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First: identify which of the four faucet types you have
Every drip fix starts with knowing the mechanism, because the part you buy depends entirely on it. Two-handle faucets with separate hot and cold are usually compression or ceramic disc; single-handle faucets are cartridge or ball. The repair is straightforward once you name it.
Compression faucets are the oldest design: each handle screws a rubber washer down onto a metal seat. They feel like you are tightening something when you shut the water off. Cartridge faucets move a sealed cartridge up and down inside the body and turn off with a light, smooth motion. Ball faucets (common on older single-handle kitchen units) have a slotted metal or plastic ball under a domed cap. Ceramic disc faucets use two polished ceramic plates and have a short, solid handle throw with no spring feel.
- ·Compression: two handles, you feel resistance as you tighten off the water
- ·Cartridge: one or two handles, smooth motion, no tightening feel
- ·Ball: single lever over a domed cap, common on older kitchen faucets
- ·Ceramic disc: single wide handle, short throw, modern feel
Shut off, disassemble, and replace the worn part
Turn the two angle-stop valves under the sink clockwise until they stop, then open the faucet to drain pressure and confirm the water is off. Plug the drain with a rag so no screws disappear. Pop the decorative cap on the handle, remove the handle screw, and pull the handle. From here the path depends on type.
On a compression faucet, unscrew the packing nut, lift out the stem, and replace the rubber washer at its base (a 25-cent part) plus the O-ring. If the brass seat under it is pitted, dress it with a seat wrench or a seat-grinding tool, or swap the seat itself; a worn seat is why a fresh washer still drips. On a cartridge faucet, pull the retaining clip with needle-nose pliers and slide the old cartridge straight out, matching the replacement to the brand and model. On a ball faucet, a $15 kit gives you new springs, rubber seats, and cam; the springs are the usual leak. On a ceramic disc faucet, lift the cylinder and replace the rubber inlet seals on its underside, or replace the whole cartridge if the discs are scratched.
Reassemble in reverse, turn the water back on slowly, and run the faucet a few seconds to clear air before judging the fix. A drip that survives a correct repair usually means a worn seat (compression) or a wrong-model cartridge.
When the drip is somewhere other than the spout
Not every leak is the valve. Water pooling at the base of the spout on a single-handle kitchen faucet is almost always the spout O-rings, a five-minute swap once the spout lifts off. Water under the cabinet points at the supply-line connections or the faucet shank nuts, not the cartridge. And a steady drip from an overhead fixture is a different animal entirely: a shower head leaking at the connection or a worn valve cartridge behind the wall, which our shower-specific guides cover.
If the drip is coming from the shower wall valve rather than the head, that is a cartridge or full-valve job, and the shower valve replacement cost page lays out what the part and the access work run.
When the faucet body is shot (and replacement wins)
Some faucets are not worth repairing. If the body is cracked, the chrome is flaking into the water, the stem threads are stripped, or you have rebuilt it twice in two years and it still drips, the part is telling you it is done. Mineral-fused cartridges that will not budge and discontinued models with no available parts fall in the same bucket.
A new mid-grade faucet runs $80 – $250 at retail, and once you are draining lines and pulling the old one, installation is the bulk of the effort regardless. If you would rather hand it off, the faucet installation cost for a standard replacement is modest and resets every wear part to zero. That is often the smarter spend than a third repair on a 20-year-old fixture.
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