Replacing Tap Seat

I have a leaking shower tap. I tried reseating it but I can see there is a crack/gouge across the face and I don't know if I can remove enough metal to remove this defect. I tried using study washers that seal into the gouge but they don't last long and get stuck.

I was looking at replacement seats and can see there are ones that screw into an internal thread that you have to cut into the pipe, and ones you just push into the pipe.

The latter seems much easier and less likely to cause permanent damage. I'm concerned the thread won't cut cleanly because of the gouge, or it will still leak or leak worse after doing this. But the push in ones seem to be difficult to remove if needed whereas the theatre ones can at least be unscrewed.

Any advice here? I don't want to make matters worse but don't want to take a cheaper option of it doesn't solve the problem. We plan to renovate the bathroom this year but need to fix this now.

Comments

  • +1

    Sounds like a full bathroom renovation to me.

    • going to need a ms paint diagram

  • Get a plumber.

  • +1

    Plumber - last thing you want is a leak between tile and wall.

  • The threaded ones work perfectly well. The gouge has nothing to do with the thread, they are in two seperate places.

  • Not a plumber but have successfully replaced and reseated a few taps in my house.
    I’ll start off by saying if you don’t consider yourself handy and careful, getting a plumber in will work out cheaper than risking damaging the pipeworks behind the wall.
    Anyhow, some advice from my limited experience:
    Reseating tools: the manual ones (hand cranking) never worked well for me, the ones that you connect to a drill, on the other hand, work great but you need to go slowly. Too trigger happy and you’ll have no copper left, that means replacing pipeworks behind the wall.
    Replacement seats: I opted for the screw-on ones after having read horror stories about push-on ones getting stuck and/or cracking the pipeworks. The kit I got from Bunnings worked well and from memory came with drill reseater attachment as well. Refrain from overtightening the replacement seat as you risk breaking the oring/seal as well as stripping/cracking the copper.

    • +1

      as stripping/cracking the copper.

      Brass?

      • +2

        You’re right, brass indeed, oops.
        I had to subtly let OP know I’m no plumber somehow.

  • How long do the hydroseals last? Been putting off fixing my shower because one plumber said it should be replaced, which would need a tiler too a cost a lot…

    • How long do the hydroseals last?

      Many years if the tap is closed gently and not forced closed with the users weight behind it.

      I replaced all of my tap washers with Hydroseals about 20 years ago, using a reseating tool first, and only 1 has required replacing since then.

  • Bring forward your bathroom renovation

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