If you have a beautiful, clean bathroom it’s all for naught if at night time you are awakened by drip….drip….drip. That insane sound that gets louder and louder as you want to go back to sleep. Water torture can happen to anyone. A showerhead leak is even louder than your sink. It has farther to fall.
What can you do? Think about it before you call that plumber who is $75 an hour and they can start charging from leaving their house. They may live across town you know. Why don’t you go to your faithful computer first and search for leaky showerhead. You will find lots of ideas to fix it that don’t sound too intimidating.
When you come upon one that looks reliable and not too overwhelming collect your items needed: a towel, washers or “o” ring, screwdriver, pipe wrench, pliers, pipe sealant, and rubber washers. If you have a neighbor who is a very handy guy who you have seen do projects that haven’t fallen apart, ask him. He should be able to tell you if the information you have is good or bad. If he is really a good guy he might even come over and do the work for you. Just in case. Look over the showerhead, where is the leak coming from? Does it look like it is leading from the faceplate or from behind the showerhead?
Begin by taking off the showerhead very carefully. Put the towel around the showerhead before you begin. Make sure you have unscrewed the screw under the showerhead so that it will come off. With pliers, unscrew the head.
You should see a washer under the head. Remove that old washer and replace with new one. Your problem could very well be lime deposits. Try to remove the faceplate that is over the showerhead. There are only a couple of screws. Take the entire showerhead and soak it in white vinegar for up to eight hours. I would soak the faceplate as well. Scrub the shower faceplate that the water comes out of with a hard brush. If there is anymore lime scale blockage, it should only take a toothpick to dislodge it.
Now place some plumber’s tape on the area where the showerhead screws back on and pull it tight. Make sure you put in on clockwise as it will bunch up and cause further leaks if you don’t. Pull the tape so that is wrinkle free. Go around the pipe around five or six times. Screw the showerhead back on, but do not put it on too tight, just by hand snugly will do.
You have just successfully repaired your leaking showerhead. Don’t believe me? Turn on the water and see. Wait until the middle of the night. Use the alarm to wake up yourself because the water drip won’t. There no drip. Success! Now go back to sleep and get the rest you should have been getting all along.
Credit: Source by Bridget Hollister
