How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
A leaking shower head comes down to one question first: is the water leftover, or is it arriving fresh? The head and its arm hold a little water each time you shower, and that water empties out over the next minute or two.
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A drip still falling an hour later, with the taps closed, is water creeping past a seal inside the mixer behind the wall. Our licensed plumbers handle those jobs on a regular run through Fitzgibbon, and this guide sorts the harmless dribbles from the work that needs a visit. If you are working out how to fix a leaking shower head, start with the timing.
What Leftover Water Looks Like
A brief dribble as the stored water empties is normal; a drip that continues overnight is not. The arm and the face of the head hold a small volume each shower, and that volume drains away by itself within a minute or two. Water arriving while nothing is running comes from the supply side, and it points to the mixer.
Most bathrooms in this postcode went in after 2000, so their mixers are now into a decade of daily family use, which is roughly when seals start to give. Timing tells the two apart:
Stops inside a couple of minutes
stored water emptying out of the fitting. Nothing needs fixing.
Runs for hours or overnight
a tired washer or cartridge inside the mixer letting water creep past its seal. That is a plumbing job.
Never stops, even weeks later
the seal or the surface it presses on has worn through, and the sooner it is seen to, the less water goes to waste.
Can You Replace a Shower Head Yourself
Yes, because replacing a shower head makes the QBCC's unregulated list: anyone with the knowledge and skill for it may do the swap, no plumbing licence needed. Neither the QBCC nor the local council needs to approve the job, and no report is lodged afterwards. Whatever you fit still has to meet the minimum standards set out in the plumbing codes.
The wall is where the freedom ends. A cartridge or valve inside the mixer is licensed plumbing: the job needs a QBCC licensee, and neither a permit nor a Form 4 goes with it. The list of licence-free jobs stops at the head.
One check before you buy: the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme covers every head sold in Australia or imported for sale. The label's stars and its consumption figures show up on any listing or advertisement, online included.
Signs Pointing to the Shower Mixer
Three sources can send water to a dripping head: the threaded joint on the arm, the mixer in the wall, and on a bath-shower set the diverter at the spout. Each shows itself differently, so the pattern of the drip does the diagnosing for you.
The joint on the arm
seepage there while the shower runs means the fitting has slackened or the seal at the thread has perished. Water appearing only in use never comes from the mixer.
The mixer
a drip with the taps closed is the classic sign. Because the cartridge controls flow and heat mix, a worn one can also leave the handle stiff or the temperature drifting.
The bath diverter
the head running while the bath fills, or the spout running while you shower, points to the diverter wearing out or a spout with a restriction in it.
The flat creek-side ground beside Cabbage Tree Creek stays humid long after the November to March storms, and humidity leaves its mark on shower fittings. Mineral crust can block the spray holes and push water out sideways through other openings. That reads as an odd leak even when the mixer is healthy.
Worn Seats and Bodies Behind the Wall
Here is the sign that the fault goes deeper than the part: a drip that continues after a fresh washer or a new cartridge has gone in. The washer closes on a valve seat, and the cartridge closes within the mixer body. When either surface is worn or damaged, the new part cannot seal, and the drip carries on.
Only a licensed plumber can judge that on site. Fixing or swapping anything within the mixer counts as minor work, which is still a licensed-plumber task. You approve the fixed figure before anything is opened up, and the price turns on which part has failed and whether the mixer hides behind a finished wall.
When a Plumber Should Come Out
Ring when the tap is off and the drip is not, when the handle grinds, or when the temperature drifts. Those symptoms live inside the wall, and our shower repairs page covers the mixer, diverter and arm work they call for. Water escaping the recess, whole-house pressure trouble and hot water faults each have their own fixes, and we handle those as well.
Dripping Shower Questions Answered
Call (07) 3523 6417Why does my shower head drip after I turn it off?
For a shower in Fitzgibbon, leftover water in the head and arm empties out for a minute or two after use, which is normal. When the dripping runs on with the taps shut, the source is the mixer: the washer or cartridge inside has worn out and no longer seals. The head itself is rarely to blame.
Who can replace a shower cartridge in Queensland?
A licensed plumber, because the cartridge sits inside the mixer, off the unregulated list. The swap is minor work, so a licensee holding a QBCC licence carries it out, and no permit and no Form 4 attach to it. The do-it-yourself line stops at the head itself.
Who fixes a dripping shower head in a Fitzgibbon rental?
Tenancy law puts repairs on the owner or property manager for the whole tenancy. The tenant reports the dripping shower to them as soon as the fault appears. Changing the head is one of the few jobs a householder may do on a Queensland rental without a licensee; the mixer is not.
What should a replacement shower head have on the label?
Look for the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) stars and flow figures on the box. Any head sold in Australia, or shipped in for sale, has to carry that registration, and those figures appear on every listing and ad, online included. Check before you buy.
Call Us About That Dripping ShowerWe'll call you back.
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