How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
Leftover water explains a drip for the first minute after a shower; anything longer usually points to a worn seal in the wall mixer. Working out how to fix a leaking shower head starts with that distinction, and our Teneriffe plumbers make it every day. Every job is done by a licensed plumber.
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Is a Dripping Shower Head Normal
Yes for a minute, no after that. Water left in the head and the arm drains away briefly once the shower is shut off, which is normal and stops on its own.
A drip that hangs around for minutes on end is different. That one comes from the mixer, where an ageing washer or cartridge is letting water slip past the seal it should hold.
The head itself almost never drives a constant drip. No valve lives inside it, so water only reaches the head when the mixer sends it there.
Signs Pointing to the Shower Mixer
Three places produce a shower drip: the join between head and arm, the mixer built into the wall, and the diverter on a bath-shower set-up.
The arm join
Water weeping from that thread while you shower means the connection has loosened or its small seal has perished. This one leaks only while water is flowing.
The mixer
A drip from the head once everything is off indicts the mixer. Its cartridge governs flow and the hot-cold blend, so wear also leaves the handle stiff or the temperature drifting.
The bath diverter
Water reaching the head while the bath fills, or running out of the spout during a shower, blames a worn diverter or a restricted spout rather than the head.
Scale
Mineral crust can choke some spray holes and force water out through the rest, which looks like a strange spray pattern instead of a leak.
Still Dripping After a Repair Attempt
If the drip survives a new washer or a new cartridge, the seat the washer closes onto, or the mixer's own body, has worn or suffered damage. A washer seals onto a machined face; a cartridge seals within the mixer's body. Damage to either surface lets water past the new part, and no extra parts will change that.
A licensed plumber assesses the mixer and quotes the repair. Queensland calls that minor work: it needs a licensee, not a permit, and no Form 4 gets lodged.
The building matters here too. At the last census, 2,405 of the dwellings here were flats or apartments and only 273 were separate houses, so most drips start on an upper floor. Water past a bathroom floor in a converted woolstore lands in the ceiling below, which is why a stubborn drip deserves a prompt call.
Can You Replace a Shower Head Yourself
Yes, in Queensland anyone with the know-how and skill the QBCC describes may swap a shower head, because the regulator classes that job as unregulated work.
No licence applies. The QBCC does not need to approve the job, the council does not either, and nobody lodges a report. Whatever the paperwork, the work still needs to reach the standard the plumbing codes require.
On a Queensland rental, the head swap is one of the few jobs open to an unlicensed hand. Under the tenancy rules, the owner or manager has to keep the rental sound and compliant through the lease, and tenants pass on damage or repair needs without delay.
The cartridge and valve inside the mixer stay licensed work, because the unregulated list exempts only the head.
One check before you buy: the water rating label. A shower head on sale in Australia carries registration under the national water-efficiency scheme, and its stars and flow figures appear wherever the product is listed for sale, online shops included.
When a Drip Needs a Licensed Plumber
Ring us when the drip outlasts the run-off, when the handle stiffens, or when the ceiling under a bathroom goes damp. The full run-down on mixers, diverters and arms sits on our shower repairs page. Water escaping the recess itself is a different fault, and our leaking shower page deals with that.
The price depends on which part has failed and how easily the plumber reaches the mixer, and the figure is fixed before work begins.
Dripping Shower Head Questions
Call (07) 3524 0766Who can replace a shower cartridge in Queensland?
A licensed plumber, because cartridge work sits inside the mixer. Queensland classes the repair as minor work: a QBCC licensee does it, no permit applies and no Form 4 is lodged. The unregulated list exempts the head only.
Why does my Teneriffe shower still drip after a new cartridge?
Wear on the sealing surfaces, most likely. A washer shuts onto a machined seat and a cartridge shuts inside the mixer's body, so damage to either face lets water past a new part. One of our plumbers checks the mixer and quotes the fix.
Why does water leak where my Teneriffe shower head joins the arm?
A loose thread or a perished seal at that connection, and it leaks only while the shower runs. Swapping the head is the unregulated job, so that part you may do yourself.
What should I look for on a replacement shower head?
The water rating label. Australian law requires a shower head sold here to be registered under the national water-efficiency scheme, with its stars and flow figures shown wherever it is listed for sale, online included. No brand fits better than another by law.
Call Us and the Drip StopsWe'll call you back.
Ring (07) 3524 0766 and tell us what's wrong. You get $0 call-out fees, a fixed quote before any work starts and same-day where we can, 7 days a week.
To claim your $0 call-out fee, call (07) 3524 0766 today.