A leaking tap is usually worth repairing when the water is coming from a wear part — a washer, an O-ring or a cartridge — the tap body is sound, and the right replacement part can be identified. Replacing it makes more sense when the body itself is failing, the parts can’t be found, a genuine part costs close to a new tap, or the tap was never right for the sink, basin or water system in the first place. Which side you fall on depends less on how bad the drip looks and more on where the water is coming from and what kind of tap it is.
Start With Where the Water Is Coming From
Before weighing up cost or age, look closely at where the water actually appears. Some leak points almost always mean a small internal part; others mean the tap itself has reached the end of its life — and some mean the tap isn’t the problem at all.
| Where the water appears | What it usually means for the decision |
|---|---|
| Drips from the spout when the tap is off | Leans repair: a worn washer, valve seat or cartridge — all replaceable if parts are available |
| Seeps from under the handle while the tap is running | Leans repair: worn O-rings or gland seals around the spindle |
| Pools around the base on the sink or basin | Could go either way: a perished base seal is a simple fix; corrosion where the tap meets the surface may not be |
| Weeps from the body or casting itself | Leans replace: a cracked or porous body can’t be reliably sealed |
| Appears in the cupboard underneath | May not be the tap: flexible tails, isolation valves and the waste are common sources |
If you’re not sure which type of tap you have or what each symptom usually points to, our tap repair and installation page explains how compression, quarter-turn and lever mixer taps fail. For water under the sink that you can’t trace to the tap, our guide to dealing with a water leak at home covers the first steps.
Five Questions That Settle Most Repair-or-Replace Decisions
1. Can the right part be identified and bought?
This is the question that decides more cases than any other. Washers and O-rings for traditional taps come in standard sizes and are easy to source. Ceramic cartridges are different: they vary by length, spline count (the number of teeth on the spindle), thread and the direction they turn, and many are specific to one manufacturer or even one range.
A branded tap with a model name on the body, under the handle cap or in the original paperwork can often be matched to a genuine cartridge. An unbranded mixer bought cheaply online may have no markings at all, and a generic cartridge that looks similar may not seal or may change how the handle turns. When the part can’t be identified with confidence, replacement often ends up being the more reliable route.
2. Is the tap body still sound?
A repair replaces the parts that wear. It doesn’t fix the body they sit in. Signs that the body itself is the problem include:
- corrosion or green and white deposits around the base or joints;
- chrome that is flaking, blistering or pitted, especially around the spout and handles;
- a leak from the casting rather than from a seal;
- a damaged valve seat on an older compression tap that can’t be reseated.
On older multi-turn taps, a worn seat can sometimes be re-cut or fitted with a seat insert, so a drip that returns soon after a new washer doesn’t automatically mean the tap is finished. On modern mixers, damage to the body usually does.
3. How does the repair cost compare with the tap?
For a good-quality tap, a genuine cartridge is usually a fraction of the cost of a new one, and repair is the obvious choice. For a budget tap, a genuine cartridge — if one exists — can cost close to the price of the whole tap, which shifts the balance towards replacement.
Labour doesn’t always follow the same pattern. Replacing a tap can take longer than repairing one, because the old tap has to come out from underneath, and back nuts under basins and sinks are often seized. Tight access behind a pedestal, vanity unit or tiled-in bath panel adds time to both options, and missing or seized isolation valves usually need dealing with whichever route you take.
4. Is this the first fault, or the latest of several?
A tap that has needed a new cartridge more than once in a short period is telling you something — but not necessarily that it should be replaced. Repeated failures can come from hard-water scale building up on the ceramic discs, grit in the supply after mains work, or a tap rated for lower pressure than the system delivers. A new tap fitted into the same conditions may fail in the same way.
Repeated faults in a branded tap are worth investigating. Repeated faults in a tap with no available parts are a stronger case for replacing it with one that has.
5. Does the tap still suit the room?
Sometimes the leak is just the prompt. If the tap has always splashed because the spout doesn’t reach far enough into the bowl, gives a weak flow because it was designed for higher pressure than your system provides, or is due to go when the kitchen or bathroom is refitted next year, repairing it keeps a tap you weren’t happy with. If low flow is part of the frustration, our guide to low water pressure causes helps you work out whether the tap or the supply is responsible.
Typical Situations and Which Way They Usually Go
These are general patterns, not diagnoses. What’s found when the tap is opened up can change the answer.
| Situation | Usually | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Older pillar taps dripping from the spout, otherwise solid | Repair | A new washer, and sometimes a reseated valve, restores them |
| Branded mixer a few years old, dripping from the spout | Repair | A genuine cartridge is normally available and costs far less than a new tap |
| Unbranded mixer with no markings, dripping or stiff | Often replace | A matching cartridge may be impossible to identify |
| Bath mixer dribbling from the spout while the shower runs | Repair | Usually a worn diverter rather than a failed tap |
| Water weeping from the body or corroded base | Replace | The body can’t be reliably sealed |
| Kitchen or bathroom refit planned within months | Short-term repair, or wait | Avoid buying a tap that may not suit the new layout |
| Rental property with a recurring fault | Consider replacing with a tap that has available spares | Future repairs become quicker and more predictable |
Three Common Assumptions Worth Questioning
“A new tap is always the more reliable fix.” Not if it’s a tap with no spare parts available. The next time a cartridge wears, the only option will be another new tap.
“Ceramic taps don’t drip.” Quarter-turn and lever taps don’t have washers, but their cartridges still wear, crack and collect scale. They tend to fail less gradually than compression taps — a ceramic tap may go from fine to dripping or stiff quite quickly.
“It’s only a drip, so it can wait indefinitely.” A drip from the spout goes down the drain, but a leak at the base or from the connections underneath can soak the cupboard below for months before anyone notices, and chipboard units swell and break down when they stay wet.
If You Decide to Replace It
Buy with the next repair in mind. A tap from a manufacturer that sells replacement cartridges is easier to repair later than an unbranded one. WaterSafe, the national register of approved plumbers, recommends using only fittings listed as approved products, such as those certified by WRAS, KIWA or NSF (WaterSafe general plumbing advice).
Compatibility matters as much as quality. The number of tap holes, the minimum pressure the tap needs, the spout reach and the worktop thickness all affect whether a new tap will work as expected. The service page linked above includes a checklist of what to measure before buying a replacement tap.
What Can Only Be Confirmed Once the Tap Is Opened
Some of the deciding factors aren’t visible from the outside. The condition of a valve seat, whether a cartridge matches what’s available, and whether the back nuts will come undone without damaging the sink or basin are usually only known once the supply is isolated and the tap is taken apart. That’s why it’s sensible to treat any repair-or-replace decision as provisional until then, and to ask for both options to be explained before work goes ahead.
If you’d like a plumber to look at it, Voltify Contractors repairs and replaces kitchen, basin and bath taps across East and South-East London — see tap repair and installation for what’s involved and what to send before a visit. A photo of the tap, any brand name you can find and a note of where the water appears will usually show which way the decision is likely to go.
Key takeaway
Repair a leaking tap when the leak comes from a washer, seal or cartridge you can identify and the body is in good condition. Replace it when the body is cracked or corroded, parts can’t be sourced, a genuine part costs close to a new tap, or the tap never suited the room. Where the water appears is the first clue; opening the tap confirms the answer.
