A leaky shower head can be incredibly annoying. The constant dripping not only wastes water and drives up your utility bills, but also makes your shower feel weaker and less satisfying.
While you could always call a plumber, fixing a leaky shower head is an easy DIY project that you can tackle yourself in less than an hour. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn all the skills you need to diagnose and repair shower head leaks using basic tools and materials.
Why Fix a Leaky Shower Head?
Before we dig into the repair steps, let’s review some of the top reasons you’ll want to promptly fix any shower head leaks:
- Saves water: A leak as small as 1 drip per second can waste over 3,000 gallons of water per year. Fixing it conserves water and lowers your bills.
- Saves money: By some estimates, leaky shower heads can account for nearly 10% of an average household’s water usage. Cutting out leaks directly reduces your water and sewer charges.
- Improves water pressure: Because less water is being diverted out through leaks, fixing leaky shower heads allows more pressure and volume be directed to the shower jets.
- Prevents potential property damage: Though it may seem harmless at first, a small leak can eventually rot out wood structures or nurture mold growth if neglected over time.
Common Causes of Shower Head Leaks
Before you can properly fix your leaking shower head, you need to accurately diagnose the root cause. Here are some of the most common reasons you might see water dripping from your unit:
- Mineral deposits: Hard water can leave calcium, lime, and rust deposits on internal jets and valves over time. These prevent proper sealing and divert water out through leaks.
- Worn gaskets: Most shower heads use O-rings or gaskets to seal against the pipe joint. After years of heat cycles, old units eventually crack or deform, causing drips.
- Disconnected or cracked parts: If your shower head features multiple components joined together, leaks can spring from loose connections or cracks in the plastic parts.
- Damaged mount: Over-tightening or deforming of the shower pipe mount can strip its sealing contact with the shower arm, resulting in leaks around this joint.
Now let’s go over some easy methods for assessing your unit and zeroing in on the true cause.
Assessing Your Shower Head
Before you dive into repairs, it’s important to pinpoint exactly where the leak is coming from. Follow these steps:
- Turn your shower on to a moderate flow level. Make note of any drips or rivulets of water escaping from around the head. Turn the shower off when complete.
- Check for a pool of residual water under the shower head joint. This indicates a persistent leak when water is both on and off.
- Remove the shower head (steps covered next section) and inspect its mounting arm for signs of corrosion, cracks, stripped threads, or gasket damage.
- Check inside the backside of the shower head itself. Inspect for blockages around the water jets, worn rubber gaskets, broken parts, loose connections, etc.
- Turn the shower back on momentarily while holding the detached head in your hand. Check for any drips escaping around the pipe joint.
From your observations, you can now make an informed assessment of what exactly needs to be fixed. This will determine the best repair method to pursue.
Tools and Materials Needed
The good news about DIY shower head repair is that it requires only a few basic tools and materials:
- Adjustable wrench – To loosen and tighten connections
- White vinegar – For soaking away mineral deposits
- Toothbrush or pipe brush – To scrub deposits in jets
- Teflon tape – To re-seal threaded joints
- Replacement O-rings – To fix deformed/worn gaskets
- Rags, bucket, & cleaning chemicals – For removing grime and deposits
- Epoxy or super glue (for cracks) – To bond broken plastic parts
- Steel wool – For scrubbing corrosion off pipes
That’s just about all you’ll need. Having these DIY leaky shower head repair supplies on hand can save you from needing to make multiple trips to the hardware store.
Removing the Shower Head
The first repair step is gaining full access by detaching the shower head assembly. Here is the full process:
- Turn off your home’s main water shut off valve to stop flow to the shower.
- If you have difficulty accessing the back, detach the shower arm from the wall mount using a wrench.
- Grab the chrome swivel ball joint tightly with an adjustable wrench. Caution: this will likely be slippery.
- While stabilizing the ball joint, rotate the shower head counter-clockwise to unscrew it.
- Pro Tip: Having a second person hold the pipe joint with pliers can make this easier.
- Set the shower head aside and focus your repairs on the pipes, connection joints, etc. We’ll cover re-attaching later on.
With the leaky unit fully removed, you now have the access needed to implement repairs.
Fixing Common Issues
Based on your earlier assessment, you should have an idea of what needs to be fixed. We’ll now go through solutions for the most prevalent shower head leak issues:
Cleaning Clogged Water Jets
If you noticed your jets are blocked up with mineral deposits, this can divert outgoing water to cause leaks. Here is how to clean them out:
- In a bucket or sink, mix a 50/50 solution of vinegar & warm water.
- Submerge the shower head so the jets fill up with the cleaning solution. Allow to soak for at least a few hours.
- Remove and scrub out the jets using an old toothbrush or small pipe brush. Continue brushing until all deposits dissolve.
- Further flush the jets by running under a faucet while brushing. Ensure no debris remains trapped inside.
With mineral deposits now removed, the jets should open up to regain proper water flow.
Replacing Worn Rubber Gaskets
If your leaks stem from deformed or cracked gaskets, these will need to be replaced. Here are the steps:
- Remove the retaining ring or screws that hold the faceplate in place. Gently pry it off.
- Locate and extract the damaged gasket(s). Note their exact positioning for later.
- Purchase replacement O-rings sized specifically for your shower head model. A variety pack with multiple sizes is useful.
- One at a time, firmly press the new gaskets into their assigned slots until fully seated.
- Confirm the gaskets align flush and even against the mating surfaces with no folds, gaps, etc.
- Replace the faceplate and retaining ring/screws. Tighten just until snug (over-tightening can cause new damage).
By installing fresh and properly sealing gaskets, the leaks should now be stopped.
Re-Sealing Pipe Connections
If leaks occur around swivel ball mounts or threaded pipe joints, the sealing tape may need replacing:
- Thoroughly clean and dry all the joining parts surfaces using rags and abrasives. Remove old tape residue.
- Wrap fresh Teflon tape around the male threads in clockwise motion. Stretch tightly as you go and overlap at least 50% with each pass.
- Continue wrapping until 3-5 total thick, even layers cover the threads. Rip cleanly to prevent loosening.
- Screw shower head onto the joint, ensuring the tape compresses snugly into all grooves as it rotates on.
- Tighten strongly by hand, then give an extra 1⁄4 turn more using your wrench. Don’t over-tighten.
The tape fills defects as it gets compressed between the mating metal threads. This restores the leak-proof barrier.
Fixing Loose Mounting Joints
Finally, if adjusting your shower head angle causes leaks, the swivel mount has likely loosened up. To fix this:
- Remove any decorative trims hiding the anchor joint on the wall mount.
- Access and loosen the lock screw located around the swivel ball, either using an Allen wrench or small screwdriver.
- While applying pressure directly inline with the shower pipe, retighten this set screw until very snug.
- Verify no drips occur as you rotate the angled pipe through its full range of motion.
- Replace any trim pieces and confirm the desired angle adjustment holds reliably without slipping.
Forcing the ball joint surfaces back into tighter contact should prevent leaks as tilting occurs.
Preventing Future Leaks
To help your repair work hold up for maximal time, follow these tips:
- Use pipe joint lubricating grease during reassembly. This assists sealing and prevents seizing up.
- Always hand tighten connections first before finishing with a wrench. Overtorquing can damage parts.
- Check for leaks at least yearly as preventative maintenance. Quickly fix minor issues before they worsen.
- Install water softening systems if you have chronically hard water. This prevents scale from harming shower parts.
- Consider eventually replacing with an all-metal shower head. They hold up better against hard water than plastic versions.
When to Call a Professional
While the vast majority of simple shower head leaks can be repaired yourself using the steps here, more severe cases with specialized issues may require a plumber’s expertise:
- Embedded pipe joint leaks
- Severely corroded copper supply lines
- Complete shower head assembly replacements
- Adjustments to home water pressure
- Installing water filtration systems
If your leaks involve complex underlying issues or persist despite DIY methods, don’t hesitate to hire a trained plumber. Paying for professional service is wise to prevent damage or faulty installations.
Conclusion
As you’ve now learned, fixing a leaky shower head is typically a very straightforward, easy home repair project – provided you use the proper diagnosis and repair processes.
In review, start by thoroughly assessing your unit to pinpoint the true underlying cause. Address mineral deposits, worn gaskets, damaged connections, loose mounts, etc using the detailed steps provided earlier.
Having the right list of basic DIY tools plus supplies like vinegar, epoxy, Teflon tape and replacement O-rings on hand will ensure you can tackle most issues yourself. But know when to call a pro for complex leak problems.
Stick to these best practices and your leaky shower head will soon be working like new again, providing maximized flow and pressure while also conserving water and saving on your utility bills over the long run.