Dripping Tap: Repair or Replace? A Barnet Plumber's View
What a dripping tap really costs you in metered water, when a washer or cartridge will fix it, and when replacement is the smarter spend.
A tap that drips once a second wastes roughly 5,500 litres a year. On a Thames Water meter that's money, and if it's the hot tap you're paying to heat the water as well. It's also one of the cheapest jobs we do, which is why it's worth fixing this month rather than next year.
First, work out what kind of tap you have
Traditional pillar taps — the ones you turn a full half-rotation — use a rubber washer. When they drip, the washer has hardened. Quarter-turn taps and single-lever mixers use a ceramic disc cartridge, which fails from limescale rather than wear.
When a repair is the right call
If the tap body is solid, the finish is good and the brand is a known one, a washer or cartridge swap is a 20-minute job and by far the cheapest outcome. Our tap repair and installation service carries common cartridges on the van, so most repairs are done on the first visit.
When to replace instead
Replace when the tap is a budget mixer under about five years old (cartridges are often unobtainable), when the spout base is weeping — that's the body seal, not the valve — or when the chrome is pitting. Fitting a decent brass-bodied tap now usually costs less than two repairs on a cheap one.
The limescale factor in North London
North London water is hard. Scale is the single biggest killer of ceramic cartridges and shower valves across North London. Wiping taps dry, descaling aerators every few months, or fitting a scale reducer on the incoming main all extend the life of every fitting in the house — including your boiler.
While we're there
Most tap visits turn into a five-minute sanity check of the isolation valves under the sink. If they're seized, the next emergency means turning off the whole house instead of one fixture. Ask us to swap them — it's the cheapest insurance in plumbing. See also kitchen plumbing and general plumbing.