How to Stop a Dripping Tap

A tap that drips once a second wastes around 5,500 litres of water a year — enough to fill a small paddling pool every fortnight. If it's a hot tap, you're also paying to heat that water. Most drips are caused by a worn washer or a failed cartridge, and most are repairable in under thirty minutes if you have the right parts.

This guide walks through identifying the type of tap you have, the common failure points, and the step-by-step fix. We'll also flag the situations where DIY isn't worth it — usually when the valve seat is corroded or the leak is happening inside the wall.

Identify your tap type first

There are three common designs in UK homes:

• Traditional compression taps have a separate hot and cold tap, with a rising spindle and a rubber washer at the base. You usually need to turn them more than half a turn to open. These are the easiest to repair.
• Ceramic disc taps use two polished ceramic plates that slide over each other. The handle moves through roughly a quarter turn. No washer — the seal is between the discs themselves. Failures are almost always a faulty cartridge rather than a worn washer.
• Mixer and monobloc taps can use either design internally. The lever or single handle controls both temperature and flow. Cartridge designs dominate here. These often need a tap-specific replacement cartridge from the original manufacturer.

Look under the handle for clues. A small grub screw and rising stem suggests compression. A smooth quarter-turn action suggests ceramic.

Tools you'll need

• Adjustable spanner or a basin wrench
• Cross-head and flat screwdrivers
• Replacement washer set (compression) or cartridge (ceramic / mixer)
• PTFE tape
• Old towel and a small container to catch drips
• Pliers (cushioned jaws if your tap finish is chrome or brass)

Take a photo of the tap before you start — when you take it apart, you'll want to remember which way things came off.

Step 1: Turn off the water

Find the isolation valves under the basin or sink. They're small brass fittings on the supply pipes with a screwdriver slot in the middle. Turn the slot to lie across the pipe — that's the off position. Test by opening the tap; if water still flows, the valve hasn't sealed.

If there's no isolation valve, turn off the supply at the stopcock (usually under the kitchen sink in older properties). Drain the residual water by opening the tap fully and leaving it open while you work.

Step 2: Strip the tap

For compression taps:

1. Pop the cap from the top of the handle to expose the screw
2. Unscrew and lift the handle off
3. Unscrew the chrome bonnet (the cylindrical cover) — protect it with a cloth if you're using pliers
4. Unscrew the spindle valve assembly beneath
5. The washer is at the bottom of the spindle, held by a small nut

For ceramic and mixer taps:

1. Pop the cap or lever cover
2. Remove the retaining screw and lift the handle
3. Unscrew the chrome shroud or retaining collar
4. Lift out the cartridge — it's a single unit, no washer

Take the old part to a plumbing merchant or a good DIY shop to match it. Generic washers will fit most compression taps. Cartridges are usually brand-specific — Bristan, Grohe, Hansgrohe and Franke each have their own range.

Step 3: Replace and reassemble

Fit the new washer or cartridge. Wrap two or three turns of PTFE tape clockwise around any threaded fitting before refitting. Reassemble in reverse order — finger-tight first, then a final quarter-turn with the spanner. Don't overtighten or you'll crush the seal.

Open the isolation valves slowly. Run the tap and check for drips at the spindle, the bonnet, and underneath at the connections. A small weep under the chrome bonnet is usually a missing O-ring — strip again and add one.

When DIY isn't enough

There are five situations where you'll waste an evening trying to fix it yourself:

• Corroded valve seat. If a new washer drips immediately, the brass seat the washer presses against is pitted or scored. A reseating tool can grind it flat, but it's fiddly and easy to ruin the tap.
• Cartridge no longer available. Tap models from 15+ years ago often have discontinued cartridges. Replacing the whole tap is usually cheaper than tracking down a used part.
• Leak from the base, not the spout. Water appearing around where the tap meets the basin or counter usually means failed compression nuts or perished base seals — this needs the tap removed completely.
• Drip from a wall-mounted spout. Bathroom and bath taps that drip behind the tile suggest a failure inside the wall fitting. Don't keep removing tiles to chase it — get a plumber to assess.
• Hot water tap that drips continuously after a service. This can indicate excessive system pressure or a failed pressure-reducing valve, not a tap fault at all.

In all these cases, our plumbing repairs team can usually replace the cartridge, reseat the valve, or fit a new tap in a single visit. Standard tap replacement is typically a 45-minute job.

How much does it cost to call a plumber?

Across PE postcodes a straightforward dripping tap repair costs £75–£120 including parts, depending on whether the cartridge is in stock or has to be ordered. A full tap replacement (where you've already bought the tap) is usually £90–£150. Out-of-hours and weekend rates are higher — see our pricing guide for current rates.

Compared to the £40–£70 a year a single dripping hot tap adds to your bills, calling a plumber is almost always a same-year payback. For more complex tap problems or older systems, see our guide to fixing a dripping tap for additional troubleshooting steps.

Outdoor and garden tap drips

Outdoor taps deserve special attention because a winter freeze can turn a slow drip into a burst pipe inside the wall. The most common failure is the gland seal around the spindle — it weeps when the tap is on, often visible as a damp patch on the wall above the tap.

The fix is usually a quarter-turn tighten on the gland nut (the small nut at the base of the handle). If that doesn't work, the gland packing needs replacing — a 10-minute job with a screwdriver, pliers, and a roll of PTFE tape. Wrap fresh PTFE around the spindle, tighten the gland nut to firm but not hard, and test.

Before every winter, isolate your outdoor tap at the internal stop valve (most are fitted with one in the wall just inside the property) and leave the outdoor tap open. Any water in the pipework can then drain or expand safely without splitting the pipe. If your tap doesn't have an internal isolator, that's worth fitting — a £15 part and a 20-minute install that prevents far more expensive damage.

Preventing drips before they start

Most tap failures are predictable. The components that wear out are the washer, the cartridge, and the gland seal — all of them progress slowly and all of them can be addressed before they leak:

• Don't over-tighten taps when closing them. The seal is made by the washer compressing onto the seat with light pressure. Cranking the handle hard crushes the washer flat and shortens its life.
• Descale taps every 6 months in Peterborough. Hard water deposits in the cartridge body cause the moving parts to bind, which damages seals over time.
• Service mixer cartridges every 3–5 years. A new cartridge is £15–£40 and refreshes the whole tap.
• Replace tap washers proactively at 5 years. The job is the same whether you do it before or after the leak — but doing it before saves the wasted water and the surprise.
• Use isolation valves liberally. Every tap, every appliance, every WC — being able to isolate any single fixture without shutting down the house turns a 4-hour emergency into a 30-minute job.

If you'd like every tap in your property serviced as a preventative measure, we offer it as a fixed-price package — typically £180–£280 for a 3-bed home depending on tap count and type. It usually pays back in saved emergency call-outs and avoided water damage within the first 18 months.