Boynton Plumbing Guys Blog
How to Stop a Dripping Faucet in Your Florida Home
The common causes of a drip, what you can fix yourself, and when to hand it off.
General guidance for Boynton Beach homeowners. Call any time to talk it through.
A dripping faucet is almost always caused by a worn internal part: a cartridge, washer, or O-ring that no longer seals. To stop it, shut off the supply valves under the sink, take the faucet apart, and replace the worn cartridge or washer that matches your faucet. In many Florida homes the culprit is mineral wear, because the hard water crusts and abrades those small parts faster than average. A cartridge replacement is a doable project for a handy homeowner, but a corroded valve seat or a leak at the base is where it is worth calling a plumber.
Whatever the cause, a drip is worth fixing rather than ignoring. A single dripping faucet can waste a surprising amount of water over a month, and the same hard water that wore the part will keep working on whatever you leave in place.
What is usually dripping, and why
Modern faucets seal with a cartridge, while older ones use rubber washers and O-rings. When any of these wears, the faucet can no longer fully close, and you get a drip. In Boynton Beach and across South Florida, the very hard water speeds this up, depositing scale that grinds against the seals and stiffens the moving parts. So a faucet that starts dripping here often has not been abused; it has simply met the local water.
The drip usually comes from the spout, which points to the cartridge or washer. A leak at the base of the faucet, or underneath at the connections, is a different problem and usually means a failed seal or a loose connection rather than a worn cartridge.
How to fix a spout drip yourself
For a standard cartridge or washer drip, the steps are:
- Shut off both supply valves under the sink and open the faucet to release pressure.
- Plug the drain so small parts cannot fall in, then remove the handle.
- Pull the cartridge or stem and take it to the store to match an exact replacement.
- Clean any scale from the housing, fit the new part, and reassemble.
- Turn the water back on slowly and check that the drip is gone.
Rather talk it through than read? Call and describe what is happening.
Call (561) 781-9408When to call a plumber instead
Some drips are not worth wrestling with yourself. Call a plumber if the shutoff valves under the sink are seized or leaking, if the faucet leaks from the base rather than the spout, or if the valve seat inside is corroded. The same is true if you cannot identify the faucet well enough to buy the right parts. The same is true if a fix does not hold, which usually means the problem is deeper than the part you replaced.
It is also a good moment to replace tired shutoff valves with quarter-turn stops while everything is apart, so the next repair is easier. A plumber can handle the faucet and the valves together in one visit.
A good moment to upgrade the shutoffs
When a faucet is apart for a repair, it is the natural time to look at the shutoff valves under the sink. Older multi-turn stops tend to seize or weep with age, and on this hard water they crust up faster, so the moment you actually need them, in an emergency, is often the moment they refuse to turn. Replacing them with modern quarter-turn stops makes every future repair quicker and gives you a reliable local shutoff.
It is also worth checking the supply lines themselves. The braided connectors that feed a faucet do not last forever, and a failed one under a closed cabinet is exactly the kind of slow, hidden leak that soaks a cabinet base in this humidity before anyone notices. Swapping tired connectors while the area is open is cheap insurance.
None of this is strictly required to stop a drip, but it is the kind of thing a plumber will fold into a visit because it prevents the next call. If you are doing the faucet yourself and the shutoffs are stiff or the connectors look old, that is a reasonable point to bring in help rather than force a valve that could break off and flood the cabinet.
| Where it drips | Likely cause | Do it yourself? |
|---|---|---|
| From the spout | Worn cartridge or washer | Often yes. |
| From the base | Failed base seal | Usually call a plumber. |
| Under the sink | Loose or failed connection | Sometimes; call if unsure. |
| Handle stiff and dripping | Scale on the cartridge | Yes, replace the cartridge. |
Where to go from here
When a drip is past a simple part, faucet repair handles it. Addressing the hard water at the source with a water softener keeps new drips from forming, and a mystery drip that will not quit is a job for leak detection.
Frequently asked questions
Usually the wrong part or a deeper problem. If you replaced the cartridge and it still drips, the valve seat may be corroded or the replacement may not match exactly. Hard water scale left in the housing can also stop a new part from seating. A plumber can find what the quick fix missed.
Yes. A steady drip wastes water continuously, which adds up on your bill over a month, and the underlying wear only gets worse. Fixing it early is cheap; leaving it can let a small leak turn into a damaged fixture or cabinet.
It does. The hard water here deposits scale that abrades the seals and stiffens the moving parts inside a faucet, so cartridges and washers wear out faster than they would on soft water. It is a common reason local faucets start dripping.
Usually, yes. Most faucets have their own shutoff valves under the sink, so you can isolate just that fixture. If those valves are seized or leaking, you may need the main, and that stuck valve is itself a reason to call a plumber.
Sometimes that is the better value. If the faucet is old, corroded, or hard to find parts for, a new one can be cheaper than repeated repairs. If it is a good faucet with a simple worn part, a cartridge swap is the economical fix.
Related reading
Two more guides worth a look: How Hard Is the Water in Boynton Beach, FL, Really?, and Signs of a Hidden Water Leak in a Boynton Beach Home.