Dunitt — Step-by-step DIY home repair procedures: fixing | dunitt.com
Where the drip appears tells you which part has worn: spout drips mean a washer or cartridge, handle drips mean an O-ring.
Read the drip before buying anything. Water falling from the spout with the tap closed points to the seal that shuts the flow — a rubber washer in a compression tap or a cartridge in a single-lever mixer. Water beading around the handle or spout base points to an O-ring instead.
Every rebuild starts the same way: shut the supply valves under the basin, open the tap to relieve pressure, and plug the drain so no screw can escape. From this point the water is off and the clock is running.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
A washer swap in a compression tap takes about 15-20 minutes with the water off: unscrew the packing nut, lift out the stem, replace the washer on its end and reassemble. If the drip survives a new washer, the valve seat inside the body is scored and needs refacing — or the tap needs replacing.
A cartridge swap takes about 20-30 minutes: pull the retaining clip or nut, draw the cartridge straight out, and take it with you to match the replacement, because cartridges are model-specific and a near-match will leak. An O-ring refresh at a spout base is the quickest of the three jobs, roughly 15 minutes including reassembly.
Reassemble, restore the supply slowly and check with the tap both open and closed. A drip that returns within a day of a correct cartridge swap usually means debris in the body — flush the lines with the cartridge out before fitting the new one.
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