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Originally Posted by locolorenzo24
Anyone have any quick and frugal fixes for a steadily dripping faucet. It's my kitchen one and I rent, but hate having the landlord in my place while I'm not home...(He's already having to come to fix a toliet flow valve...which he replaced last week...)
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First, feel the temperature of the water leaking. Is it hot or cold? That will tell you which tap is causing the leak.
Then, turn off the water. Probably a valve under the sink.
Third, the tap/valve/handle for the hot or cold water comes off. Old houses, comes off directly, newer houses, pop the plastic top off with a knife or screwdriver head.
Look inside. Older homes, probably just a washer (rubber o-ring), take it to the home improvement/hardware store, they will match and send you home with one.
Newer homes, all plasticy stuff inside, but also a SPRING. This is the trick. The leak is typically caused by the spring getting compressed and no longer making good contact with the other handle parts. So, stretch out the spring a bit, clean it off, clean the top off, etc., to improve the fit. Reassemble. This usually lasts up to a month before you have to do a permanent fix.
If you have a single tap kitchen faucet, same basic process.
Good luck! IT's much easier than it sounds!