How to Fix a Dripping Faucet (and When to Call)

A faucet controls water with small parts that wear out. On older compression faucets it is usually a rubber washer that has hardened or split; on modern single-handle faucets it is typically the cartridge or its seals. Either way, the drip is the fixture no longer sealing fully when closed, and no amount of tightening the handle fixes a worn seal, it just cracks the parts faster.

The good news is the parts are inexpensive. The trick is getting to them safely, and matching the replacement to your specific faucet.

For a standard faucet with working shutoffs, the do-it-yourself path is straightforward.

In older Harrisburg homes, the valves that should make this easy are often the reason it is not.

Sometimes the honest move is to stop repairing a faucet and replace it. If the faucet is old enough that replacement cartridges are hard to find, if the body is corroded, if it has been rebuilt more than once, or if it leaks from the base and the supply connections rather than just the spout, a new faucet usually costs less in time and parts than nursing the old one along. A modern faucet is also easier to service the next time.

Replacing a faucet is a fair moment to deal with the tired parts around it too, the seized shutoff valves and worn supply lines common in old homes, which is really kitchen and fixture work rather than a spout repair. And if the drip turns out to be a leak at the supply line rather than the faucet itself, that is a job for finding the real source before you replace the wrong thing. The point is to fix the actual problem once, not to keep buying washers for a faucet that is finished.

A last tip before you start: take a photo of the faucet parts as you disassemble them, in order, so reassembly is not a puzzle, and bring the old cartridge or washer to the store to match it exactly. Faucet internals vary enormously by brand and model, and the single most common reason a do-it-yourself repair fails is the wrong replacement part. Matching it precisely is half the job, and it is the half that is easy to get wrong in a hardware aisle full of look-alikes.

Call a plumber when the shutoff valves are seized, when the faucet is old enough that parts are hard to find, when the leak is coming from the base or the supply lines rather than the spout, or when a reassembled faucet still drips because the seat inside the valve body is worn. A leak at the supply connection is a different problem from a worn spout washer, and chasing the wrong one wastes an afternoon.

A drip is also a fair moment to consider replacing an old, hard-to-service faucet outright, which spares you finding parts for it again. Either way, if the water will not shut off cleanly, that is the signal to bring someone in.