How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
Which drip you have decides how to fix a leaking shower head: leftover water in the fitting after a shower, or water a worn seal lets past. The first kind stops by itself. The second kind runs until somebody repairs the mixer in the wall, and no new shower head will change that.
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Where this applies: bathrooms around Mitchelton range from weatherboard Queenslanders to 2000s unit blocks, and census figures put 109 townhouses and semis among them. Every one of those bathrooms hides a mixer behind tiles, so this guide sorts the harmless trickle from the fault that needs a licensed plumber.
What Leftover Water Looks Like
A short trickle after you shut the taps is normal; a drip that goes on with the water off means a seal inside the wall mixer has worn out. The shower head and arm hold a little water after use, and gravity empties it over the following minute or two. That trickle stops by itself and needs no repair.
The quick test:
Normal
water empties from the head and arm for a minute or two after the shower, then stops on its own.
Not normal
the drip runs on with the taps fully shut, which points at the mixer, not the head.
Also not normal
seepage at the threaded connection, but only while water flows.
A drip that keeps running once the handle sits at off starts at the wall mixer, where a worn washer or a tired cartridge fails to shut the water off completely. The cartridge governs flow and the blend of hot and cold, so the same wear can show up as a stiff handle or a shower running at the wrong temperature.
The Shower Head Swap the Law Allows
Yes, Queensland lets you replace a shower head yourself. The QBCC lists the job as unregulated work, so no plumbing licence applies. No approval from the QBCC or from the council is needed, and there is nothing to report afterwards.
Two rules still frame the job:
The standard
the finished work has to satisfy the minimum standards the legislation and codes set.
The part
a replacement head sold in Australia needs registration under the national water-rating scheme (WELS), and the label's star rating and water-use figures have to appear wherever the head is sold, online included.
The freedom ends at the wall. A cartridge or valve inside the mixer is work for a licensed plumber, because the QBCC's unregulated list covers the head alone and nothing behind the tiles. Work on those internals is classed as minor work: it needs a QBCC licensee, though not a permit or a Form 4.
Head, Joint or Mixer Behind the Wall
A shower-head drip comes from three places: the threaded connection between head and arm, the wall mixer, and, on a bath-shower set-up, the bath spout with its diverter. Each one announces itself differently, and reading the sign saves you paying for the wrong repair.
The Connection With the Arm
Water appearing at that spot during a shower, and drying up the moment the taps close, means the joint has loosened or the seal there has perished. The leak dies as soon as the water stops, because nothing is pushing past the joint.
The Wall Mixer
A drip from the head with the taps shut points at the mixer, where worn internals let water creep past the seal and travel up to the head. This is the fault most people blame on the head itself.
The Bath Spout and Diverter
On a bath-shower set-up, watch where the water goes. Water arriving at the shower while the bath tap fills the tub points to a worn diverter. A spout pouring during a shower points to a partial blockage in the spout.
Scale is the last cause, and it lives in the head itself. Mineral build-up can seal over the spray holes and send water escaping through the head's other gaps, which shows up as an odd leak or a spray aimed in strange directions. That fault sits in the one part you are allowed to swap.
When a New Part Does Not Stop the Drip
A drip that outlasts a new washer or cartridge points to the valve seat or the body of the mixer, and a licensed plumber needs to look at it. A washer closes against the valve seat, and a cartridge closes inside the mixer body, so a scored or corroded surface beats any new part you fit.
The message in that: the new part has nowhere sound to close against, so stop fitting parts and have the mixer examined.
Work on the mixer's internals is classed as minor work: a QBCC licensee carries it out, with neither a permit nor a Form 4. The price then depends on which part is at fault, the replacement needed, and how easily the wall gives access to the mixer, once the plumber has seen the job.
When to Call a Plumber
Ring a licensed plumber once the drip runs on with the taps closed, once a new part has not stopped it, or once water shows anywhere it should not. A drip that runs for weeks feeds damp into a wall cavity, which costs far more than the mixer repair that ends it.
The shower repairs page has the detail on mixers, diverters and arms.
Houses and units share the risk. Unit blocks scattered through the suburb stack bathrooms above and below each other, so a leaking mixer in one apartment can surface in the one underneath. That holds from a Queenslander on Prospect Road to the newest infill block.
Dripping Shower Head Questions
Call (07) 3523 6484Does swapping a shower head in Queensland need approval?
No, it does not. The QBCC classes the swap as unregulated work, so no approval from the QBCC or from the council is needed, and there is nothing to report. The work still has to satisfy the minimum standards, and anything inside the mixer stays with a licensed plumber.
Why is my Mitchelton shower still dripping after a new cartridge?
Because the fault has moved past the cartridge. The seat the washer closes on, or the body the cartridge sits in, may itself be worn or damaged, so a new part cannot seal and the drip runs on. A licensed plumber needs to assess the mixer; that work needs a licensee but no permit.
What makes water leak where the shower head joins the arm?
A joint that has loosened, or a seal at that connection that has perished. The timing gives it away: the leak shows only while water flows and dries up once the taps close. Changing the head is the unregulated job; the mixer is not.
Who handles a dripping shower head in a Mitchelton rental?
The tenant reports the fault to the property manager or owner straight away, which is the tenant's duty under the tenancy rules. The owner or manager carries the duty of maintaining the home in good repair throughout the tenancy. Changing a shower head is among the very minor jobs on a rental that need no licensee.
Call Us About That Dripping ShowerWe'll call you back.
Phone (07) 3523 6484 for a licensed plumber in Mitchelton. We work under QBCC No: 15024607, with flat-rate pricing, no hidden fees and same-day where we can.
To claim your $0 call-out fee, call (07) 3523 6484 today.