Plumbing

Most plumbing repairs in a house are small and safe to do yourself: clearing a drain, replacing a toilet flapper or fill valve, swapping a faucet cartridge, tightening or replacing a P-trap. The one rule that applies to all of them is to shut off the water first, at the fixture valve or the main. See how to shut off your water, power and gas.

Start with the most common jobs: Unclog a drain, Fix a running toilet and Fix a leaky faucet. If you know the symptom but not the fix, try Toilet keeps running or Sink won’t drain.

New supply or drain lines, moving fixtures, sewer problems and water heaters are permit work in most places, and gas water heaters are always a licensed job. Our guide to when to call a licensed pro explains where the line falls.