How to Fix a Leaking Shower Head
The question behind how to fix a leaking shower head is simple: is water escaping, or just draining out of the head? Telling the two apart decides whether the job stays with you or belongs to a licensed plumber.
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This guide runs through the signs, what Queensland law lets a homeowner swap, and the point where you ring a Boondall plumber. Postwar weatherboard showers and brand-new townhouse bathrooms get the same diagnosis, because the clues never change.
What Leftover Water Looks Like
A brief dribble after you switch off is leftover water emptying from the head, and a drip still running ten minutes on points to a worn seal in the mixer. Both look identical from the bathroom floor, which is why timing settles it.
Heads and arms hold a splash of water after every shower. That water empties out by itself soon after.
Dripping half an hour later? Water is creeping past a seal somewhere behind the tiles, and the head itself is rarely the culprit.
Signs Pointing to the Shower Mixer
Three places produce a dripping shower: the join where the head meets the arm, the mixer hidden in the wall, and the diverter on a bath-shower unit. Each one gives its own signal, so read them before spending money on parts.
The join at the arm
water seeping there only while the shower runs means the connection has loosened or its seal has perished.
The mixer
a drip that continues once the taps are off sits inside the mixer, where an ageing washer or cartridge fails to close properly.
The bath diverter
water dropping from the head while the bath tap runs, or spilling from the spout mid-shower, blames a worn diverter or a spout that is partly blocked.
Scale
mineral crust can seal spray holes and shove water out through other openings in the head.
The cartridge inside a mixer governs flow and the hot-cold blend, so wear shows up as a drip, a handle that fights you or water at the wrong temperature. Showers on the salt-damp streets out toward the tidal flats age their mixer internals faster than the drier west, so worn seals arrive sooner there.
Can You Replace a Shower Head Yourself
Yes, Queensland treats replacing a shower head as unregulated work that anyone with the appropriate knowledge and level of skill may do. No approval is needed, whether from the QBCC or the local government, and there is nothing to report afterwards.
Licence or not, the result still has to reach the minimum standard the legislation and codes set. A careless swap that seeps at the join lands back on whoever did it.
The boundary is the tiled face. The QBCC's unregulated list names the head alone, never the mixer, so cartridge and valve work stays with a licensed plumber; our shower repairs page details that side.
Read the label before you buy. Australia requires a replacement shower head to be WELS-registered, WELS standing for Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards. Its star rating and water-use figures have to appear in every listing and ad, online included.
Renters hold a small advantage here. On a Queensland rental, a shower head swap sits among the few very minor jobs allowed without a licensee, alongside changing tap washers. Owners and managers still have to keep the premises in good repair for the whole tenancy, and a tenant has to report any needed repair to them as soon as possible.
When a New Part Does Not Stop the Drip
A drip that outlasts a replacement washer or a new cartridge points to a worn valve seat or a damaged mixer body. Washers seal against the seat, and cartridges seal inside the body, so damage to either surface leaves nothing for a fresh part to close on.
That is the moment to stop buying parts. We assess the seat and body, then quote the fix the fault actually needs.
Work on a fitting inside the mixer counts as minor plumbing: a QBCC licensee does it with no council permit and no Form 4 to lodge. Area-level approvals added 260 dwellings across five years, so the youngest bathrooms here are still too new for tired mixers.
Showers in the fibro and weatherboard postwar blocks tell a different story, often running on their second or third set of mixer internals. A head swap will not touch that wear, which is how to fix a leaking shower head the honest way: diagnose first, then buy.
Dripping Shower Head Questions Answered
Call (07) 3523 6484Why does my Boondall shower keep dripping after I turn it off?
A short dribble is water emptying from the head and arm, and it stops by itself. A drip lasting hours comes from the mixer, where an old washer or cartridge no longer seals. Once the taps are off, the head itself is seldom the problem.
Can I replace a shower head myself in Boondall?
Yes, a shower head needs no licence to replace, because the QBCC lists that swap as work needing only the right knowledge and skill. No approval and no report are required, though the result still has to reach the minimum standards. Everything inside the mixer belongs to a licensed plumber.
Who can replace a shower cartridge in Queensland?
A licensed plumber only. Queensland calls that repair minor work, which a QBCC licensee handles without any permit and without a Form 4. The unregulated list covers the head alone, never the cartridge behind the tiles.
What should I check on a replacement shower head in Boondall?
The WELS star rating and the water-use figures. Any head sold in or into Australia must be WELS-registered and show those details in any listing or ad, online included. A licensed plumber can confirm the rating before fitting.
Call Us About the Dripping ShowerWe'll call you back.
Ring (07) 3523 6484 and tell us what's wrong. You get $0 call-out fees, a fixed quote before any work starts and same-day where we can, 7 days a week.
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