I hope you are having a better day than I am having so far. Today, I’m on a DIY home repair problem – mission and I’m taking you along here, on a somewhat nightmarish journey. But, there’s gold at the end of the rainbow here… Simply because solving problems with your faucets can transform your life, peace and wonderful well being. OK. I am getting a bit dramatic here, but simply changing the washer in your tap can mean a lot: being able to take a lovely, relaxing, hassle-free hot bath, oh, and having enough warm water to wash all the dishes.
Plus…, leaky faucets are costly, for you and the environment. If you have a leaky faucet, (in British English, that is: ’a dripping tap’) it can waste an approximate 90 liters of water a week.
Let me take you back a few weeks, so you get to hear the whole saga… We had a leaky tap in the sink in the bathroom. And the water flow is inconsistent: sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. And we did not have enough hot water to do what we wanted to do. Sometimes the water would not get hot at all, so that you end up fiddling with the water for the entire time you have allotted to take a shower, or bath. Or you’d have to do half your dishes in cold water.
A few weeks ago, we had a plumber come out to fix the leaky tap in the bathroom. He replaced the entire set of hot and cold water faucets in the sink, but not in the bath. He left. No more leaky tap. Hurry, I think, now I can finally take a bath (after several months of having just been able to take showers). Well, not so. My hubby had to bring me pots of boiling water that we heated up electrically in the kitchen. Just to have a bath!
Then, out came the boiler guy #1. Nice guy. Told me the boiler is fine. OK. What about my hot water issues? Not his problem. Has to be the tap….
Told the landlord. Today, boiler and gas specialist guys #2 came out. They came out a frustratingly 2 hours late for their appointment without calling me! And then, were rushed and self-important to boot – it seemed they barely listened. One of the guys pulled the brand new faucet apart, to show me that there was no washer… oh but then found that there was a washer and he put it together ‘properly’ (did not do anything different!) … and so did not nothing useful. Just looked busy… They went back to the car, and yes, my problem is not covered by the boiler service agreement, so they left. They have no washers. Can’t do this sort of thing.
So, girls, I thought it was time to look into how to solve this problem myself, because all these paper pushers who charge by the hour are completely not interested in solving my problem. They are just interested in 1 thing: money.
So, girl power it is. I searched the internet for solutions, and now this is what I learned. I am sharing all 3 videos that I have watched, because they are related, but they all give us a bit additional plumbing information, so we can learn from them all.
So, what I learned is this (video 3): if your tap gives you inconsistent hot and cold water, like mine, then you may also be able to solve that problem by changing the tap washer. This boiler guy #2 actually told me the same thing.
The first two videos, however, give me hope. My landlady does not seem to actually need a plumber, but rather, a ranch and a screwdriver. Because, according to these videos, luckily, it’s a simple fix that doesn’t need a plumber. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were the truth…. I’m going to talk to my landlady to see if she’s up for trying it…
For ‘How to Fix a Leaky Faucet in old houses, i.e. with old taps’, see this first video:
(Hope you enjoyed that nice British accent. Just for kicks, I thought to share the video I actually watched rather than an American version. Makes you feel like you’re living abroad, a bit… LOL..)
Video 2. For new houses, and new taps, see this demo video. It explains how to remove different type of tap handles in order to repair the tap.
And the 3rd video, you’all get to enjoy an American-accented discussion of a bathtub hot water versus cold water faucet leak, and how to determine which is what.
This guy does not only show you how to replace the washer in your faucet, he also shows you a seat, what ‘s for and what it should look like. Etc. Pretty useful too, as the seat could be another cause, if changing the washer does not complete solve the problem.
Wow, 3 videos worth of leaky-tap problem solving.
OK. Now armed with this all this ‘how to change a washer’-information, let me go hunt for a box of new washers! Off I go. I just thought to share that with you. And, when I finally, finally, finally get that bath water nice and hot and wonderful again, I will treat you all a series of homemade bathbomb recipes, alright?! Hope you’ll like that. Use or file/pin this article for future reference. Never know when you might need it. 
Other DIY Bathroom Fixes / Creative DIY Bathroom Projects
For other small bathroom upgrades that will make a great difference, check out these wonderful DIY projects
- How to hang up a floating shelf – pretty useful for bathrooms;
- How to make a luxurious bathmat from old towels (or old t-shirts); and
- How to use up old mason jars and create a wonderful set of bathroom accessories.
