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Good Questions: DIY Fix for Faucet Leak?

Maxwell Ryan
Maxwell RyanCEO
Maxwell left teaching in 2001 to start Apartment Therapy as a design business helping people to make their homes more beautiful, organized AND healthy. The website started up in 2004 with the help of his brother, Oliver. Since then he has grown ApartmentTherapy.com, added TheKitchn.com, our home cooking site, and has authored four books on design. He now lives with his daughter in a lovely apartment in Brooklyn.
published Feb 1, 2007
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Hello AT,

I’ve just moved into a new apartment and the bath tub/shower faucet leaks constantly. I’ve used all my brute strength to try to tighten it shut enough to stop the drip, but still a trickle comes out. Is this something I can repair myself or do I need to hire a plumber to come fix it?…

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As you can see from this photo there is a suspcious tile that is a different color from all the rest behind the part of the faucet where the water comes out, suggesting some past repair. Please let me know if there is anything I can do myself to avoid calling in a professional for expensive help. I’m reasonably handy and I own the apartment so I am willing to give a DIY repair a try.

Thanks! Laura

Dear Laura,

We’re no pros at this but the problem has to do with the fact that the rubber lining in the on/off part of your faucet has worn out. This happens regularly and is a result of the type of water you have. Turning the tap more tightly won’t help at this point.

Can you fix it yourself? Yes, but you should have more advice than ours. What you want to do is turn off the water (harder to do in a tub) and remove the tap pieces, pull out the old rotten rubber insert and insert a new one. Then reassemble.

Your local hardware store should be able to help as well.

Can anyone else help Laura as well?

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