A faucet that drips is almost always a worn internal part: a washer or seat on an older compression faucet, or an O-ring or cartridge on a modern one. For many homeowners it is a genuine do-it-yourself repair with basic tools, and fixing it promptly stops both the annoying drip and the water it quietly wastes. The one thing to know before you start in a Beaverton home is the shutoff gotcha: in older houses, the small shutoff valve under the sink can be seized from age, and that is where a simple faucet job can turn into a slightly bigger one.
What a drip actually is
A faucet controls water by pressing a moving part against a seat to make a seal. When that seal wears, water sneaks past and drips even when the handle is off. On an older compression faucet, the culprit is usually a worn rubber washer or a corroded valve seat. On a modern single-handle or cartridge faucet, it is typically a worn O-ring or a failed cartridge. Either way, the drip is a small worn part, not a broken faucet, which is why the repair is usually cheap and often DIY.
The reason to fix it sooner rather than later is not just the noise. A steady drip wastes a surprising amount of water over weeks, and on a hot-water faucet it wastes energy too. In our soft-water valley you at least avoid the mineral crust that seizes fixtures in hard-water areas, so the parts inside a Beaverton faucet tend to come apart more cleanly than they would elsewhere. That is a small local advantage for the DIY repairer.
The DIY repair, step by step
The sequence is the same for most faucets. Shut off the water at the valves under the sink, then open the faucet to relieve pressure and confirm the water is off. Plug the drain so small parts cannot escape. Remove the handle, usually a set screw hidden under a decorative cap. Take out the retaining nut and lift out the stem or cartridge. Inspect the washer, O-rings, and seat; replace whatever is worn, taking the old parts to the store to match them exactly. Reassemble in reverse, and turn the water back on slowly, checking for leaks.
Take a photo at each step so reassembly is easy, and bring the old cartridge or stem when buying parts, because there are many designs and matching by eye is unreliable. If everything comes apart cleanly and the parts match, this is a satisfying afternoon repair. If it does not, that is useful information too, and it usually points to the gotcha below.
Matching the drip to the likely part and whether it is a comfortable DIY.
| Faucet type | Likely worn part | DIY difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Older compression, two handles | Washer or valve seat | Moderate DIY |
| Single-handle cartridge | Cartridge or O-ring | Easy to moderate DIY |
| Ball or ceramic-disc | O-rings or seals | Moderate DIY |
| Any, with seized shutoffs | Angle stop first | Call a plumber |
The older-home gotcha: seized shutoffs
Here is where Beaverton's older housing complicates a simple job. The little angle-stop valves under the sink are meant to let you shut off water to that fixture, but in a home where they have not been touched in years, they can be seized, or they can start weeping once you finally turn them. Postwar homes across the valley are full of these tired shutoffs. If yours will not turn, do not force it hard enough to snap it, and if it weeps after you use it, that is a second small repair the faucet job just uncovered.
This is common enough that a faucet visit often becomes a faucet-and-shutoff visit, and that is fine; replacing a seized angle stop while everything is already apart is efficient. If your shutoffs are frozen, or if the faucet turns out to be corroded beyond a simple part swap, that is the point where professional faucet repair in Beaverton saves you a flooded cabinet. A plumber can replace the shutoffs and the faucet cleanly, and address any corroded supply lines behind them at the same time.
When the drip is a symptom of something bigger
Most drips are just a worn part. Occasionally they are a clue. If several faucets in the house are dripping or acting up at once, or if you also have low pressure or discolored water, the issue may not be the faucets at all but the supply pipe feeding them, particularly the aging galvanized lines still in many older Beaverton homes. In that case the faucets are a symptom, and the real question is the condition of the pipe, which may point toward repiping the affected runs.
That is the exception, not the rule, so do not let it scare you off a straightforward repair. For a single dripping faucet with otherwise normal water, the fix is a cheap part and an afternoon, or a quick service call if the shutoffs fight you. Homeowners across the valley, from Cedar Hills and Aloha to the older grids in Metzger, handle plenty of these themselves; the ones who call are usually the ones who met the seized-shutoff gotcha, and that is a fair reason to.