How to fix a dripping bathroom tap

BUY A SPANNER or WRENCH HERE! (As Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

(Amazon) https://amzn.to/3SSWkyq 

CARTRIDGE SPLINE FINDER CARD TOOL - for measuring your cartridge to find a replacement

https://amzn.to/3fhB9sh - sorry, can only find this in the UK

ALLEN or HEX KEY SET

https://amzn.to/3SRDbgp

WD40 SPRAY

https://amzn.to/3WggyoF

How to fix a dripping bathroom tap or faucet? Our bathroom taps were dripping, constantly leaking so I knew I had to do something like replacing the washers or O ring, but I've not done this for a very long time... So this video shows me repairing our dripping tap by replacing the whole mixer tap cartridge.

How I fixed our dripping tap: LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES



TRANSCRIPT: (CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE)

THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT - CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE!

hello I'm Neil welcome back to the dad delivers Vlog where I try something new every day to make your family happy and today we're making your family happy here! 

we're back in the bathroom so we've already done the toilet seat and the toilet roll holder 

that's been a big success 

It’s look... it's wobbling just a little bit don't tell anyone 

the seat is holding out - the Ikea toilet seat is holding out but it is kind of cracking here 

so it's not wearing too well there and I don't know what we're doing to uh to cause that but fingers crossed that can hold out for another year 

and today we're now working our way around the bathroom because this video is all about this! 

yes it's the classic... the dripping tap 

I don't know how we've managed to avoid this for so long 

I knew when I started this Channel and I just wanted to record the little jobs that I do around the house - almost as proof that I do something now and again 

but this... I hope this day would not come and... and it's here... it's here now the tap is dripping 

obviously if I get this wrong we can expect a trip - an expensive trip - from Mr Plumber which I really really want to avoid 

and that's even if you can find a plumber 

we can't even find a plumber at the moment and I wouldn't bring a plumber into this situation but if I make a wrong turn or disable the tap like you know it could like drip quite more violently than it is at the moment 

it means that we're wasting water which is terrible for our water bills I mean the environment 

and most importantly at night the sound of this is really really annoying 

but here's the thing I've not done this in a long long time like I mean like decades 

so I don't know if I've even got the right tools I... 

I definitely haven't got the right washer the right o-ring that we'll need inside that tap 

the kids are home from school you can probably hear them in the background I've got it... [DOG BARKING] oh and that's Casper I don't think...

I don't think Casper is very happy with the kids 

he... he tells them off more than we do! 

he's a great dog 

I think the first thing I need to do is to shut off each pipe to each tap to work out which of the Taps are leaking 

maybe both of them are leaking! 

and to do that I'll need to get a screwdriver - a flat headed screwdriver - come with me down to the toolbox let's try in here

that one looks like a good one the... 

Casper's been chewing the end of it but I think that might be the one 

back up the stairs and we're lucky because we've got... we've actually got these shutoffs 

you might not have them 

this is the pipe for the hot tap so I'm going to turn this so that it shuts off the water 

I think if you just turn it like that... yes brilliant so that water's off

and it's still dripping fantastic! 

this is really good news because it means that it's the cold tap that's dripping not the hot tap so I'll probably turn this back on and then I'll go around the other side 

just get the lights 

and over to the cold tap pipe and I'll turn this sideways... and as if by Magic the leak has stopped 

so it's definitely coming from the cold tap which is on this side so the next thing that I need to do is to take off this thing 

I don't know what do you call it? it's like an indicator 

your tap obviously will be different but pop this off 

I know I'm going to get qualified plumbers in the comments telling me how I'm doing it wrong which is good! 

please leave me a comment and tell me how you would tackle this 

well maybe I need a small... oh there it goes yeah it's just... Levering it up and this comes off like this 

yeah fantastic and what's in there? 

that looks like a bit of an allen key job 

back downstairs to get the Allen key and good job I didn't tidy up the toolbox - Allen keys

so put the Allen key into the hole 

hey it’s too big - okay so this is classic dad delivers Vlog - the actual Allen key that I need is the one that is missing 

that's too big and this one's too small 

gotta get back to the Allen key collection  

oh you know I... I'm this close to throwing away all my Allen keys because I've got a really good Allen key set 

but it's a good job that I keep lots of old ones so let's try these ones now oh man 

these jobs would only take like two minutes if I did them properly 

okay that's way too big 

this is smaller this might be the one 

my options are getting Slimmer by the minute 

right now I'm going to turn... oh no it's not good 

oh yeah right so this is a tip I saw once 

close... put the plug in because if you drop something into the sink then that's bad news 

so I've... I've hit a wall before I've even started 

I've Got to Now not only get a washer and an O-ring but I've got to get an Allen key that's like this - but one will actually work 

there's only one place for this 

this is a place that we have in the UK called poundland 

you've probably got something similar in your country if you're not in the UK where everything in the store is one pound 

this is me wandering through the aisles trying to find an allen key set 

and I found the DIY section and oh my goodness 

this is what the one pound Allen key set is worth now 

oh my God £2.50? 

I don't know if things are like this wherever you're watching but the prices have definitely gone up 

but anyway I've got the... the Allen key so now back home to take it apart 

I was kind of hoping they would have O-rings or washers as well but they didn't 

there we go, brilliant - it's going

okay this is why it's definitely definitely worth putting the plug in so you don't drop any vital bits but this is what's come out 

Is that in Focus? oh it won't come off oh no... oh wait oh... oh there he's done 

right so now we're into this I guess the... the washer is inside here maybe 

I'm gonna try and undo this and see if there's something inside that needs replacing 

this might be the most difficult part of the job because the WD-40 is in here somewhere 

okay I've got this it's not quite as good because the wd40's got this really nice straw on the end of it so you can put it on really accurately and this? 

this just kind of sprays everywhere

Let's give this a go 

I guess it's cleaning the tap 

yeah I don't even know which way to turn the bolt around 

it's probably been here... I think it's been here since 1990 so it's about 30 years old 

okay I really do not want this to go snap!

brilliant I'll send you a picture 

all right then see in a minute bye bye 

so my my Unstoppable wife is at a DIY Superstore now - she just happens to be passing - but I can't... I can't tell her what rings to get 

I don't know what washers because I just can't get it open 

I'm going to send her a picture of what I've got so far and we'll see how that goes 

my brilliant wife did give me a tip off though that the WD-40 

I don't know how she knows these things 

but she said have a look in the cupboard in here 

oh there it is! 

how does she know these things? how do you do... how do you do that? 

I'm gonna watch this with her - this video - I'm gonna ask how... how did you... how did you know this was in here?!

it's only one thing for it - I'm gonna give it one really really hard turn 

I don't want it to fly off and hit me either

I did it! 

I did it! look at this Dad delivers success no, no not finished yet 

come closer look at it turn 

magnificent - whoa there we go - I'll be able to call my wife now oh

is it in there? oh where is it? where's the washer? so it's stuck in there [PHONE RINGS]

I've got it! I've got... I've done it so now I've kind of shredded the washer that's inside, I can't get the washer out 

I've got some O-rings of different sizes 

oh brilliant oh tweezers! do you know a tweezer, there have been some blue tweezers hanging around yeah?

yeah I was gonna do my eyebrows, I left them in the bathroom - on the glass thing - oh yeah of course yeah I moved them all right thanks okay alright bye! 

okay bye 

I can't get this washer out and it's coming out in bits 

there we go 

oh whoa look at that! that's what we needed! 

let me try to explain what happens next 

my wonderful wife came home with a load of washers 

none of them fit - it's just an O-ring! I just need an O-ring for this cartridge! 

the next day I went to the big DIY Superstore myself 

I didn't mind - it's a... it's a day out isn't it 

here I am pulling up after the 20 minute journey and it's quite exciting so I go to the plumbing section to see, well I had to find the plumbing section first to see the amazing array of products that might be able to help 

I don't know where to start 

what my wife did get me - which was absolutely crucial - was this! 

it's like a... it's like a guide so you can hold your cartridge up because obviously there are hundreds of these 

you hold your cartridge onto the card and you can measure some really specific things - it's now getting really complicated! 

I just want... I just wanted the O-ring 

I could not see any o-ring here 

I mean feel free to pause the footage - I would 

I don’t know where to begin! 

which means that the only thing I can do is to buy one of these! 

these cartridges and I don't know which one 

I mean I've done my measurements but there was only a small selection of a few on the shelf and they are 15 quid for literally... for an O-ring! 

I'm gonna have to replace the whole thing 

this stuck in my throat ever so slightly and I wasn't convinced that it was the right one 

the extra confusion is that this is blue because it's on the blue... the blue tap because it's for the cold tap so it opens anti-clockwise and closes... no 

so they only sell them in pairs and I only need one! 

it just felt like I'd be buying in a panic if I just grabbed this cartridge here and... and I don't need two of them as well - I just need one for the cold tap so I got a refund for the washers, came home and I found this page here 

a pair of them for... for half price so I ordered them and here they are! 

They’ve just arrived - I'm very excited 

now we can go into the bathroom and try this out 

this is getting to be a catchphrase on the channel isn't it 

what do we say 

it's never easy! 

I really want this done now as much as you do because look we've got pork chops! 

I've gotta... I've got to do this before the chops are ready 

so I've managed to tidy up and close this again... I managed to tidy up after Friday 

it's now Sunday 

we've been without a bathroom sink for two days 

this should be as easy as just screwing this into that hole 

and sorry my kids are playing electronic Monopoly at the moment so you might hear some shouting and some swears in the background sorry 

I'm going to try and get some of this water out here

actually oh it's probably not a good idea using tissue oh no 

oh this is trapped in here for all time 

That’s clean now 

let's try this 

so I'm hoping this will just screw in 

well it fits - I've got the right size one... oh this is looking too straightforward 

then I'll get my spanner oh this is looking very promising 

the next big test is to see if the tap handle fits onto this, so this has to be the right number of teeth is this gonna... this could still go very wrong

it's like Cinderella's slipper! it fits 

just make sure it's straight 

that's not straight oh man, now I can screw this on 

fingers crossed let me take you closer 

we'll get the crucial piece here and then I'll put this in right side up and I need to screw it tightly enough for the handle not to wobble

and finally I'll put the little top on for Elegance 

I'll just push that on - oh

Kids?! where are you? oh there you go 

kids please come see this 

come see what your old man's done 

how long did that take you 

two days and 10 pounds 

well it yeah it took a lot longer than I thought but you know, given I haven't done this before 

the final thing is - maybe you could do this - can you just turn that - yeah okay quarter turn... quarter turn? 

yeah which way 

oh okay you ready 

okay let's do... you do the cold tap, I do the hot tap oh go on, go on you do both

oh and is it dripping 

I'm calling this a dad delivers success! 

I win! I win!

No you don’t - I do! 

you and me are on such a voyage of Discovery thank you for making it to this point and if you're hitting the thumbs up or subscribe button thank you for being awesome and right here is what YouTube knows that you're gonna love next! 

we did it 

Can you please help my daddy get 10000 subscribers just click on his face thanks bye! alright this is gonna be the proper one right?

Previous post...
L Shaped Bench easy project - how to put the sides on

All about me, and getting these by email.