How to fix a leaky faucet

Is it so important to fix leaky or/and dripping faucets?

Most annoying leaky faucets of the kitchen or bathroom sinks/tubs are not too difficult to repair, but really frustrating to handle. That exasperating dripping noise is not the only reason why any leaky faucet should be repaired. First of all, we don’t really realize how much water one running water tap is wasting per day. For instance, if your faucet drips 30 times per minute non-stop, it will leak around 2-2,8 gallons of water each day or around 1 thousand gallons of water per year. Isn’t that crazy? Especially considering the fact that the minimum amount of pure water each person is supposed to drink every single day is 2 liters, which is roughly 0,5 gallons. So, a family of 4 could satisfy its daily drinking water demand if that tap water was collected (and if it’s suitable for drinking, of course). But, the financial side of the problem doesn’t look as scary as it might seem, as one thousand gallons of tap water costs $1.50. So, if you hire a plumber to deal with those drips, you’re going to pay more than you lose. But it only seems that way.

The fact is that once the faucet starts dripping, it never stops. The leak only increases its power and occasional drips often turn into a thin trickle. So, you end up wasting even more water than we’ve calculated above. And such pointless water expenditure is just unwarranted in our environmental conditions, especially if we look at this little problem from a larger perspective and calculate similar water waste in numerous households. It seems that even the smallest impact contributes to the reduction of the water consumption, just like the installation of a double flushing toilet.

Secondly, if the problem is more complicated than it seems, your water tap may surprise you with a complete breakdown and kitchen/bathroom flooding. The worst-case scenario is when that happens while you’re away and unable to stop the gushing water from flooding the entire house or apartment. And thank Go if you don’t live in an apartment and the water doesn’t seep through the floors right into the neighbor’s below you. That’s why it’s better not to hope for the luck and call a plumber to stop your faucet from leaking right when you’ve noticed the issue. You’ll save yourself a couple of nerve cells too. If you don’t want to mess with the faucets being afraid that you may break them even more, visit HireRush.com and find a local plumber or a handyman who’ll fix the problem in the blink of an eye.

Call a plumber

However, repairing a leaky faucet is the task even a person with zero plumbing skills is able to cope with. As most water taps leak due to the worn-out washers (those black rubber rings), the task is just to replace them. So, you may follow these simple instructions and get rid of the dripping faucet in your house less than in an hour.

How to fix leaky faucets

How to repair a compression faucet

1. Make sure that you turn of both cold and hot water supply.
2. Inspect the faucet attentively to define which part of it is leaking, as dripping tap and leaking base require different solutions.
3. If the water comes out around the handles, take the decorative index caps off, unscrew each handle and other details so that you’re able to see the packing nuts. Try to twist them with a wrench to make them a little bit tighter (don’t try too hard not to ruin the thread). If the water stops leaking, then you got off easy.
4. However, it’s more likely that the rubber the washers are made of has hardened overtime, so these details have to be replaced. Don’t run to the store to buy them before you get out the old ones to be able to purchase the washers of the necessary size.
5. So, undo the nut and remove the stem and the O-ring from it. if the parts you’ve just disassembled look all right and you don’t notice any signs of damage or destruction (if the stem is not cracked of the thread on the nut and the stem is not broken or worn off), carry on and check the seat washer.
6. If it’s too dry or broken, take it off and go out to the store to purchase a set of these things (maybe a couple of pairs to have in stock when needed). The plumbers say that it is better to replace these details on each of the handles, even if the other one is not leaking at all. As they were put on there at the same time, there’s a high chance that the other one is about to break down soon too.
7. It often happens that the O-ring of the stem cracks, so if that’s your case, purchase a couple of new rings as well.
8. Set the new washers (and O-rings if needed) in place. Don’t forget to attach the brass screw that holds those rubber details. And remember that the O-rings have to be installed with the help of the plumber’s grease. You need to cover the washers in it as well.
9. When everything is checked and replaced, put the faucet’s handles together. Use the scheme above as a guide.
10. Turn the water supply to see if the breakage was repaired. If the water keeps leaking, it means that there’s a more serious problem with the entire faucet and that, unfortunately, you might need to replace it. Call the plumber to deal with this task in order not to mess up the pipes’ system under your sink.

Contact a local plumber

Tips on how to fix other types faucets and leaks

1. The ball-kind faucet’s structure is much more complicated, but the reason of the leak’s occurrence is normally almost the same. Except in these faucets the springs or the O-rings cause the dripping, that’s why you’ll probably have to replace those parts. By the way, these faucets are kind of difficult to disassemble, as you’ll have to use the pliers to undo the cap and collar parts and a special tool to pull out the ball and the cam washer. That’s why plumbers recommend purchasing a repair kit for this kind of faucet, which includes all spare details you’ll have to replace and the tools you won’t be able to do that without.
2. If the water slowly drips from the faucet’s spout of if it doesn’t come out in one strong flow as it’s supposed to, it means that the aerator has gone loose and you need to tighten it a little bit. The latter problem (inconsistent and spraying stream) may be fixed by unscrewing the aerator and replacing/clearing out its screen.
3. The cartridge faucet often struggles with leaking at the spout and mixing hot and cold water correctly. The quick solution to the problem is to take the faucet apart as it’s shown on the picture below and install the new O-rings or even the whole cartridge part if you see that it’s too old to cope with the flow.
4. If you’re not able to tackle the dripping/leaking problem or call a plumber at the moment, but the annoying sound doesn’t give you a chance to fall asleep, take a cloth strip and tie it to the place where the water leaks. The drips will slowly flow down the cloth instead of banging on the sink. Don’t let this urgent solution last for too long and fix the problem at its core as soon as you can.