Leaking Tap: Can You Fix It Yourself, or Do You Need a Plumber?

A dripping tap is one of the most common calls we get, and it’s also one of the most common DIY attempts we see, because on the surface it looks like the easiest fix in the house. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s a homeowner standing in an inch of water at 9pm because a quarter-turn cartridge got forced in like a washer. The honest answer to “can I fix this myself” depends entirely on which of the three tap types is actually under your sink.

Step one: work out what tap you’ve actually got

This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that decides everything else.

• Jumper-valve taps (the traditional style) take several full turns to shut off, and they’re the ones with a rubber washer inside. This is the classic “tap washer” repair most people have heard of, and it’s genuinely the most DIY-friendly of the three.
• Ceramic disc taps shut off in a quarter or half turn. There’s no washer inside; a leak means the ceramic cartridge needs replacing, matched to the brand.
• Mixer taps use one lever or handle to blend hot and cold. Like ceramic disc taps, they run on a cartridge, not a washer, and the cartridge is specific to that tap’s make and model.

Trying to fix a ceramic disc or mixer tap with washer logic, or forcing a generic part into either, is the single most common way a DIY tap repair goes wrong.

How a plumber actually approaches it

Before any tool touches the tap, we feel it: how it turns, how much resistance is there, what state the valve seems to be in. That tells us how much force it can safely take before going any further risks damage. Knowing where that line sits, and stopping before you cross it, comes down to years of doing this, not something a first attempt can really judge. It’s the main thing missing from a DIY repair, and it’s why two taps that look identical from the outside can need completely different handling. It’s the same approach on every callout across Sydney, whether it’s a kitchen tap in Mona Vale, a bathroom in Avalon or Dee Why, or a job across the water on the North Shore in Mosman or Chatswood.

Before you touch anything: isolate the water

Whichever tap you’ve got, don’t start until the water to it is off, and don’t assume the isolation valve is actually holding. Most taps have a small isolation valve on the pipe underneath the sink; a quarter turn should shut it. But if that valve is old and worn, or the tap’s internal valve is already malfunctioning, water can still find its way through while you’re mid-repair. That’s the scenario that turns a dripping tap into a flood and a genuine emergency callout, not the leak itself. If there’s no isolation valve, or it’s seized and won’t budge, stop there. That’s not a DIY problem anymore, it’s the reason to call a plumber, because the alternative is cutting water to the whole house at the meter, or working on a tap you can’t actually depower.

The genuinely DIY-friendly job: a jumper-valve washer

If you’ve confirmed it’s a traditional tap, replacing the washer is a fair job to try yourself:

1. Isolate the water and open the tap to release pressure.
2. Remove the handle (usually one screw, sometimes under a cap) and unscrew the valve body.
3. Replace the worn rubber washer at the base with the correct size and profile, not just “close enough”.
4. Reassemble and turn the water back on slowly, checking for leaks at the joint as you go.

The part that trips people up is step three. Washers vary in size and profile, and a wrong one seals badly and fails again within weeks. It’s a $2 part; getting the right $2 part is the whole job.

Where it goes wrong from here

If a fresh washer doesn’t stop the drip, the washer was never the real problem. The jumper valve it sits in presses onto a brass valve seat, and that seat wears over time until it’s no longer flat. A new washer sealing against a worn seat still drips, no matter how many times you replace it. Fixing it means grinding the seat back flat with a proper reseating tool, something most toolboxes don’t have, and then flushing the tap through properly so the metal filings from that grinding don’t settle somewhere and cause a fresh leak of their own. Skip that flush and you’ve traded one leak for another.

The washer and seat aren’t the only leak points either. Fibre gaskets and rubber O-rings elsewhere in the tap wear out too, and they’re worth checking any time a tap’s apart, which is why a proper tap service replaces them as a matter of course rather than stopping the moment the drip goes quiet. A full service also cleans and lubricates the internals, so the tap turns and spins smoothly again instead of just being drip-free and still stiff.

Ceramic disc and mixer taps carry a different risk entirely: forcing the wrong cartridge in, over-tightening a plastic fitting, or stripping a thread on an old tap body. None of those are a $2 mistake. A stripped thread or cracked body usually means replacing the whole tap, not just the part that failed.

When to just call a plumber

Skip the DIY attempt and call straight away if:

• The tap won’t isolate and you can’t safely shut off the water to it, or you’re not confident the isolation valve is actually holding
• It’s a ceramic disc or mixer tap (cartridge, not washer, and brand-specific)
• You’ve already tried a washer replacement and it’s still leaking
• The fitting is old, corroded, or the handle is seized, or the tap feels like it’s fighting you as you turn it
• The leak is coming from where the tap meets the wall or bench, not the spout itself

Any of those, and a DIY attempt is more likely to turn a dripping tap into a flooded cabinet than fix it. We’d rather quote you the small job upfront than get called out for the flood afterwards.

Repair or replace

Most leaking taps are worth repairing: a proper service, washer, gaskets and O-rings where needed, a reseat if the valve calls for it, cleaned and lubricated, is a fraction of the cost of a new tap and stops the water wastage immediately. A steady drip really does add up on your bill over a year. Replacement only makes sense when the tap body itself is corroded or damaged, or the parts for an old or obscure brand genuinely don’t exist anymore. Either way, that’s a call worth getting an honest answer to before you spend money on a repair that won’t hold.

Not sure which tap you’ve got, or already past the washer stage? Our leaking tap repairs team covers every tap type across Sydney, from Mona Vale, Avalon and Dee Why to Manly on the Northern Beaches, and across the North Shore in Mosman and Chatswood, mixers, ceramic disc and traditional jumper-valve taps, with quality parts fitted right the first time. For the rest of the house’s drips and running fixtures, see leak repairs.