How to fix a dripping faucet, and when to call a pro

What causes a faucet to drip

A faucet drips when the parts that are supposed to stop the flow no longer seal. Depending on the faucet type, that is a worn rubber washer, a failed O-ring, or a cartridge whose seals have given out. In most of the country that is a straightforward wear item, and swapping it is a genuine DIY job with basic tools.

In Tempe, hard-water scale complicates the picture. Mineral builds up inside the cartridge and on the valve seat, grinding the seals and pitting the surface the washer needs to press against. That is why a drip here sometimes comes back after a simple repair: the new part is sealing against a scaled, pitted seat. It is the same mineral that seizes handles and clogs aerators throughout the house.

The DIY version, step by step

If you want to try it, the sequence is simple. Turn off the supply at the angle stops under the sink and open the faucet to release pressure. Plug the drain so small parts cannot escape. Remove the handle, note how it comes apart, some have a decorative cap hiding a screw, and pull the cartridge or stem. Take the old part to the store to match it exactly, because faucet internals vary by brand and model.

Reassemble with the new washer, O-ring or cartridge, turn the water back on slowly, and check for the drip. Cleaning any visible scale off the seat and threads while you are in there helps the new part seal. If it stops dripping, you are done and you have saved a service call.

It is worth naming why cartridge faucets, common in most Tempe homes, are especially prone to this. The cartridge relies on smooth internal surfaces sliding and sealing against each other, and hard-water scale is abrasive; it grinds those surfaces and builds on the seat until the seal is imperfect and the faucet weeps. This is also why a faucet can start dripping only months after a repair on this water when the same part would last years elsewhere. The part is not defective; it is doing its job against water that wears it out faster.

When to stop and call a pro

There are clear signs the job has outgrown a DIY fix. If you replace the cartridge and it still drips, the valve seat is likely pitted by scale and needs proper attention. If the cartridge is seized so hard it will not budge, forcing it risks cracking the faucet body. If the faucet is old and corroded, or a cheap unit that has simply worn out, repair stops making sense against a clean replacement.

This is where our faucet repair and installation work comes in. A quality faucet with a scaled cartridge is worth a proper rebuild, seat and all; a corroded low-end fixture is cheaper to replace than to keep fighting. We will tell you honestly which yours is rather than defaulting to the bigger job.

There is a small maintenance habit that genuinely extends the life of the fix. Unscrewing the aerator every few months and soaking it, along with any removable spray head, in vinegar to dissolve the scale keeps flow even and pressure honest, and it stops the mineral from working back up into the cartridge as quickly. It will not substitute for softened water on a badly scaled system, but on a fixture you have just repaired, that ten-minute habit is often the difference between the repair holding for years and the drip creeping back within the season.

Stopping the next drip before it starts

Because the root cause here is scale, the durable fix is upstream. A water softener slows how fast mineral builds inside every cartridge, aerator and valve in the house, so faucets drip less often and repairs last longer. The same water that pits your faucet seats is scaling your water heater and seizing your toilet valves, so softening protects all of it at once.

Short of a softener, periodically cleaning aerators and showerheads of scale keeps flow even and buys time. But on Tempe water, the difference between chasing drips every year and rarely seeing one usually comes down to whether the water feeding those fixtures has been softened.