Shower Head Leaking or Dripping When Turned Off? What to Do

Updated July 2026 · Emergency Plumber Chelsea

Work out where the water is coming from, because each place points to a different fault. Dry the shower off, turn it on and off, and watch. Water dripping from the face of the head long after the shower is off means the valve is letting water through. Water leaking from the ends of the hose, where it meets the head or the valve, means a failed washer. Water spraying sideways from the head while the shower runs usually means blocked nozzles or a cracked head. Water appearing around the valve on the wall, or behind the tiles, is the most serious, because it may be leaking into the wall rather than the tray.

Normal draining is not a leak. After a shower, the water left in the hose and the head runs out, especially with a large rainfall head or a long hose, and it can drip for a minute or two. If the dripping slows and stops within a few minutes, there is nothing to fix. If it keeps going steadily for hours, or starts again with no one using the shower, the valve is not closing.

A constant drip from the head is almost always the shower valve. Most mixer showers, whether a bar mixer on the wall or a concealed valve behind a faceplate, control flow with a cartridge: a ceramic disc or a spindle with rubber seals. Over time the seals wear, grit gets trapped, and limescale builds up on the moving parts, so the valve no longer shuts completely and water seeps through to the head. London's hard water speeds this up, and our guide to hard water and limescale explains why Chelsea showers scale up so quickly. The fix is to clean or, more often, replace the flow cartridge or its seals. On thermostatic mixers, the separate thermostatic cartridge can also cause problems with temperature, and our guide to thermostatic mixing valves covers how they work.

Replacing a mixer cartridge is possible for a competent DIYer, but it helps to know what is involved. You need to isolate the water to the shower first. Many bar mixers have small isolation valves in the wall connections, turned with a flat screwdriver; if yours does not, you will need to turn off the water at the stopcock, and our guide on how to turn off a stopcock shows how. You then remove the control handle, unscrew the cartridge, and fit an exact replacement for that make and model. The difficulty is usually identifying the right part and getting a seized cartridge out without damaging the valve body or the tiles. If the valve is concealed, old, or the brand is unknown, it is often quicker to have a plumber do it.

Leaks from the hose ends are a simple fix. A shower hose has a flat rubber or fibre washer at each end. When it hardens or splits, water sprays or drips from the joint while the shower runs. Unscrew the hose, fit new washers of the right size, and tighten the nuts by hand, then a little more. Do not over-tighten plastic fittings, and do not use tape instead of a washer. If the hose itself is split, kinked or leaking along its length, replace it. Hoses and washers are cheap and standard on most showers.

Water spraying from the head points to limescale or a cracked head. If jets squirt out sideways or the spray pattern is uneven, the nozzles are partly blocked with scale. Many heads have soft rubber nozzles you can rub clear with your thumb; otherwise, unscrew the head and soak it in a descaler or white vinegar, then rinse it well. A head that leaks from its joint or body even after cleaning is cheap to replace. A scaled head is also a common reason for a weak shower, which our guide to improving shower pressure covers.

Electric showers drip for a different reason. In an electric shower, a solenoid valve opens and closes the water supply. When the solenoid wears or scales up, it may not close fully and the head keeps dripping after you switch the shower off. Switch the shower off at its pull cord or isolator, and do not open the casing yourself, because it contains mains electricity and water together. A solenoid replacement is a common repair, but on an older unit it can make more sense to replace the shower.

Water around the valve or behind the tiles needs prompt attention. If you see water trickling down from the valve body, stains on the ceiling below the bathroom, loose tiles or a musty smell, the leak may be at the valve's connections inside the wall. That kind of leak does far more damage than a drip into the tray, because it soaks into the wall and floor unseen. Stop using the shower, isolate it if you can, and read our guide to the signs of a hidden water leak. If water is getting past the tray or the seals instead, our guide to a leaking shower tray explains how to tell the difference.

Why a dripping shower is worth fixing. Even a slow, steady drip adds up over days and weeks, and if you are on a water meter you pay for all of it; our guide to how much water a leak wastes puts it in context. A constant drip also leaves scale and staining on the tray and glass, and a valve that is letting by tends to get worse, not better. In a flat, the bigger risk is that a small valve leak in the wall reaches the ceiling of the flat below before anyone notices.

If your shower head will not stop dripping, you cannot find the right cartridge, or you suspect water is leaking behind the tiles, call Emergency Plumber Chelsea on 020 3002 6667. Our shower repair service replaces cartridges, seals, solenoids, hoses and valves on mixer, thermostatic and electric showers across SW3, SW10, Knightsbridge, Sloane Square, South Kensington and Fulham. There is no call-out fee on jobs over 3 hours.

Quick tips

• A few drips for a minute or two after a shower is just the hose and head draining.
• A steady drip that never stops means the shower valve cartridge is letting water by.
• Leaks at the hose ends are fixed with new washers, not tape.
• Soak a scaled shower head in descaler or white vinegar to clear the nozzles.
• Water around the valve or behind the tiles is urgent: stop using the shower.

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