As first-time homeowners, my husband and I have learned a lot of simple DIY fixes for little problems and annoyances all around the house. A tiny rip in the window screen? Cover it with mesh tape. Cabinet doors closing too loudly? Bumper pads to the rescue! But some problems, like low water pressure, definitely require the expertise of a professional — or so we thought.
But earlier this spring when we called a plumber after discovering a leak in a guest bathroom faucet, as a last-minute thing, we asked him to check out the butler’s pantry, too. (If we’re paying for an expert to come out, we might as well have them look at everything.)
In less than a minute, he had figured out the problem with the butler’s pantry sink: The faucet had an aerator! It was a small mesh cap at the faucet opening, something we didn’t know existed, let alone that we even had one. As soon as he twisted the aerator off the faucet, the water pressure and flow was exactly the same as our kitchen’s faucet. Problem solved!
What Is a Faucet Aerator?
Our plumber explained that an aerator helps control water flow, which makes sense in a space that traditionally gets heavy usage only during special events — it leads to a lot less wasted water when caterers are prepping in the pantry or helpful guests try to clean up after themselves.
The vinegar soak did remove some of the hard water buildup in the faucet head (which the plumber still recommended as regular maintenance), but the solution was to simply twist off the aerator itself. If you think the water pressure in your kitchen is low, definitely see if you have an aerator before calling a plumber — we were shocked at such an easy and instant fix, then annoyed that we couldn’t figure it out ourselves. You’ll see in the photo below that the opening of the faucet is now much shorter without the aerator.
Thankfully, it was such a small issue that our plumber didn’t bother charging us for “fixing” the aerator — he had more than enough work with the leak in the guest bathroom, anyway (and unfortunately, that fix wasn’t so instant). Here are more brilliant plumber-approved tricks so you don’t waste money (and time!) if you don’t need to.