Leaking Tap Repair in Burgess Hill - What Our Engineers Found and Fixed

Published July 2026 | Leaking Tap Repair

A homeowner in Burgess Hill noticed a persistent dripping from the cold tap in their kitchen sink one Tuesday morning - not a flood, just a steady tick-tick-tick that had been going on for the better part of three days. By the time they ran the Voltrade GoFIX diagnostic tool and booked one of our engineers, they'd already placed a washing-up bowl under the spout and convinced themselves the whole tap unit needed replacing. When our plumber arrived at the semi-detached property just off Junction Road, the reality turned out to be rather more contained - and considerably cheaper to sort than the homeowner had feared. What followed was a textbook example of the kind of repair our team deals with regularly across Burgess Hill and the wider West Sussex area.

What Was Actually Going On

A leaking tap is one of those problems that feels minor right up until you think about how much water is actually being wasted. A tap dripping once per second can lose upwards of 5,000 litres of water a year - and in a metered property, that's money going straight down the drain.

In this particular Burgess Hill job, the tap was a traditional pillar-style cold tap, probably original to a kitchen refit from the late 1990s. These older taps use a compression mechanism - when you turn the handle, a spindle pushes a rubber washer down onto a valve seat to stop the flow. It's a design that's been around for over a century and it works well, but the rubber washer doesn't last forever.

Our engineer's first step was to run a quick visual inspection and cross-reference the symptoms in GoFIX. The drip was coming from the spout itself rather than the base of the tap or the supply connection beneath the sink - a useful distinction. A drip from the spout almost always points to an internal sealing failure: either a worn washer, a damaged valve seat, or, in more modern cartridge-based taps, a failing ceramic disc or cartridge assembly.

In this case, the diagnosis was a worn-out tap washer combined with a slightly pitted valve seat. Over time, mineral deposits from the water supply - and Burgess Hill sits in a moderately hard water area - had caused the brass valve seat to develop tiny surface irregularities. Even a new washer can't form a reliable seal against a pitted seat, which is why simply swapping the rubber wouldn't have been a permanent fix on its own.

The different types of tap failure

It's worth knowing what you're actually dealing with before calling anyone out, because the type of tap largely determines the type of repair. There are three main failure modes our engineers see regularly:

• Worn washer (compression taps): The most common fault in older properties. The washer degrades with heat, water chemistry, and simple repeated use.
• O-ring failure (around the spout): If water is seeping from the base of the spout rather than dripping from the nozzle, the culprit is usually a worn O-ring. These are the small rubber rings that seal the spout where it sits in the tap body.
• Cartridge failure (mixer taps): Modern single-lever or thermostatic mixer taps use a ceramic or plastic cartridge instead of a traditional washer. When these fail, you typically get a drip or a tap that won't fully shut off. Cartridge replacement is more involved but still a relatively quick repair.

Getting the diagnosis right matters. Ordering the wrong parts or assuming a washer swap will fix a cartridge-based tap is a frustrating and avoidable waste of time.

How the Problem Was Resolved

The repair process itself was methodical. Here's how our engineer worked through it:

1. Isolate the supply. The first step was to turn off the cold water supply to the kitchen tap. There was a service valve on the supply pipe beneath the sink - these quarter-turn valves are standard in most modern and refurbished kitchens. In older properties that lack an under-sink isolator, you'd need to turn off the mains stopcock, typically found under the kitchen sink or in a cupboard near the rising main.
2. Open the tap to release pressure. Once the supply was isolated, the tap was turned on to allow any residual water to drain down. This depressurises the line and makes the disassembly safe and dry.
3. Remove the tap handle and headgear. The decorative cap on top of the handle was prised off to reveal the retaining screw, which was removed with a flathead screwdriver. The handle lifted off, exposing the headgear nut - this is the large hexagonal fitting that holds the tap mechanism in the tap body. It was removed with an adjustable spanner, taking care not to overtighten the grip and damage the chrome.
4. Inspect and replace the washer. The headgear assembly was brought out in one piece. At its base sat the washer - a disc of rubber about 12mm across, visibly cracked and flattened. A replacement washer from the engineer's stock kit was fitted and secured with the brass jumper nut.
5. Dress the valve seat. Because the valve seat showed signs of pitting, the engineer used a tap reseating tool - a small hand-held cutter that's wound down into the tap body to grind the seat back to a smooth, even surface. This is the step that gets skipped in a lot of rush jobs, and it's the reason those jobs come back as repeat call-outs six months later.
6. Reassemble and test. Everything was put back together in reverse order, the supply valve was reopened, and the tap was cycled on and off several times. No drip. The homeowner was shown how to operate the under-sink service valve so they could isolate it themselves if needed in future.

Total hands-on time: just under 45 minutes. The job was clean, the parts cost next to nothing, and the tap has been dry ever since.

What This Cost and How Long It Took

Pricing for tap repairs in Burgess Hill - and across West Sussex generally - tends to follow a consistent pattern, though it varies depending on the type of tap, the age of the property's pipework, and how accessible the isolating valves are.

For a standard washer replacement on a compression tap like this one, including the valve seat regrinding, you'd typically expect to pay between 80 and 140 pounds. That figure includes labour and minor parts. If the engineer has to turn off a mains stopcock rather than a simple service valve, or if access is tight, it can edge toward the higher end of that range.

Cartridge replacements for modern mixer taps are typically a little more because the cartridge itself costs more - commonly between 15 and 50 pounds for the part, depending on the brand and whether it's a standard replacement or a proprietary cartridge for a designer tap. Total job cost for a cartridge swap usually falls between 100 and 200 pounds.

Full tap replacement - where the tap is beyond economical repair or the homeowner wants to upgrade - runs higher. Supply and fit for a new basin mixer or kitchen tap typically costs between 150 and 350 pounds, depending on the tap specification. A budget tap from a plumbers' merchant will be at the lower end; a Hansgrohe or Grohe unit with a thermostatic mixer will push well past that.

The job in this case came in at 110 pounds all-in, which included the call-out, the washer kit, and the seat regrinding. The engineer was on site for under an hour. From the homeowner's perspective, that's considerably less than a new tap, and it bought several more years of reliable use from a perfectly good existing fitting.

One thing worth flagging for Burgess Hill homeowners in particular: if your property was built before the 1970s and has never had its internal pipework updated, factor in extra time and cost for any tap job. Old imperial-sized fittings, corroded gate valves that won't close properly, and lead pipework near joints all add complication that a quick washer job doesn't account for.

How to Spot the Same Issue in Your Home

Most leaking taps announce themselves before they become genuinely problematic - you just need to know what to look for. Here's what to check around your own home:

The spout drip test

Turn all taps off firmly and check each one after five minutes. A single drop forming at the nozzle and eventually falling is a clear sign of internal seal failure. In a hard water area like Burgess Hill, a limescale ring inside the spout can sometimes mimic a drip - look for whether the drip is actually falling into the basin or just sitting on a limescale deposit.

Base and body leaks

Wipe the base of each tap and the area where the spout meets the body with a dry cloth, then check again after a few minutes. A wet patch that reappears at the spout base suggests O-ring failure. Moisture around the body of the tap or the supply connections beneath the sink points to a different problem - either a loose compression fitting or a failing flexi hose.

Under-sink checks

Make a habit of checking under your kitchen and bathroom sinks every few months. Run your hand along the flexi hoses (the braided silver hoses connecting the tap tails to the supply pipes) and check for dampness or staining. These hoses have a finite lifespan - typically 10 to 15 years - and when they fail, they fail fast. A split flexi hose in a closed cabinet can cause significant water damage before anyone notices.

Water meter monitoring

If your property in West Sussex is metered, note your meter reading last thing at night and first thing in the morning before any water is used. Any measurable increase overnight suggests water is escaping somewhere in the system - either a dripping tap, a running toilet cistern, or a pipe leak.

Lessons Every Burgess Hill Homeowner Should Know

After years of responding to tap jobs across Burgess Hill and the surrounding area, a few consistent patterns come up again and again. Here's what our engineers would want every homeowner to take away from this kind of repair.

Don't ignore a drip. It's genuinely tempting to live with a slow drip because it doesn't feel urgent. But the valve seat damage in this Burgess Hill job was made worse by the fact that the tap had been dripping for at least a few weeks before the call-out. The longer a washer wears against a seat, the more surface damage accumulates, and the more involved the repair becomes. Catching it early means a simpler, cheaper fix.

Know where your isolating valves are. Every homeowner in Burgess Hill should know where their kitchen and bathroom isolating valves are, and should test them occasionally to make sure they actually close. A valve that's been stuck open for twenty years can seize, and in an emergency that means turning off the mains stopcock instead - which kills the water supply to the whole property.

Hard water is your tap's enemy. The water across much of West Sussex is moderately to quite hard, depending on the local supply network. This accelerates limescale build-up inside tap bodies and valve seats. Using a descaling solution on your tap aerators every six months and fitting an inline water softener if scale build-up is severe can extend the life of your fittings considerably.

Tap type determines repair type. There is a widespread misconception that all leaking taps are fixed the same way. A compression tap and a ceramic disc mixer tap are mechanically different and require different parts and different skills. If you're attempting any DIY, correctly identifying your tap type before buying parts will save you a wasted trip to the merchant.

Not everything is worth repairing. If your tap is more than 20 years old, the chrome is pitting, the handle is worn, and it's taken multiple call-outs to keep it working, replacement is often better value than repair. A decent-quality replacement kitchen tap from a brand like Bristan or Franke, professionally fitted, will give you a decade or more of trouble-free use and costs less in the long run than repeated patchwork repairs.

Use a qualified plumber for anything involving the mains. For a washer swap on an isolated tap, a confident DIYer can absolutely have a go - the skills and tools required are modest. But anything involving the mains stopcock, supply pipework, or concealed connections should go to a professional. A poor joint on a mains-fed supply line isn't a nuisance drip; it's a potential flood.

Related Questions

How long does a leaking tap repair take in Burgess Hill?

Most standard tap repairs - a washer replacement, an O-ring swap, or a cartridge replacement - take between 30 minutes and one hour for a working plumber. More complicated jobs, such as reseating a badly pitted valve or replacing an older tap with an awkward fitting, can run to 90 minutes or slightly more. Getting accurate access to the isolating valves and having the right parts to hand are the two main factors that keep job times short.

Can I fix a dripping tap myself without calling a plumber?

On a traditional compression tap, replacing the washer is within the capability of most DIY-confident homeowners. You'll need a flathead screwdriver, an adjustable spanner, replacement washers (sold in multi-packs at any hardware shop), and the ability to isolate the water supply. Where people typically run into trouble is with older, corroded fittings that won't budge without the risk of damaging the tap body, or with ceramic cartridge mixers that require a specific replacement part matched to the tap model.

Why does my tap keep dripping after I replaced the washer?

The most common reason a tap continues to drip after a washer replacement is a damaged valve seat - the brass surface inside the tap body that the washer presses against to form a seal. If this surface has developed pitting or scoring, even a new washer can't form a reliable seal. The fix is to have the seat reground using a tap reseating tool, or in more severe cases, to fit a new tap seat insert. This is the step that is often missed in quick DIY repairs and many rushed trade call-outs.

How much does it cost to replace a tap in Burgess Hill?

Supply and fit for a replacement kitchen or basin tap in Burgess Hill typically costs between 150 and 350 pounds, depending on the tap specification and complexity of the installation. A straightforward swap of a like-for-like tap on an accessible fitting will sit at the lower end. Fitting a new mixer tap where only separate hot and cold supplies exist, or working with older pipework that needs adapting, will push the cost higher. Getting a fixed quote before work starts is always advisable.