Besides wasting precious water and increasing water bills, leaking taps make an annoying dripping sound that can lead to poor sleep. The good news is that leaking taps often require easy fixes, hence you may not have to call out a professional plumber to handle them. 

Consult this step-by-step guide if you plan on undertaking a DIY leaking tap repair in your home. 

Turn off the water supply

Just like you need to turn off the power supply to your entire house before conducting electrical repairs, turning off the water supply is the first step in performing any kind of repair work on your residential plumbing. 

You can do this by locating your home's main water shut-off valve and turning it clockwise until the water stops flowing.

Run the tap

When you turn the water supply off, some water remains trapped inside the water supply pipes connected to your taps and other water fixtures. Turn on the tap you want to repair and let all the water run out.

Dismantle the tap

Taps comprise several parts. If any of these parts become damaged or worn out, they may result in a leaking tap. The most common culprits behind leaking taps include:

• A worn-out washer
• A damaged O-ring
• A faulty valve seat

Regardless of the reason that your tap may be leaking, you'll need to take it apart before you can inspect and repair it. Not all taps are created equal, so make sure you have the right tap spanner set for dismantling your specific tap type.

As you dismantle the tap by unwinding it with a spanner, keep every part in the order in which you removed it. This will help you put everything back together in the correct order.

Inspect the parts, one by one

Once you've pulled everything apart, carefully examine each part to check for signs of damage and general wear. Any damaged or excessively worn-out part will have to be replaced with compatible parts.

Put everything back together

After you have found suitable replacements for your damaged tap parts, you can now embark on the process of fitting everything back together. Make sure everything is tightly and properly fitted to avoid a recurrence of the problem.

If you don't have previous experience in fixing taps, you may struggle with your leaking tap repair job. If you don't feel confident enough to tackle the task, it's best to let a professional plumber do it for you.