Tap Won’t Turn Off: What to Do Right Now
Close the isolation valve or the meter tap, and stop forcing the handle.
$0 CALLOUT FEE IN BUSINESS HOURS | FREE QUOTES | SAME DAY SERVICE
NOW SERVICING NORTH SYDNEY
WE ARE AVAILABLE
- 35+ Years of Combined Experience
- Yes, a Real Plumber Reads These Messages Too
- The Kettle Is Always On at Head Office
- $0 Call Out Fees
- Every Job Photographed, Every Price Upfront
- We Answer the Phone. Revolutionary, We Know.
- Trusted by 15,000+ Sydney Families
- No Call Centres. You Get a Human in Sydney
- Your Neighbours Probably Have Our Fridge Magnet
- Onsite in 30 Minutes Guaranteed
- Boots Off at the Door. Every Single Time.
- 2,800+ Google Reviews and Counting
- In the community For the community
THE SHORT ANSWER
In short
Stop turning the handle: forcing it can snap the spindle and make it worse. Close the small isolation valve under the sink or basin, or if there isn’t one, the meter tap. Then call us on 0420 102 394. A tap broken so that a lot of water is being wasted is an urgent repair in a rental.
DO THIS FIRST
Do this first
1
Stop forcing it
Leave the handle alone.
2
Close the isolation valve
Under the sink or basin, on the hot or cold pipe: clockwise until it stops.
4
Call us
0420 102 394, any hour.
SOURCES
Where this advice comes from
WHAT IS HAPPENING
What is going on inside the tap
Every tap has a part inside that closes the waterway. Older two-handle taps use a rubber washer on a jumper valve, pressed down onto a brass seat as you turn the handle. Most newer taps and mixers use a ceramic disc cartridge: two polished discs that slide over each other to open and close. A tap that won’t turn off has usually lost that seal.
In a washer tap, the washer wears, hardens or splits, or the seat under it becomes pitted, so turning harder achieves less and less. Eventually the thread on the spindle strips and the handle spins without closing anything. In a mixer, grit or scale scratches the ceramic discs or the cartridge cracks, and the lever goes loose or water runs in every position.
Sydney Water says a slowly dripping tap can waste a few litres an hour, and a constantly running toilet thousands of litres a day (Sydney Water). A tap stuck fully open wastes far more, and if it is the hot tap you are paying to heat that water too.
IS IT URGENT?
How serious is it?
| What you can see | How urgent | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Water running hard, and no valve under the sink, or the valve won’t close | Emergency: call now | Meter tap off, then call us |
| A hot tap stuck open | Emergency: call now | Close the hot isolation valve, or the cold valve on the hot water system |
| A shower mixer stuck on | Emergency: call now | Meter tap off: shower valves are often behind the tiles where you can’t reach them |
| The handle spins without stopping the water | Urgent: today | The spindle has stripped: close the valve and call us |
| Valve closed, tap out of action | Can be booked, unless it is the only one | Book a repair |
| The tap drips after it is closed firmly | Can be booked | Don’t overtighten it; book a washer or cartridge |
DO NOT
Don’t make it worse
- Don’t use pliers on the handle
- Don’t leave it running overnight
- Don’t take the tap apart with the water on
- Don’t keep cranking a washer tap tighter: it crushes the washer and strips the spindle, turning a small repair into a new tap
- Don’t prise the cap or lever off a mixer to look inside while the water is still on
WHY IT HAPPENED
Why taps fail
Tap repairs are among our most common jobs: 2,542 since 2019. Where our plumbers recorded a cause, the most common were: worn tap washer or cartridge (307 jobs), water leak (289 jobs), burst water pipe (49 jobs).
| Likely cause | Tell-tale signs | The usual fix |
|---|---|---|
| Worn washer or jumper valve | An older two-handle tap that drips for weeks, then won’t shut | A new washer and jumper, and the seat refaced if it is pitted |
| Stripped spindle | The handle spins freely | New spindle or tap body parts |
| Damaged ceramic cartridge | A mixer lever that is loose, or water in every position | A new cartridge to suit the brand |
| Grit after mains work | Starts straight after a water outage or works in the street | Clean or replace the cartridge, and flush the line |
| Old or corroded tap body | Leaks from the body or base, green deposits | A new tap; we also fit customer-supplied WaterMark taps |
WHEN WE ARRIVE
What we do when we get there
1
Isolate
Water off at the valve or meter so we can work safely.
2
Identify the tap
Washer, cartridge or the whole tap: we tell you which, and whether the part is on the van.
3
Fixed price
You approve the price before we start.
4
Repair
A new washer, cartridge or tap, with the seat checked so it seals properly.
5
Valves where missing
If the sink had no isolation valves, we can fit them, so next time you can turn off just that tap.
WHAT IT COSTS
What a tap repair costs
Half of our 2,303 priced tap repair jobs since 2019 cost between $330 and $946, including GST, with a median of $495.
A washer or cartridge usually sits toward the lower end; a new tap or mixer, or a shower mixer behind tiles, toward the upper end.
$0 call-out Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 5:00pm. After hours a call-out fee of $199 to $399 applies, confirmed by text before we dispatch.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
Who is responsible?
In a rental, a fitting broken so that a substantial amount of water is being wasted is an urgent repair; a slow drip is a normal repair, but report it anyway (tenants: what to do). Landlords can only pass water usage charges to tenants on a water efficient property, which includes having no leaking taps (NSW Government), so a quick fix suits everyone.
In strata, taps belong to the lot they serve, so the owner of that lot pays (strata: who pays).
INSURANCE
Taps, water bills and insurance
Insurers don’t pay for a worn tap: that is maintenance. If a tap was left running and a sink overflowed, the water damage may be covered, so ask.
A big bill from a running tap won’t qualify for Sydney Water’s hidden leak allowance, which excludes visible leaks such as taps (Sydney Water).
NEXT TIME
Prevent it next time
- Fix dripping taps early: worn washers and cartridges get worse
- Know where your isolation valves are
- Label them
- After mains work in your street, run a tap for a minute before using mixers, to flush out grit
- Close taps firmly but gently: forcing a washer tap shut wears it out faster
QUESTIONS
Running tap questions
WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW
Other plumbing emergencies
MORE HELP
Emergency help
24/7 EMERGENCY PLUMBERS
Plumbing emergency? Call us now
A licensed plumber onsite in 30 minutes, guaranteed, any hour. We make it safe first, then give you a fixed price before any repair.
Onsite in 30 minutes, guaranteed
Open 24/7, 365 days
Licensed NSW 285594C
4.9 from 3,000+ reviews