Toilets, faucets, fixtures, and garbage disposals in Jacksonville

Most of what a plumber does in a week is small: a toilet that runs, a faucet that drips, a disposal that hums and does not turn, a shower valve that will not hold a temperature. On JEA water the small jobs have a local flavor. The water is chlorinated rather than chloraminated, so rubber flappers and washers last; what wears out here is anything the hard water touches. Aerators, shower heads, fill valves and cartridges scale over, and at 17 to 22 grains on the Southside and in St. Johns County they scale fast.

When you call, say what the fixture is doing and whether you want it repaired or replaced; a fixture you have already bought can usually be installed, but ask the contractor before you buy the one you found online.

Need a plumber? Call 904-750-4911

The calls, and what usually fixes them

• A toilet that runs or refills on its own: a scaled fill valve or a worn flapper. A few drops of food coloring in the tank tells you in ten minutes. A toilet that rocks or has water at its base needs a wax ring and sometimes a flange repair, which is not a do-it-yourself job on a slab.
• A faucet that drips: a cartridge or a seat washer. On this water, a scaled cartridge is the usual finding; if the faucet is old enough that parts are gone, replacement is the answer.
• A garbage disposal that hums: something is jammed. The manufacturer's way to clear it is with the power off at the switch and the breaker, using the hex key in the socket underneath and never a hand inside the unit; follow your model's instructions or leave it to the contractor. One that is silent: the reset button, then the unit.
• A shower valve that scalds or goes cold when a toilet flushes: a pressure-balancing cartridge, or on an older house, a valve that was never pressure-balanced.
• A hose bib that leaks at the stem: a packing washer, or a replacement. Where the bib feeds an irrigation system, see the backflow page.
• Low pressure at one fixture: a scaled aerator or supply stop. Low pressure everywhere: the pressure-reducing valve or the service line, a different visit.

Replacing fixtures

A few things worth asking before the fixture arrives.

• Toilets: a 1.28 gallon-per-flush unit is the standard now; JEA lists a toilet replacement rebate among its residential water rebates, with its own eligibility rules on JEA's page. Rough-in (usually 12 inches) has to match.
• Faucets and shower trim: match the valve body already in the wall, or plan on opening the wall.
• Softeners and filters: on JEA water a softener is sized from the grains figure for your ZIP on JEA's hardness table (JEA itself notes softened water is slightly more aggressive on copper and soldered joints); a filter for the sulfur smell in cold water is a different device from the anode fix for hot water. Where a softener or a filter is installed with a backflow preventer, the house becomes a closed system and the water heater needs an expansion tank.
• Permits: swapping a fixture in the same place after the stop does not need one in Jacksonville; moving a fixture, adding a bathroom, or replacing a water heater does. The 2026 $7,500 exemption does not cover plumbing work, so the contractor, not the dollar amount, is the guide.

What the contractor does

A fixture visit is priced by the job or by the hour; ask which before they arrive, and whether a service fee applies to a visit that turns into nothing. Florida's licensing law has narrow exemptions for minor work and local rules add their own conditions; anything that touches the drain, the supply beyond the stop, or the gas line is plumbing work under Florida law and belongs to a licensed plumbing contractor. When in doubt, the local building department answers the question.