    • Toilet Repair & Installation
    • Water Softener Installation
  • Leak Detection
    • Dallas Plumbing Inspection
    • Slab Leak Detection Near Me in Dallas, Plano, McKinney, & Beyond
    • Gas Leak Repair Dallas, Plano, McKinney, & Beyond
    • Water Line Repair & Installation
  • Water Heaters
  • New Homeowners
  • Service Area
    • Carrollton
    • Dallas
    • McKinney
    • Plano
    • Rowlett
    • Southlake
  • Financing

Plumbing Jobs You Can Learn to Do Yourself, Part 1

Home / Plumbing / Plumbing Jobs You Can Learn to Do Yourself, Part 1

Plumbing looks intimidating (and a little stinky), but there are a couple plumbing projects that are easy enough for a homeowner to do themselves. The next time you have one of these annoyingly prevalent problems, you should feel free to fix it yourself!

If you have the right tools, some good instructions, and a little patience, you might surprise yourself with what you can accomplish. Here are four plumbing repairs that you could quickly and easily learn on your own.   

leaky faucet fix
Leaky Faucet

Why It Happens

Usually, leaking faucets happen when the O-ring in the faucet’s knobs wears away. An O-ring is a rubber, circular fixture that’s responsible for forming a watertight seal between the water supply and the faucet.

When O-rings get worn down, openings may appear in the rubber that are just small enough to let a little water through. That water is the drip you know and definitely don’t love.

What You Need

  • Adjustable wrench
  • Screwdriver
  • Replacement washers and/or O-rings

How to Fix It

  1. Turn off the water to the faucet you want to fix.
  2. Remove caps covering the handle knobs with your screwdriver.
  3. Locate the screw that secures the faucet handle to its stem and unscrew it.
  4. Once the screw is removed, use your screwdriver to remove the handle itself.
  5. Use screwdriver to loosen the packing nut until you can access the stem.
  6. Remove the stem (you may need to twist it off, depending on your sink).
  7. After the stem is removed, you should be able to see the O-ring and washer in the seat of the valve. Remove the washer and replace it with the new one. Do the same with the O-ring. Make sure the replacement washer and O-ring are the right size and shape. You may want to consider taking the washer and/or the O-ring to your hardware store to make sure the replacements you purchase will work correctly.
  8. After installing the replacement washer and O-ring, reassemble the faucet knob in this order: O-ring, stem, packing nut, screw, handle. Test the faucet to ensure you’ve fixed the leak.

First, turn off the water to the faucet you want to fix. Then, if there are any caps over the handle knobs, remove them with your screwdriver.

Young person in yellow shirt plunging a soapy sink. Clogged sink fix.
Clogged Drain

Why It Happens

Any drain can clog, and it can happen for all kinds of reasons. Different kinds of appliance drains clog for different reasons, and often require different kinds of responses. Clogs happen all the time, and most of them can be cleared out relatively easily and quickly.

What You’ll Need

  • Cup Plunger (for sink or shower drains)
  • Flange Plunger (for toilet drains)
  • A “zip-It” tool (for cleaning sink and shower drains)

How to Fix It

Toilet

  1. Put down some towels in case water spills out of the bowl.
  2. Make sure you’re wearing footwear that will give you traction.
  3. Lower the soft rubber flap (or flange) in the underside of the flange plungers head into the toilet bowl’s drain. Insert at a straight, perpendicular angle.
  4. Maneuver the flange around until you feel the flap enter the the toilet bowl’s drain.
  5. Push the plunger down slowly and pull back up repeatedly for about 30 seconds or until most of the water in the toilet bowl is gone.
  6. Flush the toilet to make sure the clog is cleared.

Sink

  1. Insert the cup plunger over the sink drain. Make the plunger’s handle as straight as you can to achieve the best angle possible.
  2. Push straight down onto the drain and pull back up for about thirty seconds to a minute. Make sure you’re feeling pressure when you try to pull the plunger back up.
  3. Run the sink’s water for long enough that you can see whether or not the clog has been taken care of.
  4. Insert the zip-it tool into the sink’s drain, maneuvering it until almost the entire barbed end is in the drain. Work the tool up and down for about 30 seconds to collect debris and hair.
  5. Run the sink again.

Shower

  1. Start with the zip-it tool to remove hair. Sometimes, plunging may simply push hair build up further down.
  2. Depending on how much you removed with the zip-it, see if you’ve cleared the drain already.
  3. If the drain still isn’t working effectively enough, use the cup plunger and follow the steps in the sink category.

 

The next time you have a clog or a leaky faucet, give these fixes a try before you call. Chances are, you’ll be able to solve the problem yourself. Then, you’ll have a skill you can use for the rest of your life. Pretty nifty, huh? We have some more advice to give to the aspiring plumber, so keep an eye out for “How to Fix a Running Toilet” coming later this month.

In the meantime, you can learn about how to assemble your own plumbers toolkit, or how to prevent common plumbing problems like these from happening in the first place. If you end up with a plumbing problem you don’t think you can handle yourself, remember that you can always call us for a little help. We’ll make sure everything’s working the way it should be.

Primary Sidebar

24/7 Scheduling

Book your service online!

Blog Categories

Learn More from the Plumbing Blog

thawing frozen pipes

How to Thaw a Frozen Pipe

January 10, 2023

Sink drain. "Preventing clogs before they happen part 2"

How To Prevent Clogs Before They Happen, Part 2

December 7, 2022

See More Posts

The 24/7 Punctual Plumber

We're open 24/7 for emergency service to serve you when you need it most.

469-634-1145 Schedule Service

Footer

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
1100 Jupiter Road
#150A
Plano, TX 75074

469-634-1145

Contact Us

Hours of Operation: 24/7

Resources

  • Plumbing Coupons
  • Financing
  • Plumbing Videos
  • Blog
  • FAQs

Services

  • Plumbing
  • Drain Cleaning
  • Leak Detection
  • Water Heater Service
  • Emergency Plumbing

Careers

Interested in a career with
Ben Franklin Plumbing?

See available positions here.


Rate Us
Leave us a review!
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2022 Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy