How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
Two faults sit behind most dripping shower heads: water left over from the last shower, or a seal failing inside the wall. Timing tells them apart, and timing decides who does the repair. Here is how to fix a leaking shower head without drifting into work the law reserves for a licensed plumber.
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Leftover water drains away and never returns. A fault keeps going, and in a suburb mixing pre-war Queenslanders with unit blocks around the shopping centre, ageing washers and builder-grade fittings both do their share. The rest of the bathroom is covered from our Newmarket home page.
What Leftover Water Looks Like
A short trickle after the taps close is normal; a drip that persists for hours is not. Both the head and the arm hold a little water once you finish, and gravity empties it out within a minute or so. That trickle ends by itself.
Watch the clock rather than the drip. Water still coming five minutes later, or a wet floor first thing in the morning, means supply is getting past something it should not.
That something sits in the wall. Once the taps are shut, the only route water has to the head runs through the mixer, where an ageing washer or cartridge seeps past its seal. The head holds no supply of its own, so a shower head leaking when off is a mixer problem, not a head problem.
Signs Pointing to the Shower Mixer
Three places produce a dripping shower: the joint between the head and the arm, the mixer hidden in the wall, and on a bath-shower combo the bath spout's diverter. Each announces itself differently.
The joint at the arm
Water seeping from that connection only while the shower runs points to a loose joint or a seal gone hard at the spot.
The wall mixer
A drip that persists after you shut the taps off is the classic mixer fault, from a washer or cartridge inside it past its best. The same cartridge also shows up as a handle gone stiff or water running too hot or cold.
The bath spout
Water creeping out of the head while the bath is filling, or the spout dribbling during a shower, points to a tired diverter or a restricted spout.
The spray face
Scale can choke the spray holes and force water out through other gaps in the head, which reads like an odd leak.
The arm joint and the scale live at the head itself. Everything else is in the wall, and that is where the licence line falls.
The Shower Head Swap the Law Allows
Yes, you can swap a shower head yourself in Queensland. The QBCC classes that job as unregulated, open to anybody with the knowledge and skill for the task.
No plumbing licence is needed. Neither the QBCC nor the local council has to approve it, and nothing gets reported afterwards. Whatever you fit still needs to reach the minimum standard set by the legislation and the codes, licence or not.
The line stops at the wall. The cartridge or valve deeper in the mixer is licensed work, because the QBCC's list of unregulated jobs names the head and stops there. Fixing or swapping a fitting in that category is minor work, which a licensee handles with no permit and nothing to lodge, so ring (07) 3524 0766 when the fault is in the wall.
One check before buying a replacement: the head should carry a label from the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards scheme, known as WELS. Any head offered for sale in Australia is registered under it, with the star rating and flow details shown wherever it is sold, online included.
Renters share the allowance. On a Queensland rental, a shower head swap is one of the few jobs needing no licensee. The owner or manager still has to keep the place maintained through the tenancy, and a tenant should report faults as soon as they appear.
Still Dripping After a Repair Attempt
A drip that defeats a fresh washer or a fresh cartridge usually means the seat or the mixer body itself has worn out. A washer presses onto its seat, and a cartridge seals within the body of the mixer, so damage to either surface leaves nothing for the new part to close against.
A licensed plumber assesses which it is. Buying another part on spec just burns money, and the mixer itself may be the real problem.
The same logic applies after a head swap. A brand-new head that still drips with the water off was never the culprit, and the mixer is where the answer sits.
When to Call a Plumber
Call when the drip carries on with the water off, when a new head changes nothing, or when the handle stiffens and the temperature drifts. All three point to the mixer, and the mixer is licensed work. Our shower repairs page covers the mixer, the diverter and the arm in detail.
Access shapes the job here. Raised Queenslanders in the streets around McCook Park expose their pipe runs beneath the floor, while the townhouses and units near the village centre squeeze bathrooms into small footprints with the mixer close behind the tiling. A licensed plumber weighs up which case applies and quotes before starting.
Dripping Shower Questions From Newmarket
Call (07) 3524 0766Can I replace a shower head myself in Newmarket?
Yes, you can. The QBCC treats a shower head swap as unregulated work for anyone who has the knowledge and skill. Neither the QBCC nor the council needs to approve it, nothing gets reported, and the finished job still has to reach the minimum standard.
Who can replace a shower cartridge in Queensland?
A licensed plumber. Fixing, swapping or removing a fitting is minor work, which a licensee handles with no permit and nothing to lodge with the QBCC. The QBCC exempts the head alone, so the mixer and its cartridge stay with the trade.
Why does water leak where the shower head meets the arm?
Water at that join while the shower runs means the joint has loosened or its seal has perished. The head swap is the unregulated job, so anyone who has the knowledge and skill can fit a new one.
How much does it cost to fix a leaking shower head in Newmarket?
Two factors set the price: whether the fault is the head or the wall mixer, and how easily that mixer can be reached. A fixed quote before any work starts confirms the figure on site.
Talk to Us About That Dripping ShowerWe'll call you back.
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