Shower head not working? Full, even spray restored in one visit in Solihull
Blocked jets, split faces and worn threads are all repairable — often cheaper than replacing the whole shower.
Booking fee plus hourly labour — the price is confirmed before any work starts.
What this costs
| Booked 14+ days ahead | £25 booking fee £85 per hour |
|---|---|
| Booked within 48 hours | £100 booking fee £65 per hour |
| Same-day call-out | £220 booking fee £45 per hour |
The booking fee secures the visit. Labour is then charged by the hour, so you only pay for the time the job actually takes.
Booking fee £25–£220
£25 + £85/hr booked 14+ days ahead, £100 + £65/hr inside 48 hours, £220 + £45/hr same day. Agreed before we arrive.
Covered under Shower
Plumbing › Shower — one of 20 documented jobs in this section.
Same-day broken shower head replacement
Urgent jobs can often be booked for today. Ask when you book and we will confirm the slot before you pay anything.
15 service areas
Birmingham, Coventry, Dorridge and 12 more across the West Midlands.
The shower head is the part of the system that works hardest and gets the least attention. It sits in hot water every day, in a humid room, and is usually the last thing anyone thinks to clean. When it starts to fail, the symptoms are easy to recognise and often easy to fix.
Why shower heads fail
The most common cause is scale. Every litre of water that passes through leaves a little mineral deposit behind, and in hard water areas those deposits build inside the nozzles until the holes are partly or fully blocked. The spray becomes uneven, some jets stop entirely, and the water that does come through is redirected into a coarse, stinging pattern.
The second common cause is physical damage. A dropped head cracks the face plate. A head knocked against the wall or the tray can split at the seam where the two halves are joined. Cheap plastic heads become brittle with heat cycling and split without being dropped at all.
Third is the connection. The thread where the head meets the arm wears or cross-threads, especially if the head has been removed for cleaning and put back at an angle. The swivel ball joint can seize or leak. Rubber washers perish and flatten.
If your complaint is that the spray is weak rather than broken, that overlaps with a wider low shower pressure fix — the head may be fine and the restriction somewhere else.
Why it gets worse
A partly blocked head is not stable. Once scale starts, it accelerates, because the narrowed jets hold water and deposit more. The reduced flow raises the temperature of the water sitting in an electric shower's canister, which can trip the thermal cut-out. A leaking joint at the head will quietly soak the wall behind the riser rail over months. And a head that sprays sideways soaks the bathroom and can lead to water damage well beyond the shower itself.
How we diagnose it
We take the head off and look at it, which sounds obvious but is where most of the answer is. We check the inlet filter — many heads have a small mesh washer that traps debris and blocks flow completely. We inspect the face plate for cracks and the joint for movement. We look at the hose and the wall outlet for kinks or scale.
Then we run the shower without the head fitted. If the flow from the arm is strong, the problem is in the head. If it is weak, the restriction is upstream — in the hose, the valve or the pipework — and fitting a new head would not fix anything. That single test saves people a lot of wasted money.
How we fix it
Where the head is sound but scaled, we descale it properly rather than picking at the jets with a pin. Soaking in a suitable descaler, then flushing and cleaning each nozzle, restores most heads. We replace perished seals and washers at the same time.
Where the head is cracked or the spray plate is split, it is replaced. We match the fitting type and the flow rate to the unit — a head designed for high pressure will perform poorly on a low-pressure system, and an oversized rain head can starve a combi boiler.
Where the thread or the wall outlet is damaged, we replace the affected part rather than packing it with tape, and check the joint under full flow before we leave.
Cost and time
If the fault turns out to be upstream and needs more work, we tell you before going ahead.
Preventing it
Clean the head monthly in hard water areas — a weekly rinse and a periodic descale is enough. Do not use the shower head as something to hold onto or pull yourself up by. Refit it hand-tight, straight, with a fresh washer rather than forcing a worn thread. Leave the bathroom door open or the extractor running after use so the head dries.
When to call it in
Call us if the spray is uneven, if jets have stopped, if the head drips after the shower is off, if you can see a crack, or if the head will not stay in position. Also call if the flow has dropped across the whole shower rather than just the head, since that points to something different.
Book a call-out
Tell us the make of your shower if you can see it, whether the head is fixed or on a hose, and whether the whole shower or just the head seems weak. We will bring the likely parts with us and have it sorted in one visit.
How the price works
We charge a booking fee to hold your slot, then an hourly rate for the work itself. The fee changes with how soon you need us; the hourly rate changes with the slot you choose. You approve the price before we start, so there is no surprise on the invoice.
Booked 14+ days ahead
£25 booking fee
then £85 per hour of labour
Best value. Book the slot now, pay the smallest booking fee.
Booked within 48 hours
£100 booking fee
then £65 per hour of labour
For jobs that can wait a day or two but not a fortnight.
Same-day call-out
£220 booking fee
then £45 per hour of labour
Urgent problems: standing water, no heat, no power, leaks.
Book the slot
Choose the window that suits you and pay the booking fee. That holds your place in the diary.
We diagnose on site
The engineer confirms the cause and tells you what the job involves and how long it should take.
You approve, we work
Nothing goes ahead until you agree the price. Labour is then charged per hour at your slot rate.
A shower head that dribbles, sprays at an angle or has lost half its jets is usually limescale, a split face plate or a worn connection rather than a failed shower. We strip and clean the head, check the arm and threads, and replace the faulty part with one that matches your shower's flow. Most cases are sorted in a single short visit.
What our customers say about our plumbing service
4.7 out of 5 from 11 reviews
Second time we have used them
What I appreciated was being told what was actually wrong before anyone started. Sorted in under 32 minutes and the invoice matched the quote to the penny.
Job: Loose Pipe Connections Repair
Worth the booking fee
Booked the £220 booking-fee slot on Tuesday and got a message confirming the time the same morning. The cause was explained, the price agreed before any work started, and the job was done in about 75 minutes. Clean and tidy when they left.
Job: Hidden Pipe Leak Repair
Turned up when they said
Turned up in the window they promised, walked me through the options (turns out the part had to be sourced locally), then cracked on. Everything was tested before they left. No mess, no drama, no surprise on the bill.
Job: Central Heating Leak Repair
Book Broken Shower Head Replacement
Tell us what is happening and choose a slot. If you are not sure this is the right job, use the diagnosis panel — it narrows the problem down before you book.
- Booking fee confirmed up front
- Hourly labour, agreed before work starts
- Same-day slots for urgent problems
Questions people ask about broken shower head replacement
Straight answers to the things customers ask most often before booking.
Can a blocked shower head be cleaned rather than replaced?
Often, yes. If the head is intact and only scaled, a proper soak and flush will restore most of the spray. Replacement is the right call when the face plate is cracked, the body is split, or the internal mechanism has failed.
Why has my shower suddenly lost pressure?
A sudden drop is usually a blocked inlet filter or a scaled head rather than a pump or boiler failure. We test the flow with the head removed, which immediately shows whether the restriction is in the head or further back in the system.
Will a bigger shower head give better flow?
Not on its own, and it can make things worse. A very large head spreads the same amount of water over a wider area, and on a combi boiler it can demand more than the boiler can heat. Flow rate depends on your supply, not the size of the head.
The head drips after I turn the shower off. Is that the head?
Usually not. Dripping after shut-off is normally the valve or cartridge not closing fully, or water draining from the head and hose. We check both during the visit so you are not replacing the wrong part.
Do you carry replacement heads?
We carry common fittings and washers, and we can advise on the correct type for your shower if a specific model needs ordering. We will always try to repair a sound head before recommending a replacement.
Need broken shower head replacement sorted in Solihull?
Book a slot in the diary and pay only the booking fee up front. We confirm the rest before we start.