How to Fix a Dripping Tap
A dripping tap gets cured one way: renewing the worn part that should seal the spout. Naming that part comes first, and the tap itself tells you.
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How to fix a dripping tap therefore starts with your hardware. The guide below comes from the Lawnton team at Lawnton Plumbing Services. You will find both designs here, the parts each one wears out, what Queensland law lets a householder do, and the bill side of a slow drip.
Local housing runs from the 1960s through to recent townhouse builds. Area-level approvals added 450 homes across five recent years, 81 of them in 2021-22 alone, so quarter-turn mixers now sit beside compression taps that have run for decades.
Our plumbers repair both, and every job is done by a licensed plumber.
Compression and Ceramic Disc Taps Explained
Compression washer taps and ceramic disc mixers differ in how they seal: a compression washer tap presses rubber onto metal, while a mixer usually shuts off on a ceramic disc cartridge.
A quick check of the handles settles which one is yours:
Separate hot and cold handles needing several full turns
a washer tap. Turning the handle winds a spindle down. A jumper valve, the washer carrier on the spindle's foot, presses the washer onto a valve seat, the metal rim the washer seals against.
One lever, usually a quarter turn
a mixer. It blends hot and cold at the spout, and the ceramic disc cartridge, two discs that slide to open and close the flow, does the sealing.
A drip simply means the sealing part has worn. Two parts share the blame more often than not:
- an O-ring perished or gone hard with age
- a valve seat scored where the washer lands
Makers do sell mixers that seal on a washer rather than a cartridge. Treat those as washer taps for the rest of this guide, including the do-it-yourself question below.
Why a Tap Drips After a New Washer
Three signs say the problem sits past the washer: a drip surviving a fresh jumper valve, water at the handle or base, or a mixer weeping from its spout.
The usual culprits behind those signs, in the order we tend to find them:
- a valve seat worn or pitted where the washer should land
- an O-ring or spindle seal past its years
- a connection under the bench or inside the wall working loose
- a cartridge worn inside its housing on a single-lever mixer
- a body that has cracked, or corroded past saving
Swapping or repairing any of these counts as minor work in a licensed plumber's hands. Minor work needs neither a permit nor a Form 4. Expect one booked visit and one renewed part.
Forcing the tap closed never helps. A harder hand just grinds the washer into the seat, so both wear out sooner.
The 1960s to 1980s houses on this run carry compression taps as standard fittings, and several decades of service explain most of the drips we get called to. Newer townhouse builds turn up mixer cartridges instead.
Can You Change a Tap Washer Yourself
Yes, Queensland householders may renew a tap's jumper valve or washer. The QBCC classes that single job as unregulated: no licence, no approval, no report, provided whoever does it has the appropriate knowledge and level of skill and the finished work meets the minimum standards.
Nothing else on the tap shares that freedom. Cartridges never made the unregulated list, and the QBCC's guide for owners holds replacing an entire tap up as its own example of licensed work.
Any tap job starts by stopping the water: close the tap's own isolation valve, or the stop tap at the meter when there is no isolation valve.
If that checklist already reads like a job for someone else, ring (07) 3524 0766. We will send a licensed plumber with the right part on the van.
Who Pays for the Water a Tap Wastes
One slow drip sends thousands of litres to the drain over time, and the meter counts the lot.
The bill lands with the property owner. Every litre the meter records gets charged, leaks included, and losses on the property side of the meter stay the owner's responsibility.
Unitywater runs an adjustment for concealed leaks, but its policy leaves leaking taps, cisterns and similar appliances out of that help. A worn tap is a repair job, never a claim.
When to Call a Plumber
Bring in a licensed plumber once a fresh washer fails, water shows around the base, or a mixer cartridge gives up. All three land on our tap repairs page, and each is a single-visit repair.
A tenanted home adds one rule: the owner or manager owes the premises good repair through the tenancy, and the tenant owes a prompt report. Washer swaps stay open to any capable hand, but nearly everything else on a tap needs a licensee.
Dripping Tap Questions From Lawnton Homes
Call (07) 3524 0766Why does my tap keep dripping even when it's turned off?
Because the sealing part inside has worn through. Washer taps point to the washer, jumper valve or valve seat; mixers point to the ceramic disc cartridge. Screwing the tap down harder only wears those parts sooner.
What makes a tap leak at the base or handle?
Seals above the washer. A hardened O-ring or spindle seal, a union working loose or a body that has cracked all let water out at those points, and none of them sits on the QBCC's unregulated list. A licensed plumber repairs every one.
Who pays for the water a dripping tap wastes in Lawnton?
The property owner. Unitywater charges for all water the meter records, leaks included, and its concealed leak adjustment leaves leaking taps out. A monthly meter read catches a drip well before the account does.
What does it cost to fix a dripping tap in Lawnton?
Two things set the price: your tap type, washer or mixer, and which part inside has worn. Seat or body damage pushes the work up. You approve a fixed quote before any work starts, so the figure holds.
Call Lawnton Plumbing Services About the DripWe'll call you back.
Phone (07) 3524 0766 for a licensed plumber in Lawnton. We work under QBCC No: 15024607, with flat-rate pricing, no hidden fees and same-day where we can.
To claim your $0 call-out fee, call (07) 3524 0766 today.