Did you know that the longer a tap drips the more it could end up costing you? So the questions you need to ask is; “how do I fix a leaking tap”?
The answer is; unless you have the right tools and know-how you are only going to do an average job yourself. A persistent dripping tap really needs to be seen to by a reliable and qualified expert. And that’s where we come in!
Different taps leak in different ways
What I am going to discuss is your standard taps with the jumper washers in them. These are the taps that have a hot tap, a cold tap and either a spout in the middle or shower rose.
Sometimes you may find it is more than just the tap washer that is causing the problem. You may change the washer a number of times and still have the same dripping tap.
The reason for this is the tap seat which is made of brass may have a defect in it.
The best way I can explain what happens is that it is similar to water running down a dirt embankment.
As the water runs down the embankment causes a channel to appear. The longer the water runs the deeper the channel gets.
This is what happens with taps, the longer a taps drips the bigger chance there will be deep groove in the brass tap seat. If you leave it too long then the seat may not be able to be repaired.
How we fix a leaking tap
Our process at Capital Plumbing when servicing taps is to always reseat.
What we do is firstly pull the spindle apart, replace the o-rings and grease the shaft, reseat the tap seat and install hydro seal washers which I have been using for the past 17 years and find them the best on the market.
Reseating the tap seat
To explain the reseating process it involves a tool that is fitted to a battery drill that cuts the damaged or faulty part of the seat. What this tool does is make it so the seat looks like new again.
As you can understand the deeper the groove the more time and the more of the seat is required to be removed so that there are no flaws remaining.
Replace leaking taps ASAP
We are only able to reseat to a certain point so this is the reason all dripping taps should be fixed as soon as possible.
Once you have ground too much of the seat away it is highly likely that the combination will need to be replaced.
Dripping shower fixtures should be fixed immediately.
For vanity basins and kitchen sinks it is not such a big deal because usually access can be made from inside the cupboard.
But for showers and baths or any other fixtures that have the taps in the walls can turn into a large job.
To change these you need to cut walls and remove tiles which can be an inconvenience and be quite expensive.
Conclusion
We are available to fix all of your tap problems and we even give a 12 month warranty on our tap services to give you piece of mind.
So if you find you have a problem tap that you are unable to fix yourself please don’t leave it too long and give us a call on 5528 4449 or fill in our contact form, and we’ll get straight back to you!
