Dripping Faucet in Las Vegas: Repair It or Replace It?

Most dripping faucets can be repaired, not replaced: the drip almost always comes from a worn cartridge, washer or O-ring inside the valve, and swapping that part stops it. A new faucet only makes sense when the body itself is corroded or cracked, parts for it are no longer made, or you wanted a different faucet anyway.

The harder question in Las Vegas is why the same faucet starts dripping again a year later. The answer is usually the water.

What Actually Makes a Faucet Drip

Every faucet has a small valve that opens and closes the flow. When that valve no longer seals completely, water gets past it and drips from the spout. Which part has failed depends on the type of faucet:

• Cartridge faucets (most single-handle and many two-handle faucets) use a replaceable cartridge. A worn cartridge is the most common cause of a drip.
• Compression faucets (older two-handle styles where you feel the handle tighten) seal with a rubber washer that hardens and flattens over time.
• Ceramic disc faucets rarely wear out on their own, but grit and scale can scratch the discs or stop them seating.
• Ball faucets (older single-handle kitchen faucets) rely on springs and seats that wear with use.

A drip from the spout points to the valve. Water around the base of the handle or under the sink is a different problem: usually an O-ring, a loose connection or a failing supply line. It is worth mentioning when you call, because it changes what we bring.

Why a Drip Is Worth Fixing Now

A single drip looks harmless. Over a year it isn't. The EPA's WaterSense program estimates that a leaky faucet that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year. That is water you pay for, running straight down the drain.

The bigger cost is often what the drip is doing to the fixture. Water that keeps passing a worn seal carries minerals across it, and in the valley that means scale building up on the exact surfaces that need to seal. A small drip left for months tends to become a steady one, and a repair that would have taken a new cartridge can turn into a new faucet.

The Las Vegas Factor: Hard Water

Las Vegas water is hard. As it evaporates it leaves calcium and magnesium behind, and you can see it on showerheads, aerators and the chrome around the handles. Inside the faucet, the same scale:

• roughens cartridge and disc surfaces so they stop sealing cleanly
• stiffens handles until they are hard to turn fully off
• clogs aerators, which reduces flow and can make people crank handles harder than they should
• shortens the life of rubber washers and O-rings

That is why a cartridge replaced in a Las Vegas home often lasts less time than the manufacturer suggests. Part of a good repair here is cleaning scale from the valve seat and aerator, not just dropping in a new part. If scale is showing up on every fixture in the house, the fix at the fixture only treats the symptom; our piece on hard water damage in Las Vegas covers the whole-house side, and water treatment is how you stop it at the source.

Repair or Replace: How to Decide

Repair is usually the right call when:

• the faucet is a recognisable brand and the cartridge or washer is still available
• the body, spout and handles are in good shape, with no pitting or green corrosion
• you like the faucet and it suits the sink

Replacement usually makes more sense when:

• the body is corroded, cracked, or leaking from somewhere other than the valve
• parts are discontinued or the brand is unidentifiable
• it has already had a cartridge replaced and is dripping again with heavy scale inside
• the handles are seized, or the faucet is loose on the counter because the mounting has corroded
• you were planning to update the kitchen or bathroom anyway

We will tell you which one it is before any work starts. Most standard faucet repairs take under two hours, and you get a free upfront estimate first. If you already bought a new faucet, we will install the one you picked.

What You Can Check Yourself First

A few things are safe to try before calling:

1. Find the fixture's shut-off valves under the sink and confirm they turn. If they are seized, don't force them. That is useful to know before anyone opens the faucet.
2. Unscrew and soak the aerator in white vinegar for an hour. It will not stop a valve drip, but it clears scale that makes flow weak.
3. Note where the water comes from: spout, handle, base, or under the sink.
4. Check the brand, usually on the faucet body or the original box. It speeds up finding the right cartridge.

If the shut-off valves under the sink will not close, or you are not sure where the leak is coming from, stop there. A faucet taken apart with the water still live is how a drip turns into a flooded cabinet.

Showers and Tubs Drip for the Same Reasons

A shower head that keeps dripping after it is turned off, or a tub spout that runs slowly, almost always has the same cause: a worn cartridge or seal in the shower valve, often made worse by scale. The repair is similar, although reaching the valve can take longer. Our faucet, shower and bathtub repair page covers diverters, valve replacements and full fixture installs. If the problem is weak pressure at just one fixture rather than a drip, start with our guide to low water pressure at one fixture.

Get the Drip Fixed

A dripping faucet is one of the simplest plumbing repairs there is when it is caught early, and one of the more annoying ones when scale has had a year to work on it. American Brothers Plumbing repairs and replaces faucets, showers and tub fixtures across Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin and the rest of the valley, with free upfront estimates and service 7 days a week. Call (702) 704-1776 or see our faucet and shower repair service.