Dripping tap repair in Macclesfield
In short
A dripping tap is a worn seal, not a worn-out tap. Traditional taps take a rubber washer; modern quarter-turn taps take a ceramic disc cartridge; mixer taps that leak from the spout base take an O-ring. All three are inexpensive parts, and all three are a short visit rather than a new tap.
Also called: leaking tap · tap keeps dripping · tap washer replacement · how to fix a dripping tap
Signs you need this
- A drip from the spout with the tap fully closed
- Water seeping around the base of a mixer spout
- A tap that needs forcing hard to stop the drip
- Water appearing at the handle when the tap is on
- A stain or groove forming in the basin below the spout
The first thing to establish is where it is dripping from, because that decides the part. Water from the spout when the tap is closed means the seal on the seat has gone — a washer on a traditional rising-spindle tap, or a ceramic disc cartridge on anything that opens with a quarter turn. Water from around the base of a mixer spout means the O-rings on the spout body have perished. Water from the handle means the gland packing or the top of the cartridge.
Traditional taps are the easy case. The handle comes off, the headgear unscrews, and the washer underneath is replaced. The complication in older properties is the seat itself: decades of use can leave the brass seat pitted, so a new washer will not seal against it. That is fixed by re-cutting the seat with a seat grinder, or by fitting a seat and washer set that reshapes it — either way, it is done in the same visit by anyone who carries the tool.
Ceramic cartridges do not wear like washers; they fail when grit gets between the discs. That grit usually comes from disturbed pipework — after mains work in the street, after a repair, or from an old iron section shedding debris. Replacing the cartridge fixes it, but a tap that eats cartridges is telling you something about the water reaching it, and a strainer or a look at the supply pipe is the real answer.
It is worth knowing that this is not a limescale problem here. Macclesfield's supply runs between 45 and 68 mg/l depending on the zone, well under the level at which scale forms, so a tap failing repeatedly in this town is not furring up — it has either a pitted seat, debris in the supply, or a cheap cartridge in it.
The reason to bother at all is metered water. A tap dripping once a second is thousands of litres a year, and on a hot tap it is thousands of litres you have paid to heat. It is also the fastest way to wear a groove into a ceramic or enamel basin, which is a far more expensive thing to replace than a washer.
What the job covers
- Diagnosis of which seal has failed
- Washer, ceramic cartridge or O-ring replacement
- Re-cutting or reseating a pitted valve seat where needed
- Checking and replacing worn isolation valves while access is open
- Descaling and cleaning aerators to restore flow
- Honest advice when a tap is genuinely beyond repair
What it costs
We don't publish a price for this yet, because a number pulled out of the air is worse than no number at all — your plumber has to honour it. You'll get a firm price for your actual job when they ring you back, before any work starts. The quote itself is free and there's no obligation either way.
Common questions
Do I need a new tap?
Almost never for a drip. Washers, cartridges and O-rings are cheap and available for the vast majority of taps. Replacement makes sense when the tap body itself is cracked, the finish has failed, or the model is so obscure that no seals are available.
Why does it drip again a few weeks later?
Usually a pitted seat that was not addressed when the washer was changed, or debris in the supply chewing up a new cartridge. Both are fixable — but they need the underlying cause dealt with rather than another washer.
Need this doing in Macclesfield?
Tell us the job and it goes straight to our local plumber — one call back, usually the same day. Free quote, no obligation.