One of the most horrible things in the world to have to listen to is the drip, drip, drip of a leaking faucet. Luckily, this is a plumbing problem that is fairly easy to fix. You don’t need to call in a professional plumber for this type of job, unless of course it does end up that it is caused by a serious plumbing issue. It could be something as simple as replacing a washer.
Replacing Washers
Not only is it annoying to listen to a dripping faucet, it can get expensive after a while. Every drop of water that is lost is water that you are paying for. The longer you let the problem go, the worse it is likely to get, and the more water you are going to lose, so you may as well get to work and put a stop to the dripping right away. The first thing to do is to turn off the water supply to the home. You can find the valve right under the sink. Next, you will need to remove the faucet, using the following steps:
- Remove the main nut – This can be found just beneath the tap handle, slightly over the spout. With an adjustable wrench, get the valve and nut loose, while holding on to the spout so nothing moves in the process. Once the nut has been removed, you can lift the valve straight up from the sink.
- Inspect the washer– Look in the bottom of the tap to see the washer, which is at the end of the valve. If there is a screw holding it in place, remove it, and then remove the washer and inspect it. Whether or not it looks worn, it is a good idea to change it. New washers only cost pennies apiece, so it doesn’t cost much to keep plenty in your tool box, just in case.
- Replace the washer – Place the new washer exactly where the old one was, and replace the screws if there were any. Next, put the valve back into place, and use the adjustable wrench to make sure it is screwed on tightly. You will need to hold on to the spout as you did while removing the nut, to keep it from moving around.
Now that everything is put back together, turn the water supply to the tap back on. Run some water, then turn it off and wait to see if there are any drips. If there are not, then you have correctly solved and repaired your plumbing problem. If there are still drips, you may need to look at changing the faucet all together. Call a professional, like Epg Electrical Plumbing Group Pty Ltd, for this type of work.
