Dripping or Failed Restaurant Faucets: Repair or Replace

Commercial faucets work harder than anything in a home. A pre-rinse sprayer on a dish station is in use all service long. Hand sink faucets run on metering or tempered-water valves. Over time the washers wear, the cartridge fails, a handle loosens, or a connection under the deck starts to seep.

The complaint usually reaches us as one of four things: a constant drip, a leak at the base, a handle that will not shut the water off, or a faucet that sprays sideways. Each points to a different part.

We open up the faucet and the lines feeding it and run water to see which part is leaking under pressure. A drip at the spout points to the cartridge or seat. Water at the base points to the body gaskets or the connection beneath. A leak that only shows up with hot or cold on points to one supply side or its stop valve.

We also check the faucet against what it serves. Food establishments use mixing valves or combination faucets at hand sinks, and Maricopa County's food establishment guide covers the water temperature range at them. A repair that leaves the faucet unable to deliver tempered water has not fixed anything.

If a part has failed and the faucet body is sound, replacing the part is the fastest and least disruptive fix. If the faucet is corroded, the finish is gone or parts are no longer available, a replacement faucet is the better answer, and we write a short proposal for it.

Before we replace anything we match the new faucet to the sink: spout reach, centers, mounting style and the supply connections.

If a hand sink faucet is out of service, treat that as the urgent one: a required handwashing sink has to stay usable, and our guide on what to do when a hand sink stops working explains what to do in the meantime. Tell us which faucet, which sink and whether the leak is constant or only under use.