Now Serving Owatonna, Rochester and Surrounding Areas!

Learn More

How Fix a Stubborn Leaky Faucet

That small leak coming from your faucet can be wasting 3 or more gallons of water per day. Not only is it taking a toll on your wallet each time the water bill comes in the mail, you’re doing a disservice to the our plant. It’s time to take care of it once and for all!

Tools Required:

  • Needle-nose pliers

  • Tongue-and-groove pliers

  • Screwdriver

  • Allen wrench

The first step in fixing a leaky faucet is to turn off the water supply valves under the sink. Then let the faucet run to get rid of any remaining water in the lines. In most cases, the leak is coming from a malfunctioning handle so you’re going to need to remove it.

To do so, take off the screw cover and then lift off the handle. Tighten the adjusting ring and replace the handle. If this doesn’t stop the leak you may need to dig a bit deeper.

Follow the same initial steps, but this time remove the adjusting ring completely. Then unscrew the cap and pull out the round metal stem. This will pull the ball out with it. Replace the cam and packing and this should resolve the problem.

Still have a leak? It’s probably in your best interest at this point to call in an expert. Give the professionals at Uptown Plumbing a call and we’ll come by to diagnose and fix the problem. After all, we’ve been serving the Twin Cities for over 100 years, so there’s not many leaks we haven’t dealt with in the past!

Skip to content