Faucets are the fixture we touch most often, from Duvall out to Seattle, and the questions are the same everywhere. Here are the ones we hear most.
Why is my faucet dripping?
Because a part inside that is supposed to seal against water pressure has worn out. In a single-handle faucet that part is the cartridge; in a two-handle faucet it is the stem washer or its seat; in a ceramic-disc faucet it is the seals under the disc. Pressure pushes past the worn spot, and the drip is what gets through.
Tightening the handle harder doesn't help, because the wear is inside, and forcing it can crack the seat. The repair is the part, not the grip.
Where is it dripping from, and does that change the fix?
Yes, the location is the diagnosis. A drip from the spout after shutoff is the cartridge, washer or seat. Water at the base of the handle is the stem O-rings or the cartridge's outer seals. Water pooling around a kitchen spout's base is the spout O-rings. Water under the sink is a supply line or stop, not the faucet.
Look with the water running and again after shutoff, and tell us where it appears; we'll bring the right part the first time.
Can high water pressure make a faucet drip?
Yes. Home plumbing is meant to run at 40 to 60 psi, and code calls for a pressure-reducing valve once the supply exceeds 80. A house at 75 or more wears seals faster and can start a drip on a faucet that was fine. One Duvall tub faucet this spring came with a 75 psi reading and a 20-plus-year-old valve.
We gauge a hose bib at the start of every faucet call. If the pressure is high, we set the valve to about 65 psi or tell you it's due for replacement, because a new cartridge at the old pressure wears out on the same schedule.
Why does my tub or shower faucet drip when the sink faucets are fine?
Because a tub and shower valve lives behind the wall, runs at full flow more often, and takes more hot-and-cold cycling than any other faucet in the house, so its cartridge tends to wear first. The fix is usually a cartridge swap through the trim; only a corroded or cracked valve body means opening the wall for a new valve.
In one Duvall house this spring a cartridge solved it; in another, the homeowner chose a full valve replacement while the drywall was open. Both were right for their house.
Does soft city water or well water change what fails?
It does. City water in Duvall, Snoqualmie and most of the Eastside is soft mountain water, around one to two grains per gallon, so scale is rarely the cause and the seals simply wear. Well water in the valley can carry iron, manganese and sediment, which grind cartridges and clog aerators, so faucets on wells fail younger and more often.
On a well, replacing cartridges every couple of years means you need a sediment filter, not a better faucet.
My faucet started dripping right after the water was shut off for a repair. Why?
Because shutting the water off and turning it back on stirs up sediment that had settled in the pipes, and a grain of it lodges in the faucet's seat or cartridge, holding it a fraction open. It is common in older houses with galvanized lines and on wells, and it shows up within a day of the water coming back.
Pull the aerator and flush the faucet wide open for a minute. If the drip stays, the cartridge or seat needs cleaning or replacing, which is a quick visit.
How do I shut off just the one faucet while I wait?
Look under the sink for the angle stops, the small valves on the hot and cold supplies, and turn them clockwise until they stop; quarter-turn stops need a single quarter turn. For a tub or shower with no stops of its own, the house main shutoff is the only option, usually near the meter or where the service enters.
Older multi-turn stops sometimes won't close fully, or leak at the stem once moved after years of sitting still. If that happens, shut the main and tell us; replacing the stops becomes part of the visit.
Talk to Someone Who Fixes These Every Week
Call 425-549-2400 or schedule an appointment.
More: faucet services · faucet repair in Duvall · leak repair in Duvall · well and septic plumbing in the valley