A dripping kitchen mixer, an outdoor garden tap that won't shut off cleanly, a shower mixer that keeps running, or a basin tap that splutters when you open it? Small leaks are deceptively expensive — a tap dripping at 1 drop per second wastes around 30L per day, which adds up to a noticeable line on your Melbourne water bill. we handle tap repair, washer replacement, mixer cartridge swaps and full tap replacement across Melbourne's east, south-east, inner-east and bayside suburbs. Most calls are fixed in one visit with parts on the van.
For tightening or simple washer replacement, a homeowner can attempt the job. For tap-body work, mixer cartridge replacement that involves opening the wall, or any work on isolation valves and stopcocks, Victoria's plumbing regulations require a licensed plumber. The practical reason past compliance: an unlicensed repair that floods a wall cavity is not covered by your home insurance, and any future plumbing failure traced to that repair is your liability. Our licence number is on every quote and invoice. Where the work is above the threshold, a Compliance Certificate is issued.
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We open the tap or mixer, identify the cartridge or washer, check the seat condition, and quote the actual repair before doing the work. No "we found another problem" surprises after the job is started.
Mixer cartridges are not universal. A wrong-brand cartridge that almost fits will leak in a few weeks. Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting identifies the make and model on site and either fits from van stock or sources the genuine part within 24-48 hours. The repair is done with the manufacturer's part, not a generic substitute.
After repair we run the tap for several minutes, check for any drip or under-spout weep, check the swivel seal on mixers, and confirm the isolation valve is closing cleanly. The job is not finished when the drip stops; it is finished when no further leak shows after a sustained run.
On the booking call we ask the tap location, type (compression, ceramic disc mixer, mono mixer), brand if visible, and what is happening (drip from spout, drip from base, won't shut off, splutters open). Photos help — many tap brands are identifiable from a photo of the lever or handle.
On arrival we open the tap, identify the part, check the seat or housing condition, and confirm whether the right repair part is on the van or needs sourcing. The price is quoted on site before any further work.
Where the tap is in good condition past the failed part, we repair. Where the tap body is corroded, the chrome is flaking, the spindle is worn or the brass is cracked, replacement is the better long-term choice and we quote both options. The homeowner decides.
Isolate water, dismantle the tap, replace the failed part (washer, jumper valve, cartridge, o-rings as needed), re-seat if required, reassemble, and bring water back online. Most domestic repairs take 30-60 minutes per tap depending on access and how many parts need swapping.
Run the tap, check for drips, check the swivel seal on mixers, confirm the spindle has the right resistance and is not bottoming out. For mixer installs we set the temperature limit at the cartridge if the system is connected to a hot water unit without tempering. Where Compliance is required, the certificate is lodged.
Tap repairs are usually quick visits. The four steps below help us complete the job in one visit at a fixed price.
A photo of the tap from a couple of angles tells us the brand, the cartridge type and roughly the age. We can pre-source the right repair part before arriving, which avoids a return visit. Most tap photos are identifiable in under a minute by an experienced plumber.
A drip from the spout is usually a washer, cartridge or seat issue. A drip from the base of the tap is usually an o-ring or a stem seal. A drip from under the sink is usually an isolation valve or supply hose. The location of the leak narrows the diagnosis significantly.
Most modern Melbourne taps have an isolation valve under the sink — a small inline valve on the supply line. Locate it before the visit. If there is no isolation valve, water gets isolated at the boundary stopcock during the repair. Locating the stopcock saves time on every job.
Move cleaning products, dish racks, garden hose reels and any obstructions away from the tap location before we arrive. Saves about 10 minutes per tap on access setup.
A standard washer replacement on a compression tap is at the cheaper end. Mixer cartridge replacement is mid-range. Tap body re-seating or full tap replacement is higher. Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting quotes a fixed price per tap before doing the work — there are no per-hour surprise charges. If you have multiple taps to repair on the same visit, the per-tap cost drops.
If the tap body is in good condition (no chrome flaking, no green corrosion, no cracks) and only the washer or cartridge has failed, repair is cheaper and the tap is good for many more years. If the body is corroded, the chrome is going, the spindle wobbles or the lever is loose at the base, replacement is the better long-term call. We quote both options and let you decide.
Most often the brass seat in the tap body is worn or scored. A new washer can't seal against a damaged seat — it drips again within days. The fix is a quick re-seat with a tap-reseating tool, or replacement if the seat is past re-seating. Tightening harder makes this worse.
A drip every 2 seconds wastes around 15L per day. A continuous slow stream wastes around 100L per day. Over a year, even a slow drip costs more than the repair. For Melbourne homeowners on a water meter (most are), this shows up directly on the quarterly bill.
Yes — outdoor taps usually fail in two ways. The washer perishes (UV and heat exposure shortens washer life outdoors) which is a quick replace. Or the spindle thread is stripped after years of overtightening, which means tap-body replacement. Both are common; both are quoted before work. We also offer frost-protected and lockable replacement options for properties with high theft or freeze risk.
For common compression-tap washers, generic mixer cartridges, o-rings and standard parts — yes, on the van for one-visit completion. For brand-specific or specialist mixer cartridges (Brodware, Sussex, Dornbracht), we identify on site and source the genuine part within 24-48 hours. The return visit is at no additional callout charge.
Standard tap repair is non-invasive — we work from the existing tap top, isolation valve, or under-sink connection. No tile damage, no benchtop disturbance. Full tap replacement may need to remove old silicone and re-bed the new tap; the silicone is replaced and the join is left clean. Where the existing tap was bedded with grout instead of silicone (older installs), removing it can chip the grout — we mention this risk before starting.
A mixer tap blends hot and cold at the user's chosen temperature using one lever. A tempering valve is a separate device near the hot water unit that limits the maximum temperature reaching all hot water outlets to 50°C (Victorian Plumbing Regulations). Both are usually fitted on modern systems. If you are getting scalding hot water at a tap regardless of mixer setting, it is usually a missing or failed tempering valve, not a tap problem.
