How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
Drips that run for hours after the taps are shut usually mean a mixer problem, not a head problem. Water is generally slipping past a worn washer or cartridge inside the wall mixer. That repair is work for a licensed plumber.
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Learning how to fix a leaking shower head comes down to one question: does the drip stop by itself, or does it run for hours? Everything else around the house is on the Keperra service list.
Normal Drips Versus a Failing Seal
A short drip after you switch off is water left in the head, and a drip that runs for hours is water slipping past a worn seal in the mixer. The wall mixer is the single tap that sets both flow and temperature. Water left in the head and arm drains for a short time after you switch off, and that is normal.
Keperra counted 2,795 dwellings at the last census, nearly all of them detached houses, and a wall mixer feeds the shower in most of them. A short burst of drips that stops by itself needs nothing. One that runs for hours, or restarts at odd hours, is water getting past a seal that should hold.
Where a Dripping Shower Head Comes From
Four spots can send water to the head: the joint with the arm, the mixer behind the wall, the bath spout diverter, and scale in the spray holes. Each one announces itself differently.
The arm join
Water seeping from that connection while the shower runs means the joint is loose or its sealing ring is past its use. It stops when the shower stops.
The wall mixer
A drip with the taps off means water is getting past the mixer's sealing part. The cartridge sets the flow and the hot-cold mix, so the same fault can show up as a stiff handle or the wrong temperature.
The bath diverter
Where a bath spout shares the mixer, water arriving at the head during a bath run signals a diverter fault. The same goes for water spilling from the spout mid-shower.
Scale
Mineral crust can block the spray holes and force water from other openings in the head, which looks like a leak.
Watch when the water starts and stops before you call. That timing tells most of the story.
Still Dripping After a Repair Attempt
The signs of a deeper fault are a drip that keeps running after a fresh washer or cartridge, a scored valve seat, or a worn mixer body. A washer closes onto the valve seat, and a cartridge seals inside the mixer body. Once either surface is scored or worn, no new part can seal against it, and buying another one just burns money.
Fixing or swapping a part within the mixer counts as minor work under the QBCC rules, so it needs a licensee. Minor work skips the permit and the Form 4 paperwork, but the licence is not optional.
Queensland tenancy law puts the owner or manager under a duty to keep the place in good repair. A renter should report a lasting drip to them as soon as they notice it.
Can You Replace a Shower Head Yourself
Yes, because the QBCC treats swapping a shower head as unregulated work in Queensland. Anyone who has the knowledge and skill the job calls for may do it, with no plumbing licence. No approval is needed from the QBCC or from local government, and nothing has to be reported.
Licence or not, the finished job still has to reach the minimum standard set out in legislation and codes.
The line stops at the head. Anything on the mixer, its cartridge or its valve is licensed work, because the QBCC's no-licence list names the head alone.
A replacement head should also carry a WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards) label. The scheme covers shower heads sold in Australia or brought in from overseas. Each one has to show its star rating and water-use figures wherever it appears for sale, online included.
When to Call a Plumber
Call when the drip runs on with the water off, when a new part hasn't stopped it, or when the handle sticks or the temperature drifts. All of those signs point to the mixer, and our shower repairs page covers that work. Water tracking through a ceiling or into a wall cavity is urgent too, because the damage grows the longer it runs.
Shower Head Drip Questions
Call (07) 3523 7121Can I replace a shower head myself in Keperra?
Yes, if you have the knowledge and skill for it. The QBCC puts a head swap on its unregulated list, so no licence, no approval and no report apply. The finished job still has to meet the minimum standards.
Who can replace a shower cartridge in Queensland?
A licensed plumber. The QBCC classes that job as minor work: a licensee carries it out, and neither a permit nor a Form 4 applies. Queensland's no-licence list covers the head only, so the mixer and its cartridge stay with a licensed plumber.
How much does it cost to fix a leaking shower head in Keperra?
Two things drive the price: whether the fault sits in the head or in the wall mixer, and how easy that mixer is to reach. A fixed quote before any work starts settles the total.
What should I look for on a replacement shower head?
The WELS star rating and its water-efficiency figures. Every head on the Australian market is registered under the scheme, and those details have to show up anywhere the product is offered, online included.
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