A dripping tap (faucet), and what you can honestly fix yourself

A tap that drips once a second wastes more water over a month than most people expect, and the sound has driven stronger people than you to madness. The good news: the majority of dripping taps are a small, cheap, mechanical fix — provided you can turn the water off and tell the difference between the two most common tap insides.

Before anything: the isolation test

Find the shut-off valve for that tap (under the sink in most homes) and close it, or close the main if there is none. Open the tap to confirm the flow has stopped. No isolation valve and no main you can find? That is the professional’s first visit, not yours.

What kind of tap is it?

Two families dominate. Traditional taps with a spindle you turn several times usually seal with a rubber washer and a seat — dripping when off, usually the washer. Modern single-lever or quarter-turn taps usually seal with a ceramic cartridge — dripping or failing to shut smoothly, usually the cartridge. Brand matters for parts: open nothing until you know the make, or plan to take the old part to a hardware shop as the specimen.

The washer job, in one honest paragraph

With water off: prise the decorative cap, unscrew the handle, unscrew the spindle with an adjustable spanner, and look at the end — a squashed, grooved or torn rubber washer is your culprit. Replace it with an identical size (take the old one shopping), check the seat it presses against is not scored, reassemble in reverse, reopen the water slowly. Ten to twenty minutes the first time.

The cartridge job

Same isolation, then the retaining clip or nut holds the cartridge. Cartridges are brand-specific parts — photograph the tap and its brand before buying. They swap in minutes once you hold the right part, and they are usually the only part that ever needs replacing on those taps.

When it is not your job

Water weeping from the tap body itself, corrosion that will not let fittings separate, no way to isolate the supply, or anything involving the pipes inside the wall: that is a plumber’s territory. Paying for an hour of plumbing is cheaper than a flooded cabinet — see what lives inside sink cabinets when they stay damp.

Prevention, such as it is

Taps wear from use, not neglect. What you can prevent is the collateral: close taps firmly but never forced — over-tightening chews washers faster. And once a season, glance at every tap’s isolation valve; a valve that has not moved in years is the one that will seize. It is on the seasonal checklist.