Toilet, tap and shower repairs in Swords

Toilet repairs

Most toilet call-outs are one of three things:

1. It runs all the time.Water keeps trickling into the pan, usually from a worn flush valve seal, or the cistern overflows because the fill valve (the ballvalve) doesn't shut off. Both are parts, not a new toilet.
2. It won't flush, or flushes weakly.A broken lever, a snapped link inside the cistern, or a flush valve that has failed.
3. It's blocked, or leaks at the base.A blockage in the pan or the pipe behind it, or a seal under the toilet that has gone. Water on the floor after each flush needs looking at soon, before it damages the floor.

Published toilet repair prices run €65–€230; replacing a toilet runs €150–€400 for labour.

Dripping taps and new taps

A dripping tap is usually a worn washer on an older tap, or a worn cartridge on a modern mixer tap. It's a small job, but a constant drip wastes water and stains the basin. Fixing one runs €40–€150 on published prices, and a new tap fitted runs €75–€250. If you're buying the tap yourself, say so: some prices are labour only.

Showers and pumps

An electric shower that runs cold, cuts out or trips the fuse board may need a part or a replacement. A power shower or a pressure pump that's noisy, cycles on and off, or leaves you with a trickle is often a pump on its way out, or a leak somewhere it's working to make up for. Replacing an electric shower runs €415–€495 supplied and fitted, and a new shower or pressure pump €750–€1,350.

Swords prices for these jobs

Only one plumber based in Swords publishes prices for these jobs. The Dublin Plumber, in Melrose Park, charges €120 including VAT to replace a ballvalve, the part that refills the cistern and the usual cause of an overflowing toilet, and €1,050 including VAT to replace a negative head booster pump, the kind that feeds a power shower from the hot water cylinder (source).

Dublin Plumber 24hrs, which has a north Dublin office, says replacing a tap in Swords typically costs €120 to €250, depending on the tap and how awkward it is to fit (source). Those are useful figures to hold a quote against.

For a toilet that runs all night, lift the cistern lid before you ring: water rising to the overflow points at the ballvalve, water trickling into the pan points at the flush valve.

What to tell the plumber

• What's wrong, and since when.
• The make of the shower or pump, if you can see it.
• Whether you're supplying the part or the plumber should.
• A photo helps: the cistern with the lid off, the tap, or the pump.

Pick "Toilet, tap or cistern repair" or "Shower, electric shower or pump" in the form.

Questions people ask