DIY Guide for Fixing Leaky Taps

Taps are the primary points of water access in the home, and when they become faulty, several gallons of water may be wasted due to continuous leaking, leading to high your water bills. The good news for homeowners is that most leaky taps are relatively easy to fix, hence emergency plumbers might not be needed. If you ever face a leaking problem with any of your home taps, follow these tips you effectively fix the problem by yourself.

  1. Shut off water supply: Before grabbing your plumbing tool box, cut off water supply to the leaky tap by shutting off the stop valve, which is usually located where the tap is being used. If the leaky tap is located in the bathroom, it is likely that the stop valve for cutting water supply to the tap is found in the bathroom, for example. You simply have to look around the room. Another option is to shut off the stop valve of the main water supply — you can find it within or outside the house. 
  2. Remove excess water from the tap: Some water usually remains in your taps even when water pipes run dry. To remove this water from a leaky tap, simply turn the tap on while the water supply cut off. You'll see the water coming from your tap and subsequently flowing to a stop after a short time. 
  3. Dismantle the tap: Once there's no water coming from the tap, grab your plumbing tool box and remove it. Taps comprise many different parts put together differently, so it is important that you systematically carry out the job. The first thing you will need to do is to remove the tap head, but before you can do that, you will need to locate the screw that keeps it connected to other parts of the tap. You can locate it by removing the coloured indicator on the top of the tap. Once you have unscrewed the tap head, dismantle the rest of the tap assembly with correct-sized spanners. Inspect the various components and replace anything that looks overly worn, especially the washers, O-rings, cover seals, etc. Also make sure to lubricate anything that needs lubrication.
  4. Get everything in place: Once you are done lubricating and replacing worn out parts, you will need to re-assemble the tap. Just follow the same process you followed when dismantling the tap, but in reverse order — typically, the last component to be removed will be the first to be put in place. 

In case you can't fix a leaky tap by yourself, you can always hire a professional plumber to handle the job for you.

About Me

Construction Contractors: Dealing with Problems

Hello, there! My name is Debbie Jones. Welcome to my new blog which is all about the problems you can face if you own a property. Last year, I moved into a place in Sydney, Australia and almost immediately started having problems. The electrical system began to fail and I didn't know why. I called in an electrical contractor who examined the wiring and discovered that there was a leak in my roof which was allowing water to drip onto a fuse box. I called in a roofing contractor who advised that I have the entire roof replaced. I had this work carried out and then had the walls of the property reinforced in order to provent further problems.

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