Home Plumbing Projects You Can Safely Do Yourself

Broken pipes and other byproducts of plumbing projects gone wrong can be costly and dangerous. Before you need to call and make a claim on your homeowner’s insurance, make sure the plumbing project you’re thinking of DIYing is a good idea. Because while we’re the first advocate to cheer on a DIY done right, we also know that sometimes you need to call a plumber—and that’s okay too.

That being said, though, there are tons of home plumbing projects that are safe to tackle on your own. So grab your tools (and gloves if you want them) and get ready to save your money and your sewage.

1. Shower Swap

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No one likes a leaky showerhead or one without enough pressure. Whether you’ve got too many years of bad hard water buildup, or it’s simply time for an upgrade, swapping showerheads is an easy plumbing project to take on in an afternoon.

If you’re lucky, you can swap the showerheads completely by hand, but if you need a little help, don’t be afraid to reach for the pliers when it comes time to twist, take, and replace.

2. Toodaloo Toilet

Tired of going to sit on your toilet only to fall about a thousand feet because your pot is so low to the ground? It might be time to replace your toilet. Replacing a toilet may take up a chunk of your time, but it’s still a safe plumbing DIY you can knock out in a day.

Before you do any swapping, though, make sure to turn of the water to the toilet. You don’t want to end up with a splash pad in your bathroom.

If you need help with your toilet takedown, we’ve got you covered.

3. Under Pressure

If your water pressure isn’t up to snuff, you can fix it. Adjusting water pressure is a simple plumbing problem that you can fix yourself. Maybe all you need to do is clean out your shower head with vinegar, but even if it gets a little more technical than that—it’s a simple fix.

If you need help adjusting your water pressure, start here.

4. Calling the Caulkers

If you need to reseal your tub, shower, or sink, it’s a simple fix that doesn’t involve breaking pipes or your back. All you need to do is grab the correct kind of caulk at your local hardware store and get to it. Make sure that your caulk is made for areas with lots of splash potential. We also recommend caulk with a good stretch to it. The bottle will tell you what areas of the home the caulk can apply in and give you detailed application instructions. Make sure you follow them closely, or you may end up with a seal that isn’t quite tight enough.

5. The Install

If you need to install a new dishwasher, it isn’t as stressful as it may seem. Firstly, your new dishwasher should come with a set of instructions that will help you install the dishwasher in no time flat. First, you need to safely remove the old dishwashing unit. Then you’ll need to hook up the new unit, following the instructions. If your arm muscles need a little help moving the appliances, this may be a two-person job.

And don’t worry if you get stuck (metaphorically speaking). We’ve got the dishwasher install guide you need.

6. Take Out The Trash

If your garbage disposal needs fixing, hold off calling for backup. First, try pressing the garbage disposal reset button on the unit under the sink. More times than not, this simple solution does wonders for the disposal. If that doesn’t work, don’t stress. We’ll walk you through the steps you need to take to get your disposal up and grinding again.

And if you need to replace your disposal with a whole new one, we can help you there too.

Remember that with any project you tackle, safety comes first. Take a minute or two before every project and make sure you can safely tackle the entire DIY.

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