The faucets in your rental property will wear out at some point, and when they do, they can waste a surprisingly large amount of water. A faucet leaking at the rate of one drop per second wastes roughly 250 gallons of water per month or 3,000 gallons a year. Regardless of whether you or your tenant pays the water bill, it’s time to tackle that leaky faucet.
If you have a property management company, they will handle this issue for you. If not, you can hire a professional plumber to tackle the repair. If you prefer to handle small repairs yourself, then it’s time to get down to business. First, give renters an easy way to submit maintenance requests to address concerns quickly. With Apartments.com, tenants can submit requests online, and you can update them as repairs progress.
Why Is the Faucet Leaking?
Inside every faucet is a collection of rubber gaskets, washers, and O-rings that form the seal. They hold back water and are often the parts that wear out. Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid this — rubber naturally corrodes and weakens with age. Faucets also contain metal and plastic parts, but they rarely require any maintenance other than replacing a chipped or cracked valve seat or cartridge.
Before you start disassembling your faucet, you should find out what type of faucet you have. There are four types of faucets on the market:
Compression faucet
The compression faucet has been around the longest and is therefore often found in older homes. They are typically the least expensive faucet but are prone to leaks. Compression faucets have separate handles for hot and cold water and require you to tighten them to close. Most outdoor and laundry facets are compression faucets.
Cartridge faucet
The cartridge faucet is similar to the compression faucet, but tightening the cartridge faucet is much easier. The cartridge, which contains a series of holes that align with the water inlets in the valve seat, is removable. Gaskets inside the valve seat and O-rings on the cartridge keep water from flowing when the faucet is closed.
Ball valve faucet
Ball valve faucets are most common in kitchen sinks, but they can also be found in bathroom sinks and showers. This type of faucet features springs and gaskets in the water inlet ports that have to be replaced every few years.
Ceramic disk faucet
The ceramic disk faucet is the newest type to hit the market, so you can count on them to be high quality and reliable. The ceramic disk valve is usually screwed into the valve seat and you remove it by first removing the screws. Of all valve types, this is the least prone to leaking, but it’s also the most expensive to replace.
Tips for Fixing a Leaky Faucet
Stopping a faucet leak is seldom complicated, but it can be time consuming. Age, corrosion, and hard water deposits often conspire to turn a simple repair into a frustrating one. However, a couple of tools can help: a handle puller and a valve puller.
If all else fails, you can check the manufacturer’s website, which is also a good place to check for pointers if you get stuck. You can also find more how-to information by simply searching “how to repair (your faucet model)” online.
Turn off the water
Sink faucets have shut-off valves, so be sure they are off before you unscrew the faucet valve retainer to avoid a minor flood. When fixing a tub or shower faucet, look for a dedicated shut-off for the bathroom. If you can’t find one, shut off the main water valve for the unit. When fixing an outdoor or laundry faucet, the main shut-off is usually your only option.
How to Fix a Leaky Faucet by Faucet Type
Once you know the type of faucet you’re working with, the rest should be straightforward. The repair includes disassembling the faucet, removing and replacing the worn parts, and putting it all back together again. Including shopping for parts, you shouldn’t have to devote more than a few hours of your time to the repair.
Outdoor, laundry, and double-handled compression faucets
A rubber washer is on the end of the compression faucet valve stem, and when the faucet leaks, it’s usually because this washer has worn out. Compression faucets can also leak from the handle. When this happens, it’s most likely because you need to replace the packing inside the handle.
- Unscrew the handle screw with a screwdriver and pull off the handle.
- Unscrew and remove the valve retaining nut with a wrench or with channel-lock pliers.
- Pull out the valve stem and unscrew the washer from the end and replace it.
- Replace the packing inside the retaining nut if the valve has been leaking from the handle.
- Put everything back together.
Single and double-handled cartridge faucets
When a cartridge faucet leaks, the best course of action is usually to replace all the rubber parts inside the valve housing, including the O-rings around the cartridge. If the cartridge is cracked or nicked, replace it along with the gaskets.
You should be able to pull out the cartridge after removing the handle and unscrewing the cartridge retainer. Keep in mind that with some faucet brands, you may have to pull out a retaining pin instead of unscrewing a nut (use needle-nose pliers for this). A small flathead screwdriver is all you need to get the gaskets out of the water inlet holes and to put the new ones in place. Remember to grease all rubber parts with plumber’s grease before installing them.
Ball valve faucets
Ball valve faucets are often the easiest to repair, but you’ll need model-specific repair parts. You can usually find these repair kits at your local hardware store. For a typical repair:
- Remove the handle using a screwdriver or hex wrench.
- Unscrew and remove the bonnet and lift out the ball valve. Check it for nicks and cracks and replace it if necessary.
- Lift the gaskets and springs out of the inlet hole with a standard flathead screwdriver.
- Grease up the new gaskets, insert the springs, and place the gaskets in the holes with a screwdriver. Push until the gaskets snap into place.
- Spread grease on the ball, set it back in place (aligning the notch with the tab in the valve housing), and put everything back together.
Ceramic disk faucets
Ceramic disk faucets rarely leak, but when they do, you typically have to replace the disk along with the rubber gaskets. Simply unscrew the disk with a screwdriver, replace the gaskets, insert the new disk, and screw it into place. Although this repair will be more costly than the others, it’s quite simple.
If Your Faucet Is Still Leaking…
If the faucet in your rental property continues to leak, try unscrewing the valve seat with a seat wrench and replacing it. Continued leaking may mean that the faucet itself is damaged and needs to be replaced. Although you can still handle this repair on your own, remember that you can always call a professional plumber for backup.
