Call or text (310) 628-9399

Under-sink leaks in San Gabriel

A swollen cabinet floor or a musty smell under the sink means water has been escaping for a while. Empty the cabinet, take a picture, and send it to (310) 628-9399.

Phone us nowText us a picture

Mon–Sat · north and south of Las Tunas Drive

Supply side or drain side?

Dry everything, then run the faucet. A drip that appears only while water flows is on the drain side: the trap, the tailpiece or the strainer.

A drip that continues with the faucet off comes from the supply side: the shutoff valves or the lines to the faucet.

Sink basin P-trap (holds water, blocks sewer gas) To wall drain Shutoff valvesSupply lines Most under-sink drips start at one of these joints.
Where under-sink leaks start.

Shutoffs in pre-war and post-war houses

Across a city where more than half the homes are over 60 years old (Housing Element), multi-turn shutoffs are the norm. They seize up from disuse and weep at the packing nut once someone finally turns them.

We swap them for quarter-turn valves on the existing pipe and fit braided supply lines at the same time.

Two kinds of shutoff under an older sink Multi-turn stempacking nut can weep Quarter-turnball inside, quick to close If the old stem leaks when turned, swapping it is a small job.
Old multi-turn stem versus quarter-turn valve.

Drain-side fixes

Slip nuts on a plastic trap loosen with bumps from storage bins. Old chrome traps thin from the inside and pinhole. A strainer that seeps around the basin needs to be pulled and reset.

If the cabinet floor or wall behind it is soft, we point it out so it can dry before it gets worse.

Where these numbers come from

Questions from San Gabriel homeowners

Do I need to replace the whole faucet for a drip underneath?

Rarely. Most under-sink drips are at a valve, a line or a trap joint.

Can a stuck shutoff be replaced?

Yes, on the existing pipe, with a quarter-turn valve.

Related repairs

How San Gabriel's older houses are plumbed · Message us a picture