{"id":6139,"date":"2018-07-11T00:29:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T13:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/?p=6139"},"modified":"2021-10-25T17:24:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T06:24:04","slug":"how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/","title":{"rendered":"How to: Fix a leaky tap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Not only is a leaky tap incredibly annoying, it can also damage your home and impact your water bill. You\u2019d be surprised to learn how much water is being wasted with those incessant drips. Research has shown that a leaking tap could waste up to <em>20,000 litres<\/em> of water a year. Yep, you read that right.<\/p>\n<p>Check out this <a href=\"https:\/\/drinktap.org\/Water-Info\/Water-Conservation\/Drip-Calculator\">drip calculator <\/a>to see just how much water your leaky tap is wasting. Not to make you feel bad or anything.<\/p>\n<p>Fixing a leaky tap is a lot simpler than you may think. Though there are plenty of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/uk\/plumbing\/london\/\">plumbers in London<\/a> who can help, it\u2019s worth every homeowner learning this basic plumbing skill.<\/p>\n<p>Read on for our easy guide to help you fix your broken tap.<\/p>\n<h2>What you\u2019ll need:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A spanner<\/li>\n<li>Scissors<\/li>\n<li>Screwdriver<\/li>\n<li>Replacement cartridge\/washer\/O-rings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Start by turning off the water<\/h2>\n<p>Simple enough. Turn the water off at the stopcock or isolation valve, located underneath the sink. Check it\u2019s off by running the tap until no more water comes out.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6146\" src=\"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/kirsten-marie-ebbesen-700048-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"hire a plumber\" width=\"2692\" height=\"2019\" srcset=\"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/kirsten-marie-ebbesen-700048-unsplash.jpg 2692w, https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/kirsten-marie-ebbesen-700048-unsplash-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/kirsten-marie-ebbesen-700048-unsplash-1200x900.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Locate the tap screw<\/h2>\n<p>The screw that holds your tap together needs to be loosened. You\u2019ll usually find this underneath the \u2018hot\u2019 or \u2018cold\u2019 caps or indicators. It\u2019s possible to unscrew these by hand, or you could use a screwdriver to pop them off.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tip\">Plug the sink before you unscrew so no important parts accidentally fall down the drain.<\/div>\n<h2>Dismantle the tap<\/h2>\n<p>The next step is to take the tap\u2019s head off (that\u2019s the bit you turn). You may find a metal casing around the valve, so take this off too. Assemble all the pieces you\u2019ve taken apart next to the sink carefully. It helps to lay them in the order you took them off, so it\u2019s easier to put it all back together.<\/p>\n<h2>Replace water\/cartridge\/o-ring<\/h2>\n<p>So this is where you take a slightly different approach depending on the type of tap you have. Some use washers and some have ceramic discs. If you\u2019re not sure which one yours is, a quick test to check is by turning your tap. Those that only rotate up to a half are usually ceramic. If it turns further than that, you probably have a traditional or \u2018washer\u2019 tap.<\/p>\n<h3>Ceramic taps:<\/h3>\n<p>To replace a ceramic disc, grip the valve with your spanner and loosen. You\u2019ll then easily be able to pop your new ceramic cartridge in. Tighten valve and put your tap back together.<\/p>\n<h3>Washer taps:<\/h3>\n<p>Washer types may be leaking because of two reasons: a worn O-ring, or a broken washer. To replace a rubber washer, loosen the valve with your spanner. Slide off the rubber washer and replace. Tighten the valve back on and re-assemble your tap.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tip\">Finding it hard to fit the new washer in? Apply some petroleum jelly to ease it down.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>If you\u2019ve replaced the washer and find there\u2019s still a leak, check the O-ring for any signs of damage. If this needs replacing, unscrew the spout and use your screwdriver to loosen and replace the O-ring at the base.<\/p>\n<h2>When to call a plumber<\/h2>\n<p>Not to doubt your plumbing skills or anything, but there are times when you may just need a little professional help. Hire a plumber if you encounter any of the following issues:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the washer in your tap is in good condition, but the valve inside is worn down. Special tools may be required to regrind the surface. Reach out to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/uk\/plumbing\/london\/\">plumbers in London<\/a> for help.<\/li>\n<li>If you have a new ceramic disc tap and it\u2019s your first time trying to fix a broken tap, it would be helpful to hire a plumber. Find someone nice enough and they&#8217;ll teach you how to do it firsthand.<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019ve gone through all the above steps and the incessant leaking continues, it\u2019s time to seek out the pros.<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re not sure how to turn the water supply off, get help. It\u2019s important to know this as pipe leaks can lead to major property damage.<\/li>\n<li>For any extensive plumbing work, it\u2019s worth calling a professional in to avoid damage to your home. Your local council may also require you to use a licensed plumber for any major work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Need to hire a plumber? Find trusted and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/uk\/plumbing\/\">local plumbers<\/a> in London with Airtasker<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drip, drip, drip. Learn how to make it stop. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":6143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396],"tags":[1458],"language":["en-GB"],"class_list":["post-6139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-gb","tag-plumbing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How To Fix A Leaky Tap | Airtasker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sick of that incessant dripping? Learn how to fix that leaky tap once and for all, and find local plumbers in London to help.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Fix A Leaky Tap | Airtasker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sick of that incessant dripping? Learn how to fix that leaky tap once and for all, and find local plumbers in London to help.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Airtasker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-10T13:29:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-25T06:24:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/water-kitchen-black-design.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maha\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Fix A Leaky Tap | Airtasker","description":"Sick of that incessant dripping? Learn how to fix that leaky tap once and for all, and find local plumbers in London to help.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Fix A Leaky Tap | Airtasker","og_description":"Sick of that incessant dripping? Learn how to fix that leaky tap once and for all, and find local plumbers in London to help.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/","og_site_name":"Airtasker Blog","article_published_time":"2018-07-10T13:29:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-25T06:24:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/water-kitchen-black-design.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Maha","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Maha","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/"},"author":{"name":"Maha","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/241934cf3dd8b35a9fb9bb930ee18f1b"},"headline":"How to: Fix a leaky tap","datePublished":"2018-07-10T13:29:50+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-25T06:24:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/"},"wordCount":735,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/water-kitchen-black-design.jpg","keywords":["plumbing"],"articleSection":["Other GB"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/","url":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/","name":"How To Fix A Leaky Tap | Airtasker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/water-kitchen-black-design.jpg","datePublished":"2018-07-10T13:29:50+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-25T06:24:04+00:00","description":"Sick of that incessant dripping? Learn how to fix that leaky tap once and for all, and find local plumbers in London to help.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/water-kitchen-black-design.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/airtasker-seo-wordpress-blog-assets-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/24064659\/water-kitchen-black-design.jpg","width":1200,"height":400,"caption":"hire a plumber"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/uk\/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to: Fix a leaky tap"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/","name":"Airtasker","description":"The skills you need to help get more done in your home, garden, office and life.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Airtasker","url":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/airtasker-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/airtasker-logo.svg","width":148,"height":40,"caption":"Airtasker"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/241934cf3dd8b35a9fb9bb930ee18f1b","name":"Maha","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d29084019cfb7d2a7c1f4255e80cde9f3c37b52bc45bbf2eb56a7b496dbdeef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d29084019cfb7d2a7c1f4255e80cde9f3c37b52bc45bbf2eb56a7b496dbdeef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Maha"},"url":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/author\/maha-elleylive-co-uk\/"}]}},"lang":"uk","translations":{"uk":6139},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6139"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airtasker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=6139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}