Fixture, Faucet & Toilet Repair in Santa Fe, NM
Hard water destroys cartridges and flappers faster than the box says. A dripping lavatory in Santa Fe is often a $20 ceramic disc full of scale, not a whole faucet — unless the finish is already gone and you wanted an excuse. We rebuild when the body is good, replace when it is not, and set toilets so they do not rock on uneven adobe floors. 505-316-4231.
Hard water destroys cartridges and flappers faster than the box says. A dripping lavatory in Santa Fe is often a $20 ceramic disc full of scale, not a whole faucet — unless the finish is already gone and you wanted an excuse. We rebuild when the body is good, replace when it is not, and set toilets so they do not rock on uneven adobe floors. 505-316-4231.
Content reviewed 2026-10-01.
Toilets that run all night
Flapper or fill valve, usually. We also check the supply stop that has not moved since 1994 and will snap if you ignore it. A running toilet on this water is a real bill, not a lecture.
Disposals and the chile problem
Fibrous food and grease kill disposals. We replace units, we do not pretend a reset button fixes a locked rotor that has been humming for a week.
The cartridge is usually the leak
A faucet that drips from the spout is a cartridge, a seat, or a washer. A faucet that drips from the base is an O-ring or a supply, and those are different parts. We identify the brand before we drive when you can read it, because a 1990s Moen and a no-name builder faucet do not share a cartridge. If the handle is a brand we cannot get parts for, we say “replace the faucet” before we spend an hour in the truck. We do not order a cartridge, leave you for three days, and then discover the valve body is cracked.
Toilets that run, rock, or smell
A running toilet is a flapper, a fill valve, or a flush valve that no longer seals. Those are cheap parts and they waste a shocking amount of hard Santa Fe water. A toilet that rocks has a failed wax ring or a flange that is below the finished floor, and the rock is what broke the seal. We reset it. If the flange is broken we repair the flange, because a new wax ring on a broken flange lasts until the next person sits down hard. A sewer smell at the base is the same seal. We do not caulk the base and call it fixed. Caulk hides the leak that is rotting the subfloor.
Lead, historic fittings, and what we will not scrap
Older downtown fixtures sometimes have supply lines and valves you do not want replaced with the brightest thing at a big box. If you want the original trim kept, say so. We can often rebuild the guts and leave the handle. If the body is leaded and the water sits in it, we will tell you that plainly and let you decide. We do not steal a historic faucet for scrap and we do not refuse to work on one. Angle stops that have not moved since the Clinton administration get replaced when we are already under the sink, because they are how the next leak becomes a flood. We tell you before we cut them out.
Showers, valves, and the wall we do not want to open
A single-handle shower valve that will not hold temperature is often a cartridge, and the cartridge is behind a trim plate, not behind the tile. We start there. If the valve body is leaking inside the wall, the tile comes off, and that is a different price and usually a different day so the waterproofing can be done properly. We do not smear silicone on a weeping escutcheon and leave. Scald risk on a valve with no stop is real. If the house has no shower stops, we add them when the wall is open. You should be able to service the next cartridge without killing the whole house.
Supplies, disposals, and the dishwasher flood
Braided supplies fail at the crimp, usually on a Saturday. We replace them in pairs under a sink because the second one is the same age. A disposal that leaks from the body is done. A disposal that leaks from the sink flange is a putty and a tighten, and we will not sell you a new machine for a flange. Dishwasher leaks are the door gasket, the inlet, or the drain hose looped wrong so the sink dumps into the tub of the machine. We look at the loop. It is free to look and it is the cause more often than people think.
Under the sink, with the right cartridge
Water off at the stops. If the stops do not hold, the house valve is next, and the stops get replaced as part of the same visit because we are already there and they failed the one job they have. We match the cartridge to the valve body, not to a photo of a handle that three brands shared. Seats get looked at. A new cartridge on a chewed-up seat will drip by Thursday. Supplies get replaced if the braid is rusting at the crimp. The drain gets checked while we are down there: a trap that was installed uphill will glug forever and it is a five-minute correction.
Toilets and the floor
We lift the toilet when the complaint is a rock, a smell, or a leak at the base. The flange tells the truth. If it is broken we repair it before the new wax goes in. Bolts that are rusted to nothing get replaced so the next person can service it. A fill valve and flapper are replaced together when the toilet runs, because one new part on a tired partner is a callback. We set the water level to the line, not to “a little higher so it flushes better,” which is how you waste water and still have a weak flush if the rim jets are scaled shut. Hard water scales those jets. We clean them.
When the fixture itself is the end
Cracked porcelain is done. A tub valve body that is porous is done. A faucet whose brand died in 1997 and has no cartridge is done. We will identify that in the first few minutes and price a replacement instead of a heroic rebuild. If you have a specific finish you need to match in a historic bath, say so before we buy a chrome builder faucet. We can usually get something that belongs in the room. We cannot match a custom finish from memory. Phone 505-316-4231 with the brand, or a photo of the handle and the spout.
Parts, finishes, and the trip back
If we can see the brand, we bring the cartridge. If we cannot, the first trip may be the identification and the second trip the part. We would rather tell you that than pretend every faucet on Cerrillos Road shares a stem. Finishes are the other delay. Brushed nickel and chrome and oil-rubbed bronze are not in one bin for every valve. If the handle has to match a set, show us all of them before we order one oddball. Supply lines and stops are the parts we will not leave tired. A successful cartridge job that floods on Saturday because the stop crumbled is not a success. Toilets get a new wax ring whenever they come up. We do not reuse wax. Shower cartridges that require the main to be off, because there are no stops, get stops added when the wall is already open. If the wall is not open, we still mention the missing stops so the next service is not a whole-house shutoff. Fees are the labor plus the part we named. A special-order cartridge that you then decline is discussed before we order it, not after it is on the counter. Call 505-316-4231 with a photo of the faucet from the top and from underneath if you can get your phone under there.
What we actually get called for
Not a generic list — these are the failures this climate and housing stock produce.
Drip you can hear at 2 a.m.
Cartridge or seat. We pull it before we sell a faucet.
Toilet that rocks
Wax or the floor. Rocking breaks the seal and the closet flange.
Weak shower
A scale-packed head or a failing valve. Two different jobs.
Disposal leak at the sink flange
Putty or a cracked housing. One is a gasket; one is a unit.
How a job runs
Look at the actual part
Brand and age matter. We do not bring a universal kit and hope.
Rebuild or replace
Quoted in the room.
Check the stops
Old angle stops are part of the job whether you asked or not.
Questions people ask before they call
Can you install a toilet I bought?
Yes, if it is a real residential unit and the flange is sound. Cheap two-piece specials on an uneven floor still have to be set level or they leak.
Why do faucets fail so fast here?
Hardness. Scale scores the ceramic discs. A softener is the fixture warranty the manufacturer assumed you had.
Do you do full bathroom fixture packages?
Yes — toilet, lav, shower valve, supply stops. Remodel trim and tile is a different trade; we do the wet work.
City pages that stay
Fixture Plumbing stays on this URL. Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Española each have one plumber page. Other towns 308 here or to those three. Call 505-316-4231.
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Lobo Tech · NM license 384927 · 1259 Coriander Rd, Santa Fe · 505-316-4231