A dripping bathroom tap rarely means the tap is finished. Most drips come from one small worn part inside, and replacing that costs far less than a new tap. Sometimes a new tap is the right call, though, and it helps to know which you are dealing with before you buy anything.
Andrew covers Beccles from his base in Halesworth. This is how he decides between fixing a tap and changing it.
Work out what kind of tap you have
Turn the handle and see how far it goes. If it takes several full turns to open and close, it is a traditional tap with a rubber washer inside. If it goes from off to full in a quarter or half turn and stops dead, it has a ceramic disc cartridge. Single lever mixers nearly always use a cartridge too.
They wear in different ways. A washer gets squashed and hard over the years until it no longer seals. A ceramic cartridge lasts longer but can be scored by grit or clogged with limescale, which is part of life with hard Suffolk water.
Where the water comes out tells you what has failed
- Dripping from the spout after you turn it off: a worn washer or a tired cartridge.
- Water seeping round the handle while the tap runs: the seal or O-ring on the spindle.
- Water pooling around the base of a mixer: the O-ring at the base or the swivel spout seal.
- Water in the cupboard under the basin: usually the flexible connectors or the small valves under the tap, not the tap itself.
One thing not to do is crank the handle tighter to stop a drip. On a washer tap it crushes the washer and can damage the seat it closes against. On a cartridge tap it can crack the discs. Either way a small repair becomes a bigger one.
When repairing makes sense
If the tap body is sound and the part is available, a repair is nearly always the better value. Washers are standard sizes. Cartridges come in common sizes too, and for most branded taps you can still get the right one years later. Andrew isolates the water, strips the tap, replaces the worn part and checks it shuts off cleanly before he leaves. It is everyday tap repair work.
Look under the basin for small valves on the pipes up to the taps. If they are there and they turn, the job is quick. If not, the water has to go off at the stopcock, and it is worth fitting isolation valves while he is there so the next repair is easier.
When a new tap is the right call
Sometimes replacing is the honest answer. The chrome may be pitted and flaking, the body itself may be leaking, or the cartridge is an unbranded one nobody can match. If you are changing the basin, or simply never liked the tap, that settles it too. Andrew will tell you plainly which side of the line yours is on.
If you are choosing a new one, check three things before you order:
- The number of holes in the basin. Two taps need two holes; a mono mixer needs one.
- The water pressure the tap needs. Many modern mixers are built for mains pressure and run poorly where the hot water comes from a cylinder fed by a tank in the loft. The box or product page usually gives the minimum pressure.
- How the tap is fixed. Bath taps are often only reachable from behind the bath panel, so check you can get the panel off.
If you are not sure, send Andrew a link to the tap you like before you buy it, and he will tell you if it suits your basin and your water pressure.
What you can safely do yourself
Take a photo of the whole tap and basin, and another of the pipes underneath if you can see them. Note where the water appears and how long it has been doing it. A brand name on the tap helps with finding parts.
If water is getting into the cupboard rather than just dripping into the basin, turn off the small valve on the pipe under the tap with a flat screwdriver, a quarter turn so the slot sits across the pipe. If there is no valve, turn the water off at the stopcock, usually under the kitchen sink. A leak below the basin is a plumbing repair rather than a tap job, and it should not be left.
Questions people ask
A few that come up whenever a tap starts dripping.
Can a dripping tap be fixed without replacing it?
Usually, yes. Most drips are a worn washer or cartridge, which costs far less to replace than a new tap. Andrew will tell you if yours is past that point.
Should I buy a new tap before booking?
Not until you know the old one cannot be fixed. If you want a new one anyway, check the holes and the pressure it needs first, or send Andrew the link.
Do you cover Beccles?
Yes. Andrew works in Beccles from Halesworth, along with Southwold, Lowestoft and the other towns nearby.
If a bathroom tap has started dripping, ring Andrew on 07801 988752 or send a photo through the contact page.
