Leaking kitchen tap spout – how to fix it?

A leaky kitchen tap is not just a logistical or technical issue, or a minor inconvenience. It’s an annoying, irritating fault that affects not only your mood but also the running of the kitchen and the whole flat or house. Why does such a small defect have such a big impact on the lives of everyone at home, and how can you effectively fix a leaking spout? The answers are in this text! Have a look, and you won’t need to order a costly repair from a specialist!

A faulty kitchen tap and its consequences

Let’s start with the point that will convince almost anyone who cares about their flat or house — the financial one. A spout seal on a kitchen tap that’s not watertight increases the amount of water used in the kitchen. That translates into higher water bills. And that’s not all. Left to itself, this kind of fault can (and usually does) lead to a serious failure of the spout itself. Replacing it will certainly be far more expensive than buying a simple seal and fitting it yourself.

Another important (hugely!) point is… peace and quiet. Sounds funny? It shouldn’t, because a situation where the household keep hearing water constantly dripping from the tap is psychological torture. Focus, a relaxing bit of cooking together, a tea or a coffee in the kitchen? None of that when the tap keeps dripping and the kitchen tap slowly yet inexorably starts to fail! Almost no one wants to put up with that.

A final argument is a combination of all the previous ones: a working tap means a working kitchen, a working home and happy household members. So it’s worth knowing how to replace a tap washer. Replacing the washer in a kitchen tap isn’t nearly as difficult as it might seem. How do you do it properly so you don’t have to redo it and waste precious time — and just as precious nerves?

The tap spout and its seal — what are they?

A tap is made up of many parts, and one of them is the spout. It’s the part from which water flows into the washbasin/sink/bowl (depending on the model of kitchen tap, which usually do have a standard design).

The spout mounting seal, when damaged, will show cracks or wear on its surface. It’s a small component that seals the body of the kitchen tap and the spout.

A damaged seal also threatens damage to the spout itself, which is why it’s so important to repair such minor faults on an ongoing basis. Otherwise, the fault turns into a serious failure that’s not only harder, but far more expensive to repair.

Replacing the spout seal in a kitchen tap

To replace the spout seal, you should buy tap seals that fit your specific model of kitchen tap. To do this, check who the manufacturer of the unit is. Otherwise, the seals often turn out to be a poor fit, which is yet another waste of money.

Replacing the spout seal in a kitchen tap isn’t one of the most difficult service tasks involved in fixing leaking taps. To do it, you need to separate the spout from the body of the kitchen tap. However, unscrewing the spout with a screwdriver must be preceded by shutting off the water supply by turning the stopcock.

Then simply remove the seal itself (it’s located at the joint between the spout and the tap body) and clean the place where it sat. Cleaning should be done using alcohol-based products or other degreasing agents. This step is important because an uncleaned seat will cause the seal to wear out prematurely.

After cleaning the spout-to-body joint, secure everything by fitting a new seal, reinstalling the spout and opening the stopcock. As you can see, the task isn’t too difficult and even an inexperienced person should be able to manage it. Leaving damaged seals in place is a bad idea; they should be replaced as soon as you notice a water leak. Good luck!