How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
Start with one question: does the drip stop by itself, or does it keep running after the taps are shut? Leftover water drains away and is harmless. A worn seal inside the mixer needs a licensed plumber.
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That single check is the heart of how to fix a leaking shower head, because it tells you whether the job is yours at all. Our New Farm plumbers run through it on every call, from the flats around Wilson Outlook Reserve on Bowen Terrace to the older houses up toward the ridge.
At the last census this suburb counted 252 townhouses and terraces alongside its flats and houses, and many of those bathrooms are decades into their working life. Age catches up with seals.
What Leftover Water Looks Like
Water draining from the head just after a shower is normal; a drip that continues with the water off means a seal inside the mixer has worn out. Those two behave differently, and the difference is the whole diagnosis.
What normal looks like:
- Water held in the fitting empties out over a short time once the shower is shut down.
- The drip slows, then stops by itself, usually within a few minutes.
- Nothing runs again until the next shower.
A drip that outlasts that window tells a different story. With the taps off, the only way water reaches the head is past a seal that no longer closes, and that seal sits in the mixer. The cartridge there controls flow and the hot-cold blend, so a failing one also shows up as a handle that fights you, or water running hotter or colder than you set it.
The Shower Head Swap the Law Allows
Yes, the QBCC classes a shower head replacement as unregulated work, so anyone with the appropriate knowledge and level of skill may take the job on. No plumbing licence applies. Neither the QBCC nor your council needs to approve it, and no report goes in afterward.
Licence or not, the result has to satisfy the minimum standards written into the plumbing rules. Two conditions ride along with that freedom:
The freedom stops at the head
The unregulated list names only the head, so the mixer's cartridge or valve is work a licensed plumber has to do.
The replacement needs the right label
A head sold in Australia carries registration under the national water-efficiency labelling scheme, with its star rating and water-use details on display wherever it is sold, online included.
Rentals shift the picture slightly. On a Queensland rental, changing a shower head is one of the very minor jobs needing no licensee. The owner or manager carries the duty to hand over and keep the place in good repair through the tenancy, and a tenant who spots damage reports it to them promptly.
Head, Join or Mixer in the Wall
Three spots produce the drip: the join where the arm meets the head, the mixer concealed in the wall, and, where a bath and shower share one set of taps, the spout with its diverter. Each has its own signature.
How to read each one:
- The join at the arm. Water seeping there while the shower runs means the join is loose or its seal has perished. Dry with the taps shut, wet with them open.
- The mixer. A drip that keeps going once the taps are off traces back to the mixer, where an ageing washer or cartridge lets water slip its seal. The head looks guilty, but the fault sits upstream of it.
- The bath spout and diverter. When the bath tap runs and the head still feeds water, or the spout dribbles during a shower, the diverter is the suspect rather than the head.
- Scale in the spray holes. Mineral build-up can block the spray holes and force water through other openings in the head, which shows up as a strange-looking leak.
This suburb's blend of pre-1940 houses and later flats means we see all four. The older the bathroom, the more often the mixer is to blame.
When a New Part Does Not Stop the Drip
When a new washer or a new cartridge fails to stop the drip, the seat the washer closes against, or the body the cartridge sits in, is worn or damaged. A licensed plumber makes that call.
The reason is mechanical. A washer seals against the seat; a cartridge seals within the mixer's body. Damage either surface and no new part can close the gap.
Fitting another washer at that point just burns money. Fixing or swapping a fitting inside the mixer is classed as minor work: a QBCC licensee does it, with no permit and no paperwork to lodge. If the drip has beaten one repair attempt, stop there and have the mixer looked at properly.
When to Call a Plumber
Call once the drip goes on with the water off, or once a new part has failed to stop it. Both point inside the mixer, and that work is licensed. The shower repairs service explains what that visit involves.
A drip left alone does not stay small. Water finds its way into wall cavities and down through floors, and in a suburb where flats sit stacked above each other, one slow leak becomes several ceilings.
Dripping Shower Questions From New Farm
Call (07) 3524 7163Why is my shower head dripping after I turn it off?
Water left in the fitting drains away for a short time after use, and that is nothing to worry about. A drip that goes on long after the water is shut off traces to the mixer: an ageing washer or cartridge is letting water past its seal. The head is not the culprit in that case.
What causes a shower head to leak?
Most leaks come from four places: the join at the arm, the mixer in the wall, scale blocking the spray holes, or a bath spout's diverter. Only the join weeps while the shower runs. The mixer drips with the water off, and scale sends water sideways through the head.
Can I replace a shower head myself in New Farm?
Yes, the QBCC classes a shower head replacement as unregulated work, so no licence, approval or report applies. The work has to reach the standards the plumbing rules set, and anything inside the mixer stays with a licensed plumber.
How much does it cost to fix a leaking shower head in New Farm?
The price hinges on whether the fault is in the head or the mixer in the wall, and on how easily that mixer can be reached. A fixed quote before work starts confirms the figure, so you know the number up front.
Call Us About Your Dripping ShowerWe'll call you back.
Phone (07) 3524 7163 for a licensed plumber in New Farm. 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) 3524 7163 today.