Why Sarasota water kills faucets early — and the five-item list that stops it

Scale is the quiet reason fixtures fail here. Sarasota and Bradenton run hard water, and it builds up inside the parts of a faucet nobody looks at — the cartridge, the aerator, the water heater — long before anything drips. Most of what follows costs nothing but ten minutes and a bowl of vinegar.

What hard water actually does

Hard water carries dissolved minerals. Every time it evaporates or heats up it leaves those minerals behind as scale. In a house that means four places, in this order of trouble:

• Faucet cartridges. Scale collects around the moving parts, the handle gets stiff, and the seal stops seating. That stiffness is the warning; the drip is the failure.
• Aerators. The screen at the tip of the spout clogs first. A weak or sideways stream is almost never the faucet — it is the aerator.
• Water heaters. Sediment settles on the bottom of the tank, so the burner works through a layer of rock to heat the water above it.
• Shower glass. The white haze is mineral, not soap. Once it etches the glass it does not come off — it has to be sealed before that point.

Hard water is the most common reason a fixture in Sarasota stops working.

The five-item list we keep for our own houses

None of this needs a contractor. It is on the list because it is what fails first here.

1. Aerators — unscrew, soak in vinegar, replace. Ten minutes per faucet.
2. Faucet cartridge — swap it when the handle gets stiff, not after it drips.
3. Hardware near the water — stainless, not coated, within two miles of the Gulf.
4. Shower glass — seal it, then squeegee. The haze is mineral and it etches.
5. Water heater — flush the sediment yearly; the drain valve is on the bottom.

What Florida’s $7,500 permit exemption changed

HB 803 raised the threshold under which many repairs no longer require a permit. It does not suspend code and it does not cover everything — structural, electrical service and gas work still have their own rules, and counties apply the change in their own way. Before you plan work, read the current text at flsenate.gov and check your county’s building department.

HB 803 raised the permit-exemption threshold for many repairs.

What we do

Seventeen services, one crew, Sarasota–Bradenton: interior paint, flooring, tile, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, fences, drywall and doors. Most of what people send us is a list, not a job — a ceiling fan, two door latches, a cabinet hinge, a gate that drags.

> Text us the whole list. We tell you what we can do, what we can’t, and when we can be there.

One list, one crew, Sarasota–Bradenton.

_Sources and checks: Florida HB 803 permit-exemption threshold (verify the current text at flsenate.gov and with your county); service list from handys.now/services. Written August 19, 2026._