Most modern taps fail at the cartridge rather than a washer, and in hard water the cartridge is usually scaled rather than worn. A repair is often possible and worthwhile; on obsolete or badly corroded taps, replacement is the honest answer. The awkward part of a tap change is almost never the tap.
Why taps fail here faster than elsewhere
Norfolk sits on chalk, and the water that comes out of the ground carries a lot of dissolved calcium and magnesium. Every time hot water passes through a tap, some of that comes out of solution and deposits as scale. Inside a tap, that scale does two things: it abrades the sealing surfaces of the cartridge every time you turn it, and it builds up in the aerator and the body, restricting flow.
So the classic failure pattern in a hard-water area is not the washer wearing out gradually. It is a ceramic disc cartridge whose surfaces have been scratched by grit-like scale particles, which then will not seal no matter how hard you turn it – which is why the instinctive response of turning it harder makes it worse, not better. The second pattern is a tap that becomes progressively stiffer until the handle shears off.
It is also why a tap in a softened-water house behaves completely differently from an identical tap next door. If limescale is destroying fittings across your house rather than just annoying you at one tap, that is a whole-house problem with a whole-house answer – see water softener installation and what limescale actually does.
Repair or replace
| Situation | Usually |
|---|---|
| Common make, recent, drips from the spout | Repair – new cartridge or washer set |
| Stiff to operate but otherwise sound | Repair – descale and re-grease, or a new cartridge |
| Weeping from the base of the spout | Repair – O-ring kit, if parts are available |
| Weeping from underneath, into the cabinet | Investigate properly – could be the back-nut, the flexible tail or the isolation valve, not the tap |
| Obscure or imported make, no parts available | Replace – the cartridge is a bespoke moulding and there is no equivalent |
| Chrome flaking, body pitted, twenty years old | Replace – a repair buys months |
| Quarter-turn lever gone completely stiff | Usually replace – the ceramic discs are typically damaged by then |
We carry cartridges and washer kits for the common makes, so a large share of tap repairs are a single visit. Where a part genuinely is not available we will tell you on the day rather than ordering something that turns out not to fit.
The awkward part is never the tap
Changing a tap is a ten-minute job. Getting to it is not. The realistic obstacles, in order of how often they cause trouble:
- The back-nut has seized. Twenty years of hard water between a brass back-nut and a steel sink is effectively a weld. This is the single most common reason a tap change takes an hour rather than ten minutes.
- There are no isolation valves. On older installations there is often nothing to shut off locally, which means draining down. Where we are already under the sink, fitting isolation valves at the same time is a small addition that makes every future job trivial.
- The isolation valves exist but have seized. Common on cheap valves that have never been turned. They can also fail to reseal after being operated, which is why we check rather than assume.
- The flexible tails are perished. Braided flexible connectors have a finite life and they are one of the more common causes of serious water damage when they let go. If they look old, they get replaced.
- Access. A kitchen tap behind a deep sink with a waste disposal, a filter tap and a cupboard base is a genuinely uncomfortable place to work, and it takes as long as it takes.
If we have the cabinet emptied and the water off, fitting isolation valves, renewing perished flexible tails and checking the waste trap costs very little extra and saves a separate visit later. We will offer it rather than doing it without asking.
Choosing a replacement tap
Two things matter more than the finish, and both get overlooked.
Pressure compatibility
Taps have a minimum operating pressure. A tap specified for mains pressure fitted to a gravity-fed hot water system from a loft tank will dribble, and no amount of adjustment will fix it because the tap needs a head of pressure the system does not produce. If your hot water comes from a vented cylinder with a tank in the loft, you need low-pressure or ‘universal’ taps. If you are on an unvented cylinder or a combi, you have mains pressure on both sides and the choice opens up.
Serviceability
Cheap taps use proprietary cartridges that disappear from the market in a few years. A tap from an established manufacturer with standard internals can be repaired for a decade. In a hard-water area this matters considerably more than it would elsewhere, because the internals are a consumable.
Finish is genuinely a matter of taste, with one practical caveat: matt black and brushed finishes show limescale and water spotting far more than chrome does, and in this county that is not a small consideration.
Not sure whether yours is worth repairing? Send a photograph of the tap and underneath the sink when you call.
Questions we get asked about this
Why does turning the tap harder make the drip worse?
Because on a ceramic cartridge tap the seal comes from two polished discs meeting flat, not from compressing a washer. Forcing it grinds the discs together with whatever scale is between them, which damages the surfaces further. If a tap needs force, it needs a cartridge.
Can you repair mixer taps?
Usually. Mixers typically use one or two cartridges and both are replaceable on mainstream makes. Monobloc mixers with integrated flexible tails are more awkward but still repairable.
How much water does a dripping tap actually waste?
Enough to be worth fixing, and on a metered supply you are paying for every drop twice – once to buy it and once to have it taken away. The more persuasive argument is usually the staining and the wear on the basin.
My new tap has poor flow. Is it faulty?
Check the aerator first – debris disturbed during installation very commonly lodges there and it unscrews and rinses out. If the flow is poor on all taps, it is a system pressure question rather than a tap question.
Do I need isolation valves?
You do not need them, but they turn every future tap or appliance job from a drain-down into a five-minute task. Fitting them while the cupboard is already empty is the cheapest it will ever be.
Will a water softener stop this happening?
It substantially reduces it. Softened water does not deposit scale, so cartridges last very much longer and aerators stop blocking. It is one of the less obvious benefits and, over a whole house of taps, showers and appliances, one of the more valuable.
What happens when you call
Call and describe it
You speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Most jobs can be narrowed down on the phone.
We look at it properly
A real diagnosis before a price, and a straight answer if it is not worth doing.
A written quote
Itemised, so you can see what you are paying for.
The job, and the paperwork
Certificates where the work needs them, and what will need attention next.
Where we do this work
Across Norwich and the whole of Norfolk. If you are on the edge of the county, call and ask — we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people.
- Norwich
- Wymondham
- Dereham
- Attleborough
- Aylsham
- North Walsham
- Cromer
- Diss
- Loddon
- Long Stratton
- Watton
- King's Lynn
Need this doing?
Call and describe the problem — you will speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Written quotes, no estimates over the phone.