How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
Shower heads rarely cause the steady drip that carries on after the taps are shut. Learning how to fix a leaking shower head means telling two drips apart: the brief run-out that is normal, and the steady one that points to a worn seal in the mixer. Our Hamilton plumbers trace that fault every week, and every job is done by a licensed plumber.
If we're late, $100 comes off your bill
- Licensed and InsuredEvery job done by a licensed plumber. QBCC No: 15024607
- Fixed Quote FirstFlat-rate pricing, agreed before any work starts
- Lifetime Labour WarrantyBacked by our Fix-It-or-It's-Free guarantee (T&Cs apply)
- $0 Call-Out FeesNo extra charge for nights, weekends or public holidays
Normal Drips Versus a Failing Seal
Some water draining from the head just after a shower is normal; a drip that carries on with the water off is not. Both the arm and the head hold a little water after use, and it empties out on its own soon after you finish.
A drip that persists once the supply is off comes from the mixer, not the head. Inside that in-wall fitting, an old washer or a tired cartridge seeps past its seal and finds its way to the spray holes. Which of the two drips you have decides the whole repair.
The quick test: watch the head for a few minutes after shutting the shower off.
- Water that trails away and stops inside that window is leftover supply, and nothing is wrong.
- Water that keeps dripping past it, or starts again hours later, means the mixer's seal has had its day.
Signs Pointing to the Shower Mixer
Three places produce a drip: the connection between the arm and the head, the in-wall mixer, and on a bath-shower set-up the spout with its diverter. Each one announces itself differently, and reading the signs correctly saves you paying for the wrong repair.
The connection
Water seeping there only while the shower is running points to a joint that has loosened or a seal gone hard. It dries up the moment the water shuts off.
The mixer
A drip from the head with the supply off is the classic sign. The cartridge sets the flow and the hot-cold blend, so a worn one can also show up as a handle that drags or temperatures that wander.
The diverter
Water coming from the head while the bath is filling, or from the spout while you shower, points to a diverter past its best rather than to the head.
Scale
Mineral crust can block the tiny outlet holes and push water sideways through other gaps, which reads as a leak but is really a blockage.
Hamilton's housing barely turns over, which matters here. Approval figures from the five years to the last census show just 85 new dwellings, so most bathrooms carry mixers as old as the building around them.
Worn Seats and Bodies Behind the Wall
A drip that outlasts a fresh washer or cartridge points to the brass seat the washer presses onto, or the body the cartridge fits inside, and a licensed plumber needs to look at both. A scored surface gives a new part nothing to seal against, so the drip carries on.
Repairing or replacing a fitting within the mixer is minor work, done by a licensee who needs no permit and lodges nothing. The unregulated list stops at the head, so the wall side of the job is not yours to try. Fitting another part in hope of a different result just delays the proper diagnosis.
Can You Replace a Shower Head Yourself
Yes, because the QBCC lists a shower head swap among its unregulated jobs, open to anyone with the right knowledge and skill for it. You need no licence, no sign-off from the QBCC or from Council, and there is nothing to report afterwards.
Whatever the licence status, the work has to reach the standard the plumbing laws and codes require. That duty doesn't move.
Two things sit outside that allowance:
The mixer
A cartridge or valve within the wall fitting is licensed work, because the unregulated list covers the head and stops there.
The label
Under the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme, every shower head offered for sale in Australia has to be registered and display its stars and water-use numbers wherever it is advertised, websites included.
Rentals follow the same split. On a Queensland rental, changing a shower head is one of the very few jobs that needs no licensee. Under Queensland tenancy law the owner or manager has to keep the place in good repair through the tenancy, and a tenant who notices the drip has to report it to them promptly.
When the Drip Needs a Plumber
Call a plumber once the drip continues with the water off, since that fault sits in the mixer and the parts inside it are licensed work. The shower repairs in Hamilton page walks through the mixer, diverter and arm repairs this diagnosis usually leads to.
The price depends on whether the problem sits in the head itself or the in-wall mixer, the part required, and how easily the mixer can be reached. You see a fixed quote before any work starts, so the figure is settled before the wall comes open.
Shower Head Drip Questions Answered
Call (07) 3523 6484Can I swap a shower head myself in Hamilton?
Yes. The QBCC treats a shower head swap as unregulated work, so anyone with the right knowledge and skill for it may do the job. No licence, approval or report is required, and the result still has to reach the standard the plumbing rules set.
Who is allowed to change a shower cartridge in Queensland?
A licensed plumber. Repairing, replacing or removing a fitting inside a mixer is minor work, which a QBCC licensee does without a permit or a Form 4. The unregulated list covers the head alone, never the mixer or its cartridge.
Why does my shower head leak where it joins the pipe?
Water seeping from that connection while the shower runs points to a joint that has loosened or a seal that has perished. Swapping the head is the unregulated job, so that part is yours to do if you have the skills.
What should I check before buying a shower head in Hamilton?
Check for the WELS label. Any head sold in Australia has to be registered under the scheme and show its stars and water-use numbers wherever it is advertised, online included. The label matters more than the brand.
Call Us About the Dripping ShowerWe'll call you back.
Ring (07) 3523 6484 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) 3523 6484 today.