Outdoor Tap Dripping? Repaired, Sealed and Frost-Ready in West Bromwich
A garden tap that drips, will not shut off, or leaks at the wall joint wastes water all year and can soak the wall it is fixed to.
Booking fee plus hourly labour — the price is confirmed before any work starts.
What this costs
| Booked 14+ days ahead | £25 booking fee £85 per hour |
|---|---|
| Booked within 48 hours | £100 booking fee £65 per hour |
| Same-day call-out | £220 booking fee £45 per hour |
The booking fee secures the visit. Labour is then charged by the hour, so you only pay for the time the job actually takes.
Booking fee £25–£220
£25 + £85/hr booked 14+ days ahead, £100 + £65/hr inside 48 hours, £220 + £45/hr same day. Agreed before we arrive.
Covered under Leaks
Plumbing › Leaks — one of 17 documented jobs in this section.
Same-day outdoor tap leak repair
Urgent jobs can often be booked for today. Ask when you book and we will confirm the slot before you pay anything.
15 service areas
Birmingham, Coventry, Dorridge and 12 more across the West Midlands.
Why outside taps leak
An outdoor tap works harder than an indoor one and gets less attention. The usual failure is the washer or the ceramic cartridge inside the head: it wears, the tap drips at the spout, and no amount of turning stops it. Next is the gland at the spindle, which dries out with sun and disuse until water appears around the handle rather than the spout.
The connection through the wall is the third common point. The tap screws onto a wall plate elbow, and that joint relies on tape or a fibre washer that compresses over time. Movement of the tap — someone leaning on a hose, or pulling it round — loosens the joint, and water then tracks into the brickwork. Many outside taps also have a double check valve to stop garden water siphoning back into the supply; when that fails, the tap can weep continuously from the body.
Frost is the most expensive cause. A tap with water left in it freezes, expands and splits, often along the body or at the base. You may not notice until the thaw, when water starts running down the wall.
Why it gets worse
A dripping outdoor tap is easy to ignore because it is outside and the water drains away. But a steady drip on a metre of hose or a paving slab is water you are paying for, and a leak at the wall plate is water inside the wall. Brick and mortar soak it up, the damp spreads inward, and in winter that saturated brick is more vulnerable to frost damage.
The tap itself deteriorates too. Constant damp on the spindle corrodes the mechanism until the handle seizes, and a split body cannot be repaired at all — only replaced. What would have been a washer and a seat becomes a new tap and a repair to the wall.
How we diagnose it
We start by identifying exactly where the water appears: at the spout, around the spindle, at the wall joint, or from the body. A tap that drips at the spout with the handle closed is an internal washer or cartridge. Water at the handle is the gland. Water at the wall plate only when the tap is on points to that joint or the check valve.
We check the isolating valve inside, if one was fitted, and confirm the supply can be shut off before any work starts. On a frost-damaged tap we look for a split in the body, because that decides between a repair and a replacement. We also check whether the wall plate is secure and whether the masonry behind it is wet.
How we fix it
A worn washer or cartridge is replaced with the correct part for the tap. A weeping gland is repacked or the head replaced. Where the wall joint has failed, the tap comes off, the old tape is cleaned out, the joint is remade properly and the tap is refitted so it sits square and does not strain the pipe. A failed check valve is replaced with a new double check valve.
If the body is split, the tap is replaced. We fit a good-quality brass tap with a proper wall plate and, where the supply allows, an isolation valve inside so the tap can be drained each winter without touching the mains. The supply is tested, the joint checked under pressure, and the area around the wall plate left dry and clean.
Prevention
Before the first cold spell, close the inside isolating valve and open the outside tap to drain it, then leave it open. Disconnect the hose — water trapped in a hose freezes and splits the tap. Insulate the pipe run if it runs through an exposed wall. If your tap has no isolation valve, fitting one is a small job that pays for itself the first time you need to work on the tap in winter. Check the drip tray or ground below the tap occasionally for signs of a slow leak.
When to call
Call when the tap drips constantly, when water appears at the wall, or when the tap will not turn off fully. If water is running down the wall and into the cavity, isolate the supply at the internal stop tap and call us — that is a leak that will damage the building. If the tap has split after frost, it needs replacing rather than repairing.
Book a call-out
A replacement tap is priced separately, and we will confirm before fitting one.
How the price works
We charge a booking fee to hold your slot, then an hourly rate for the work itself. The fee changes with how soon you need us; the hourly rate changes with the slot you choose. You approve the price before we start, so there is no surprise on the invoice.
Booked 14+ days ahead
£25 booking fee
then £85 per hour of labour
Best value. Book the slot now, pay the smallest booking fee.
Booked within 48 hours
£100 booking fee
then £65 per hour of labour
For jobs that can wait a day or two but not a fortnight.
Same-day call-out
£220 booking fee
then £45 per hour of labour
Urgent problems: standing water, no heat, no power, leaks.
Book the slot
Choose the window that suits you and pay the booking fee. That holds your place in the diary.
We diagnose on site
The engineer confirms the cause and tells you what the job involves and how long it should take.
You approve, we work
Nothing goes ahead until you agree the price. Labour is then charged per hour at your slot rate.
An outside tap is out of sight for most of the year, which is exactly why a small leak goes unnoticed until the wall is damp or the water bill looks wrong. Washers perish, gland seals dry out, and frost splits tap bodies that were never drained. We repair or replace the tap, check the wall plate and non-return valve, and set it up so next winter does no damage.
What our customers say about our plumbing service
4.7 out of 5 from 11 reviews
Second time we have used them
What I appreciated was being told what was actually wrong before anyone started. Sorted in under 32 minutes and the invoice matched the quote to the penny.
Job: Loose Pipe Connections Repair
Worth the booking fee
Booked the £220 booking-fee slot on Tuesday and got a message confirming the time the same morning. The cause was explained, the price agreed before any work started, and the job was done in about 75 minutes. Clean and tidy when they left.
Job: Hidden Pipe Leak Repair
Turned up when they said
Turned up in the window they promised, walked me through the options (turns out the part had to be sourced locally), then cracked on. Everything was tested before they left. No mess, no drama, no surprise on the bill.
Job: Central Heating Leak Repair
Book Outdoor Tap Leak Repair
Tell us what is happening and choose a slot. If you are not sure this is the right job, use the diagnosis panel — it narrows the problem down before you book.
- Booking fee confirmed up front
- Hourly labour, agreed before work starts
- Same-day slots for urgent problems
Questions people ask about outdoor tap leak repair
Straight answers to the things customers ask most often before booking.
Can I repair an outside tap myself?
A washer or cartridge swap is within reach for a confident DIYer, provided the supply can be isolated first. The wall joint and check valve are less forgiving, and a mistake there puts water into the brickwork, so those are worth a call.
Why does my outside tap only leak when I use the hose?
That pattern usually points to the wall plate joint or the check valve rather than the washer. Pressure in the body when the tap is open finds the weakened joint, and the leak stops when the tap closes.
The tap split over winter — is that covered by a repair?
No, a split body cannot be repaired reliably. It needs a replacement tap, which we can supply and fit, along with an isolation valve if you do not already have one so it can be drained next year.
Is a dripping outside tap really costing me money?
If your water is metered, yes — a constant drip is paid for continuously, and it is easy to miss because it drains away outside. Even on an unmetered supply it keeps the wall damp and the tap corroding.
How do I stop it freezing again?
Close the internal isolating valve, open the outside tap to drain it, and take the hose off before the cold weather. If there is no isolation valve, have one fitted — it turns a twenty-minute winter job into a thirty-second one.
Need outdoor tap leak repair sorted in West Bromwich?
Book a slot in the diary and pay only the booking fee up front. We confirm the rest before we start.