Tap Repair & Replacement in Edinburgh
A tap that won't turn off is a small emergency; a tap that drips is a slow one. Either way, our Edinburgh engineers arrive with cartridges, washers, O-rings and flexible connectors on the van.
Repairs: washers, cartridges and seals
Diagnosis by symptom: a steady drip from the spout is a washer (compression taps) or cartridge (ceramic disc); leakage around the base of a swivel spout is O-rings; a handle that turns without resistance is a stripped head or spline; banging pipes when the tap closes is water hammer, cured with an arrestor or pressure adjustment rather than a new tap. Each is a stocked-part fix for our Edinburgh engineers. Edinburgh's Pentland- and Borders-fed supply is soft, so limescale is rarely the culprit here — but tenement plumbing, listed-building constraints and hard winters keep the city's plumbers well occupied.
Replacement done properly
A professional tap replacement includes the parts that fail next: new flexible connectors (the old ones are the most common future flood source), service/isolation valves fitted if absent, thread sealing done correctly, and the tap tightened against a supported base rather than a flexing sink. It's the difference between a tap swap and a tap swap you won't revisit. We supply-and-fit or fit your purchased tap across Edinburgh at the same labour rate.
The real cost of a drip
That background drip is a running bill: thousands of litres a year, doubled in cost on a meter (supply plus sewerage), tripled in annoyance. Hot-side drips also drain your cylinder's heat. In Edinburgh's water the drip also leaves scale tracks that etch chrome and stain ceramics — cosmetic damage that outlasts the fault.
Tap work pricing in Edinburgh
From £75 for standard tap repairs in Edinburgh, parts included. Replacements are quoted as labour plus tap, so you can compare our supplied ranges with your own purchase like-for-like. If your existing tap is obsolete and a repair means hunting discontinued cartridges, we'll tell you the honest economics up front.
Frequently asked questions
Do you fix outside taps?
Yes — repairs, replacements and new outside tap installations with the legally required double-check valve for backflow prevention, plus an internal isolation point so you can drain it each winter.
Can you fit a tap I bought online?
Yes — supply-your-own is fine and priced at the same labour rate. We'll check compatibility (tail lengths, hole spacing, pressure requirements) before removing the old tap, so a mismatch is caught before the sink is out of action.
Why does my tap still drip after a new washer?
Either the tap seat is scored (needs reseating or a seat insert), or the tap is actually a ceramic cartridge type where washers aren't the wear part. Persistent drips after DIY usually mean the wrong diagnosis, not a bad washer.
Can you match a cartridge for an unbranded tap?
Usually — cartridges follow common sizes (25mm, 35mm, 40mm) and spline patterns, and we measure and match. Genuinely obsolete taps do exist, and we'll tell you when replacement is the economic answer.