The short answer
To fix a leaking tap, turn off the water, take off the handle, unscrew the tap's headgear and replace the worn part. On an older screw-down tap that's the washer and jumper valve. On a quarter-turn tap or a mixer it's the cartridge. Replacing a tap washer is one of the few plumbing jobs you're allowed to do yourself in Victoria.
We've been repairing and replacing tapware across Melbourne's northern suburbs since 2012, and we quote the job free with no call-out fee.
A dripping tap is the quietest problem in the house until the house goes quiet. Then it’s the only thing you can hear, keeping perfect time, all night.
The fix is usually a part worth a few dollars. What matters first is which kind of tap you’ve got, because the part is different.
| Your tap | How it turns | The part that wears | Can you fix it yourself? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screw-down tap | Several full turns to close | Washer and jumper valve | Yes |
| Quarter-turn tap | A quarter or half turn, stops firmly | Ceramic disc cartridge | Usually, if you can match the cartridge |
| Mixer tap | One lever for hot and cold | Mixer cartridge | Sometimes, depending on the brand |
| Leak at the wall or under the sink | Any | Pipe or fitting behind the tap | No, that’s licensed work |
Which kind of tap have you got?
Turn the tap from fully off to fully on. If it takes several full turns and gets gradually stiffer as it closes, it’s a screw-down tap with a rubber washer inside. If it turns a quarter or half a turn and stops firmly, it’s a ceramic disc tap. If one lever does both hot and cold, it’s a mixer.
Most older Melbourne homes have screw-down taps somewhere, often in the laundry or on the bath. Renovated kitchens and bathrooms are more likely to have quarter-turn or mixer taps.
What you’ll need
- A new washer and jumper valve, matched to the old one
- A new O-ring for the spindle, while you're in there
- A shifting spanner, and a cloth to protect the chrome
- A flat screwdriver for the handle screw
- The plug, in the plughole, so nothing small goes down the drain
That last one’s the step people skip, right up until the handle screw bounces once on the basin and disappears.
How to replace a tap washer
Replacing a tap washer is one of the few plumbing jobs a homeowner is allowed to do in Victoria. Work through it in this order.
- Turn the water off. Use the isolation tap under the sink if there is one. If not, turn it off at the water meter. Open the tap to drain what’s left in the line.
- Put the plug in. Small parts and plugholes find each other.
- Take the handle off. Prise off the hot or cold cap on top, undo the screw underneath, and lift the handle off.
- Unscrew the cover and the headgear. Wrap the cloth around the chrome cover and unscrew it. Then use the spanner on the body of the headgear, the brass part underneath, and turn it anticlockwise. Hold the tap body steady with your other hand so you don’t twist the pipe behind it.
- Swap the worn parts. The jumper valve and washer sit at the bottom of the headgear or in the tap body. Replace them, and replace the O-ring on the spindle at the same time.
- Put it back together and turn the water on slowly. Refit the headgear firmly but don’t force it, refit the handle, then open the isolation tap or meter gradually and check for drips.
If the drip is gone, that’s the job done. If it’s slowed but not stopped, the problem is probably the seat inside the tap body, which is covered further down.
How to replace a ceramic or mixer cartridge
Ceramic disc taps and mixers don’t have a rubber washer. They seal with two ceramic discs inside a cartridge, and when the discs wear or chip, the tap drips.
The steps are the same as for a washer up to the point where the headgear comes out. Instead of a washer, you’ll lift out a cartridge. Take the old one to a plumbing supplier or hardware store and match it exactly, because cartridges differ between brands and even between models of the same brand.
Mixer taps vary more than any other kind. Some cartridges come out with a single screw. Others need the whole tap body partly dismantled, and a few older or imported mixers have no replacement cartridge available at all. If you can’t identify the brand, or the cartridge won’t come out, that’s the point to stop.
When it’s a job for a plumber
Most dripping taps are a washer or a cartridge. Some aren’t, and forcing the job past this point is how a small repair turns into a new tap.
| What you find | What it means |
|---|---|
| New washer, still dripping | The seat inside the tap body is worn and needs recutting or replacing |
| Leak at the wall or under the sink | The fault is in the pipe or fitting behind the tap |
| Headgear won’t come out | It’s seized in the body, and forcing it can twist the pipe in the wall |
| No replacement cartridge exists | The tap needs replacing, which is licensed work |
| Water coming out of the tap body | The body itself has cracked or corroded |
Replacing a whole tap is licensed plumbing work in Victoria, because it involves disconnecting the tap from the water supply. The same goes for anything behind the wall. A tap that leaks into the wall cavity rather than into the basin is also worth dealing with quickly. You won’t see the damage until it’s a stain, and our burst pipes and leak detection page covers how that gets traced.
A dripping tap is also one of the cheaper call-outs a plumber makes, and our guide to what a plumber costs in Melbourne has the current rate for one. If the tap knocks or shudders as well as dripping, the same worn part may be to blame, which our post on water hammer explains.
Read this next: Why does my toilet keep running?