A Dripping Tap Can Drive You Mad
It’s a form of water torture… that constant drip drip drip drip into the basin or sink. You hear it whenever it’s quiet – in the evening, at night when you are trying to go to sleep. It’s a simple thing to fix – just calls us and we can come over and remove the problem – simple and effective – for just $44.
A Leaking Tap = Wasting Money
A leaking tap is one of the largest sources of water wastage in the home today. You might be surprised how much water a dripping tap actually loses over the period a few days. This can add up in water usage charges and this alone justifies the cost of leaking tap repairs.
Complications of a Leaking Tap
However a dripping tap has other unwanted side effects:
- If the leaking tap is a hot water tap, not only does it waste water, but it also wastes the electricity or gas that heats the water.
- A leaking tap is a major nuisance in hard water areas leading to the ugly scale and rust marks you see in baths, basins and sinks.
- They can allow air into the water system, so you end up with the irritation of water hammer and pipe noises every time you turn on a tap.
Fixing A Leaking Tap
If you’re at all handy, it’s not that difficult to repair a leaky tap. The job is generally easy and inexpensive to do with some basic tools; you just need to know what you’re doing.
The main steps of fixing a leaking tap are:
- You need to identify the type of tap that is leaking. The most common taps are either ceramic disk taps or pillar taps.
- Then you need to identify the cause of the drip. If the tap is dripping from the spout of the pillar type, it’s a simple job to replace the washer. If the tap is a ceramic disk type, it is likely that you will need to get a new central cartridge.
- It is possible that it is leaking from the top or from the body, and then you can fix the problem by removing the spindle and replacing the washers and gland nut as necessary.
- Then you seat the spindle replacing the rubber seal. When you re-seat the tap, be careful not to strip the thread.
- If the cause of the drip is the bottom of a swivel spout tap, that is usually caused by the seal, which is also easy to replace.
If you find other, more serious leaks, you should call a plumber.
One vital step to remember before starting to fix your tap is to turn the water off from the main water supply. That way at least you won’t flood the room if something goes wrong!
Fix A Leaking Tap Yourself: Think Again!
So you’re thinking it might not be too hard to go ahead and eliminate the cause of the problem?
If you have ever talked to anybody who has fixed a tap, you probably heard a scenario similar to this:
- You first spend more than an hour trying to pull the tap apart because the construction is more complicated than it looked.
- You then discover you don’t have the right size tap washer or the tool you need to pull the spindle out of the tap, so you have to make an unplanned visit to the hardware store, which takes a good half-hour.
- You make the repair, close the tap back up and turn on the water main, only to find that the tap is still leaking or that your can’t turn it fully on or off.
It is very common for people spend a lot of time and money trying to fix a dripping tap themselves. If you have a busy life, the last thing you need to do is be fixing a leaking tap after work or during the weekend when you have other things to do. If you think about the value of your spare time, you would likely call in a professional plumber.
In fact, we have been called to lots of jobs where someone was trying to fix a leaking tap, only to find that the job was more complicated than they expected. Mixer taps, for example, can be quite complicated to pull apart and repair and sometimes you should just replace the tap .
To avoid time wasting, embarrassment, and aggravation in your home, there really is nothing like getting a professional plumber in to fix a dripping tap. He or she will have the tools, expertise and experience to get the job done quickly and cost effectively.
A Plumbing Tip From Jim
One last tip…while you have the plumber there fixing one of your leaking taps, carry out a full inspection of the taps around the house – both inside and outside – to check for any others that are showing signs of wear and get them fixed at the same time. This will save you money in the long run.
Jim Paris Plumbing offers leaking tap repairs from just $44. Call Jim on 0418 164 690
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Our Services: Sydney Plumbing Services