A dripping faucet at 11 PM is not worth a service call, but it is worth owning the right plumbing tools. Five of them handle most of the small leaks and clogs a house throws at you. Keep them in one place and you stop waiting on a hardware store run every time something drips.
Key points
- Plumber’s tape seals threaded joints and buys time on a minor leak
- An adjustable wrench fits round and hexagonal nuts of different sizes
- A basin wrench reaches fittings a standard wrench cannot
- Flange plungers are for toilets, cup plungers are for sinks and tubs
- Augers and snakes take over when a plunger fails
Why keep plumbing tools at home?
Professional plumbers exist for the jobs that damage property fast. A dripping faucet or a stopped-up toilet is not one of them.
Owning a handful of plumbing tools covers the minor fixes that happen on their own schedule. You handle the small thing now and save the call for what actually needs a licensed technician.
The 5 plumbing tools your toolbox should have
1. Plumber’s tape
You will be glad you have a roll the first time a fitting weeps. Plumber’s tape works as a stop-gap on minor leaks from fixtures and fittings until the plumber arrives.
The tape is Teflon, and plumbers use it on tapered thread joints to make the joint leak-free. Wrapped around the threads, it fills and seals the tiny gaps that let water through. Duct tape is not a substitute, because plumber’s tape is waterproof. It also helps when you are replacing a showerhead or refitting pipes.
Small leaks waste more water than most homeowners expect. The EPA WaterSense program publishes what household leaks cost over a year.
2. Adjustable wrench
This is the workhorse of the group. The firm jaw setting loosens and tightens round and hexagonal nuts, bolts, supply lines, and fittings across a range of sizes.
Widen or narrow the jaw until it sits snug on the connection. Grooves inside the jaw keep the tool from slipping while you turn. A six-inch and a ten-inch cover almost every household fitting.
3. Basin wrench
Also called a sink wrench, and the one plumbing tool most homeowners skip. The pivoting head with a claw grips nuts and fastenings without forcing you into an awkward position under the cabinet.
It is not part of a standard wrench set, which is exactly why it earns its place. Use it on the nuts securing your faucet or the drain pipes beneath the sink. Height, diameter, and location put those fittings out of reach for a normal wrench.
If the fitting is corroded rather than just tight, stop. Our faucet repair and replacement team removes seized fittings without cracking the basin.
4. Plungers, flange and cup
Both belong in the bathroom, and they are not interchangeable. A flange plunger clears clogged toilets. A cup plunger clears sinks, showers, and tubs.
Both have rubber at the base of a stick or plastic handle. The cup plunger seals against flat surfaces such as a sink drain, so it cannot seal the concave bowl of a toilet no matter how hard you push.
Each works by creating a vacuum over the drain. Plunging up and down builds the suction that dislodges the debris blocking flow. Use the cup for the sink and the flange for the bowl.
A toilet that clogs weekly has a problem a plunger will not solve. That is when toilet repair and replacement is the cheaper answer.
5. Hand auger and plumbing snake
These two work separately or together, and they take over when a plunger fails. The auger suits the toilet. The snake suits clogged sinks, showers, and bathtubs.
Feed the snake cable as far into the drain as it will go. When it catches hair or trapped debris, hook it and turn the crank to pull the waste out. The snake also works for hooking debris out of a toilet drain.
Repeat clogs in the same line point to buildup you cannot reach. Professional drain cleaning for stubborn clogs clears the whole pipe instead of the first few feet.
When to put the plumbing tools down and call a pro
Low water pressure and smelly water both belong to a licensed plumber. They look simple and rarely are.
The same goes for any leak you cannot see the source of. Guessing at a hidden leak with a wrench turns a repair into a water leak repair job plus drywall.
Our plumbers at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing know what to look for and which plumbing tools to use to fix it without damaging your drainage system. You get straightforward pricing before any work begins, and if there’s any delay, it’s you we pay.
Get the job finished right
Five plumbing tools cover the small stuff. Everything past that is worth a licensed technician and an upfront price.
Facing something bigger than a plunger can handle? Contact our team today or call 972-263-5010.
