Why a faucet drips and how to fix it

Why a Faucet Drips and How to Fix It

Okay, here's the thing. We just spent a bunch of lessons in the toilet tank, so let's move about four feet over to the sink.

A dripping faucet is basically the toilet's cousin. Same deal: something rubber or ceramic that's supposed to seal water off has worn out, and now water's sneaking past it one drop at a time. Doesn't sound like a big problem. But that drip adds up to gallons a day, and the sound of it at 2am will make you lose your mind. Ask me how I know. Actually, that one wasn't me, that was a toilet. But the principle holds.

First, what kind of faucet do you even have

Before you touch anything, look at your faucet and figure out which family it's in, because that changes what's inside.

• One handle that moves side to side and up and down — this is almost always a cartridge faucet. Most newer kitchen and bathroom faucets are this style.
• Two handles, one hot, one cold — usually a compression faucet with rubber washers, or a cartridge faucet with two cartridges. Older homes lean compression.
• One handle on a ball that you tilt around — a ball faucet. Less common now but you'll see them, especially in a house from the 80s or 90s.

Don't overthink identifying it. If you're not sure, that's fine, we're going to open it up either way and you'll see what you've got.

Turn off the water. Actually do it.

You already know where your shutoffs are under the sink, because we practiced that. Use them. Both of them, hot and cold. Then turn the faucet handle on to release the pressure and let whatever water's left in the line drain out into the basin.

I'll say the opinion straight out because it matters here: the scariest repairs are usually the cheapest ones. A dripping faucet feels like a plumbing emergency, like you need to call somebody and pay a service fee. Nine times out of ten it's an $8 part and twenty minutes. People psych themselves out of jobs that don't deserve it.

The actual fix, compression faucet (rubber washer)

This is the classic old-house drip and it's the easiest one, so let's start there.

1. Water off, handle open, water drained.
2. Pop the decorative cap off the top of the handle if there is one. Underneath, there's a screw. Take it out.
3. Handle lifts off. Underneath that is a stem, and it usually unscrews with a wrench, counterclockwise.
4. At the bottom of the stem is a little rubber washer held on by a screw. That washer is almost always your problem. It's compressed against the valve seat every time you shut the water off, and after a few years it gets a groove worn into it, or it just goes hard and brittle.
5. Replace the washer. Take the old one to the hardware store if you're not sure of the size, it's a two-minute matchup.
6. Reassemble in reverse. Stem back in, handle back on, screw, cap.
7. Turn the water back on slowly and check under the sink for drips before you walk away. Always check under the sink before you walk away. Every time. It's the one habit that saves you a flooded cabinet.

The actual fix, cartridge faucet

Slightly different animal but same spirit.

1. Water off, water drained.
2. Pop the cap, remove the screw, pull the handle off.
3. There's usually a retaining clip or a nut holding the cartridge in. Some faucets need a little cartridge puller tool, which is like four bucks, don't skip it if the cartridge won't budge by hand. Do not pry with a screwdriver and force it. You'll crack housing that costs way more than the tool.
4. Cartridge slides out. Bring it to the store, matched exactly, brand and model if you can find it. Cartridges are not universal the way washers are.
5. New cartridge in, same orientation as the old one came out. Take a phone photo before you pull it so you remember which way it was seated. I say this because I didn't do it once and stood there for ten minutes turning it around like a puzzle piece.
6. Reassemble, water on slow, check for drips.

The part where I own up to something

I want to tell you about the first time I did one of these, because it's basically the whole reason I care about this stuff at all.

Before any faucet, before any of it, I had a toilet that ran all night in my first house. Not dripping, running, the whole tank refilling every twenty minutes like clockwork. I lay there listening to it, googling on my phone at midnight, too stubborn to text anybody in the ward for help. Finally figured out it was the flapper, drove to the hardware store the next morning, bought a nine dollar part, and fixed it myself. Felt like I'd won the lottery. I took a picture of the old flapper. I still have it on a shelf somewhere, which is a weird thing to be proud of, but there it is.

That's the feeling I want for you with this faucet. It's a small fix. It is not going to impress anybody at a dinner party. But there's something genuinely great about hearing a drip stop because you made it stop.

A couple of real cautions

Hard water does a number on faucet parts here, more than folks moving from wetter climates expect. Mineral buildup can make handles and cartridges stick way harder than they look like they should. Don't force anything. If a part won't move, stop, get some penetrating oil or vinegar on it, and come back to it in twenty minutes rather than muscling it and cracking something.

Also: if you get it all back together and it's still dripping, or now it's dripping worse, don't keep swapping parts hoping one sticks. That's a sign the valve seat itself might be damaged, and at that point it's worth a call to a plumber instead of buying a third washer.

Before next time: take the handle off one faucet in your house, just to look, water off first. You don't have to fix anything. Just go see what family it belongs to.