Bathtub Faucet Leaking After Water Turned Off

Last Updated on August 27, 2022 by admin

Nobody likes trouble in their house that involves water. It creates a mess, takes time to fix, and elevates the water bill. Even though we all want to escape from such problems, sometimes we have to face one that may seem simple but neglecting that can cause a huge problem to arise. One such problem is the bathtub faucet leaking after water is turned off.

Leaving the faucet with dripping water for a while will affect your water bill and surely cause stains on your bathtub. The stains are hard to remove and destroy the beauty of the tub as well. So, you must try to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Hiring a professional to solve the problem will cost you quite a lot and you can save that money by doing the task yourself.

What Causes Bathtub Faucet To Leak Water?

The very first step towards solving any problem is to find the problem itself. Finding the cause of the problem is the most difficult task most of the time. When you find what causes the problem it becomes quite easy to solve the problem then. Several things can cause water leaking problems from the bathtub faucet even after you turn off the water. Among these, the most common cause is the washer.

The faucet of the bathtub is attached to a stem and when we rotate the handle of the bathtub to start or stop the water supply the stem rotates. At the end of this stem, you’ll find washers that are mounted using screws to hold it in place.

What these washers do is when we rotate the handle to its stop position the washers give pressure against the seat of the faucet and that causes it to stop the flow of water to the bathtub. So, when you notice that water is dripping even after shutting the faucet that means the washer and faucet seat becomes faulty.

The faulty washers and faucet seat cannot shut off the water supply completely making it drip water from the faucet. So the washers and faucet seat is causing the problem and replacing it will most likely solve your problem. For double handle faucets, you should always replace both the faucet seat and washers if you notice this type of problem.

Things you’ll need to troubleshoot bathtub water leaking after water turned off the problem-

• Utility knife
• Philips screwdriver
• Shower stem socket
• Seat wrench
• Faucet seats
• Liquid thread sealant
• Seat washers
• Seat washer screws

Step-by-step Process of Fixing a Leaking Bathtub

After collecting the things you’ll need, you can easily solve the water leaking problem following some simple steps. These are-

Step-1: Turn off Water Supply

You need to turn off the water flow to the bathtub. If you can reach the water shut-off valve that controls the flow of the water to the bathroom, simply turn it off and that will stop the water flow to the bathtub. But if you cannot find it, in that case, you have to turn off the water supply to our whole house. You can also turn the water supply off from the meter.

Step-2: Pry off Handle Inserts

Removing the faucet handle is the hardest part of this process as water can enter the system and that can assist in building rust inside the handle. Use a pocket knife’s thin blade to pry the insert of the handle off.

Step-3: Remove the Screws

After you pry off the handle’s insert it is exposed and you’ll see screws inside the handle. Use a Phillips screwdriver to unscrew those. After removing the screws pull the handle out and that will expose the stem.

Step-4: Remove the Faucet Stem

Put shower stem socket over every faucet stem and rotate it anti-clockwise to remove the stem. If the faucet stem seems very rigid, you can apply some penetrating lubricant and try it after 10-20 minutes again.

Step-5: Remove Faucet seat

Removing the faucet stem will create a gap and through that insert the seat wrench. Rotate the seat wrench anti-clockwise to remove the old faucet seat.

Step-6: Insert a New Faucet seat

After removing the seat, now you have to insert a new seat in its place. First, apply some liquid thread seal on the seat before placing it. Now, use the seat wrench again to put the faucet seat in place. Rotate the wrench clockwise to tighten the seat.

Step-7: Replace the Seat Washer

Now take the stem that you removed earlier. At the end of the stem, you’ll find a washer. Remove the screws that are holding it. Now, remove the washer and replace it with a new one. Secure the washer with new screws.

Step-8: Put Back Faucet stem

Apply some liquid thread sealant onto the thread of the stem. Now put it back in its previous place and using a shower stem socket rotate it clockwise to tighten and secure it.

Step-9: Assemble the Handle

Now put the handle cover back on and use the screws to tighten it in its place. Put the handle inserts back onto the place to hide the screws and keep it away from water exposure.

After finishing these steps, turn back your water supply to the bathtub and you’ll find the water leaking problem is solved.

Faucet Repair | Shower Bathtub Won’t Stop Running Water

Conclusion

The bathtub faucet leaking after water turned off is a very common problem that people face. The water leaking problem cannot be unseen and it should be fixed as soon as possible after you have noticed. Fixing the water dripping problem from the bathtub faucet is not very tough and following a series of simple steps, one can do it very easily.

You can easily solve this problem if you have the correct tool at your reach. But if you are not confident enough to do it by yourself you can contact a professional who will do it for you in a very short time.