| Honestly, do you think I keep a steady flow of faucet-related humour on tap? |
Leaking taps are so annoying!
Having to wrap dish cloths around it, waking up to floods on the worktop or worse, the cupboard below.
Then there's the expense of calling in a plumber and all that wasted water.
And after you've waited in all day for the plumber to arrive all he does is eat mushrooms and kill your turtles. Just seeing if you were still paying attention!
And after you've waited in all day for the plumber to arrive all he does is eat mushrooms and kill your turtles. Just seeing if you were still paying attention!
A Which? survey of plumbers found hourly rate charges averaged £45-60 per hour, so read on and I'll show you how simple it is to repair a leaking mixer tap yourself.
First, to find out what kind of mixer tap you have:
If it has a lever on top like mine in the photo and it turns a quarter turn, it's a Ceramic Disc Cartridge tap, it's a simple fix so read on. If it has taps on either side, it's a spout O ring rubber washer type, so scroll to the bottom and I'll show you how to fix that too.
Here's what you'll need for ceramic disc cartridge tap:
Replacement ceramic disc cartridge
Flat head screwdriver
Strap wrench
Adjustable wrench
Allen keys
Allen keys
Here's what you do:
1. Turn off the water supply to the tap by turning the screws on the pipes located below the sink to the 3oclock position.
| Did you hear that someone broke into our local police station and stole the toilet? Right now the cops have nothing to go on. |
2. Take off the red/blue plastic indicator tab with the screwdriver, you'll find this below the tap lever.
3. Inside you'll find a small retaining screw, undo this with the Allen key and remove the lever. Be careful, or the plastic lever on the cartridge will snap off making it difficult to remove from the metal lever.
4. Next job is to remove the shroud, use the strap wrench if it's too tight.
5. Then remove the nut, use the adjustable wrench if it's too tight.
6. Now remove the Ceramic Disc cartridge and replace with the new one, press it down to get a good seal.
7. Screw back on the nut to finger tight.
| My wife gave me a list of odd jobs to do, so did 1,3,5,7 and 9. |
8. Turn the water back on and check everything it working as it should, then you can finish putting the tap back together.
Where to find a replacement ceramic disc cartridge :
It's almost as if they don't want you to fix it yourself, but call a plumber out instead. Luckily there's Amazon, where you can literally buy anything. Ceramic disc cartridges come in two sizes, 35mm and 40mm and there's a few varieties of each, so check yours against the product photos on Amazon.
| How do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it. |
How to replace spout O ring:
1. Turn off the water supply to the tap same as before.
2. Undo the small screw behind the spout.
3. Lift off the spout, usually if you turn it to face 9 oclock it will line up correctly and can be pulled straight up.
4. Use a flat head screw driver to roll off the O ring and replace with one of the same size.
5. If you need an O ring, Amazon stock O rings too.
So that's how easy it is to fix leaking mixer taps and save yourself the cost of a plumber. But if you are in any doubt, please call a professional plumber and watch him at work, so you'll know how to fix it next time. Read also my 101 Ways To Save Money.
www.daddydeals.co.uk is a journalistic money saving blog and like all advice you find online, you should do your own research before acting. To help fund our time, many posts will contain affiliate links.
