Why does my faucet keep dripping after I shut it off?
Something inside isn't sealing anymore. On a single-handle faucet that's the cartridge — a plastic or brass sleeve with rubber seals that controls both temperature and flow. On a two-handle faucet it's usually the stem washer or the seat it presses against. Either way the part is small and the fix is short.
Hard water is what gets them here. DFW water carries enough dissolved mineral to leave scale on everything it touches, and inside a faucet that scale works like grit, scoring the seat and chewing the rubber. A faucet that only drips with the handle in one spot has a worn track in the seal.
What causes low pressure at one faucet only?
Nine times out of ten, the aerator. Unscrew the screen on the end of the spout and look at it. If it's crusted white, that's mineral, and you can fix it yourself: soak it in white vinegar for a few hours, brush it out, put it back. No charge, no plumber.
If a clean aerator doesn't bring it back, work upstream. Check the shutoff valve under the sink is all the way open. After that it's usually debris in the cartridge or a kinked supply line. Low pressure at every fixture is a different problem, and worth looking at the whole system.
Should I repair this faucet or replace it?
Age and quality decide it. A solid brass faucet with a name on it and a lifetime parts warranty is worth rebuilding almost indefinitely — the maker will often send the cartridge free, and the body outlives the house. A thin builder-grade unit from a spec-house bathroom is a different animal.
On those, here’s the arithmetic: the parts kit plus a service call can land close to what a decent replacement costs, and you still have the old body, finish and seals everywhere we didn’t touch. We’d rather do the smaller job and tell you the truth. If the answer is replacement, faucet installation is the next page over.
Symptom, likely cause, and whether it's worth fixing
| What it's doing |
Usually this |
Repair or replace |
| Drips from the spout when off |
Worn cartridge, or a stem washer and seat on two-handle |
Repair, if parts are still made for it |
| Water seeping around the base |
Failed O-rings under the spout collar |
Repair — cheap parts, quick job |
| Weak, spitting stream |
Scaled aerator |
Do it yourself with vinegar |
| Handle stiff or grinding |
Mineral packed into the cartridge |
Repair once. Twice means the body is worn |
| Sprayer won't switch or won't retract |
Diverter valve or a hose past its life |
Depends on brand — some sell the part, some don't |
Can you still get parts for an older faucet?
Sometimes, and this is the limit worth knowing before you book. Major brands keep cartridges available for decades, several free under a lifetime warranty. House-label faucets from a big-box store fifteen years ago are another story: proprietary cartridge, discontinued line, no supply house in Ellis County stocks it.
When we hit that wall, we'll say so rather than machining something into working for a few months. Photograph the faucet and any brand mark on the handle or spout base before you call, and we can usually tell you on the phone which side of that line you're on.
One thing worth knowing: we don’t carry a wall of cartridge kits on the truck. Too many brands, too many revisions within a brand. We identify what yours takes, go get that part, and come back with it, which sometimes makes a faucet repair a two-stop job. The photo up front saves you a stop.