Emergency Plumber explains how to Fix a Leaky Faucet

Faucets are a necessary part of life because they work to dispense water in many of our households. We often take faucets for granted until they start to become the stereotypical “leaky faucet.” While this isn’t really a job for an emergency plumber, it can produce some unwanted annoyances. Some faucets have been known to leak up to 1 drip per second, which would certainly keep anyone awake. You might initially think of calling a plumber to fix the problem, but there are some ways that you can actually fix the leaky faucet yourself.

You also might not be annoyed by the leaky faucets at all. In that case, you could feasibly just let the thing continue dripping to its heart’s content. Of course, what you might not realize is the actual cost of a leaky faucet in the long run. Indeed, your water bill might end up taking a pounding if you leave an excessively leaky faucet going for too long. A faucet that leaks out one drip per second will waste 200-litres of water every week. That’s over 10,000-litres per year if the faucet goes unchecked.

Obviously, that can account for some large amounts of water usage and your bill will reflect that. But, before you go out and call an emergency plumber, there are a few tactics that you can use to ensure that you get your faucet fixed in no time. For the most part, most kitchen sinks and bathroom sinks are going to have compression faucets. These faucets are noticeable in large part because they have “hot” and “cold” handles to heat up or cool down the water. The first thing you’ll want to do is turn off the water flow by twisting the valves underneath your sink near the pipes.

Then, pull off the two “hot” and “cold” handles. You might also have to take off a decorative cap if there is one. Underneath these handles you’ll find a nut that you must unscrew with a wrench. When you do that, you’ll see the stem, O-ring, and seat washer on top of one another. Take of the stem and the O-ring. If the handles themselves are leaky, you might need to replace the O-ring as well. Then, take out the seat washer (you’ll likely have to use a screwdriver). The seat washer is probably the main problem when it comes to the leaky faucet and that’s the major thing you’ll want to replace.

Before placing the new seat washer in place, coat it with some plumber’s grease to make sure it lasts for a long time. Then just put everything back into place and you should be working with a fully functional, non-dripping sink. Of course, any problems you might have in the replacement process that require an emergency plumber might be a sign that you shouldn’t do your own plumbing work.