Fix a dripping tap (and when to swap it)

Traditional taps, the kind that turn two or three full revolutions, close by squashing a rubber washer down onto a brass seat. The washer hardens and wears, and the drip begins. Quarter-turn taps close by rotating two ceramic discs inside a cartridge, and grit or limescale between the discs scores them. Different insides, same soundtrack.

So diagnose by feel. Multiple turns to shut off means washer. A crisp quarter or half turn means cartridge. And if water weeps from around the spindle only while the tap is running, that is the O-ring or gland packing, not the washer at all.

The fix, step by step

Both repairs follow the same ritual, and neither needs more than a screwdriver, an adjustable spanner and the right spare. No isolation valve under the sink? Close the main stopcock instead, and add isolation valves to the next plumber visit’s list.

While it is apart, unscrew the aerator at the spout tip and rinse out the grit. A clogged aerator is also the usual suspect when one tap runs weak.

When the tap itself is the problem

A new washer that starts dripping again within weeks usually means the brass seat is pitted, so water sneaks past even a perfect repair. Reseating tools exist, but by then the maths often favours a new tap, especially on cheap mixers where a cartridge costs nearly as much as the whole fitting. Corroded bodies, wobbly bases and obsolete cartridges point the same way.

What a drip actually costs

A steady drip is small money on the water bill and real money on the energy bill when it is the hot side: every drip left the boiler already heated. On a meter, the quieter thief is a toilet that keeps running, which wastes far more per day.

For the rest of the house’s water quirks, the home plumbing guide has the map.