DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi all!

Apologies as I am sure similar questions have been asked multiple times, but I could not find the exact answer to my question.

As you'll see, I am a complete beginning when it comes to DIY, but I had decided to learn by doing something simple as replacing a broken basin mixer tap.

All went well, until turning on the water again to check everything working as expected. However, the basin tap connector hose(?) is leaking, and as a noobie I am not sure why.

I've attached a few pictures that might shed some light on the issue. Is there any pieces/isolation missing from the pipe out-/inlets themselves that is causing the leak? Or could it be that the hose itself is faulty?

Appreciate any help I can get!

Just buy a new hose and valve and whatever you need from Toolstation, B&Q, Screwfix or somewhere like that would be my advice. Those valves cost £0.88p and the hoses are a few pounds so it makes sense to use new ones. Take the old fittings with you to make sure you get the correct setup.

And btw.. I've worked in engineering for 35 years and no one can convince me that the connection you have posted is OK. It just isn't.

Thank you for taking the time to respond, LordBucketHead. My DIY skills are pretty much non-existent, so appreciate the help as I try to improve them!

Those hoses were new as they came with the tap, but they leaked. I've actually had to use the old hoses from the broken basin, and they are now working fine, without any leakage.

What are you referring to when you say the connection is not OK? The first picture? That's the connection from the hose that came with the tap.

Hi, compression fittings are easy to use and I've never known one leak (although my former plumber and now gas engineer nephew assures me they sometimes do). The isolator valve in your picture is designed to have the end of a 15mm copper pipe pushed into it. The valve is supplied with a copper olive and a compression nut. In your pictures, the olive and nut have been discarded and the rim of the valve mates with a washer in the flexible hose. It may well be common practice, but it's not for me tbh.

You have come across a common problem. Many monobloc taps come with flexible hoses that do not have a compression fitting at the pipe end. The seal is designed to go onto the flat surface of a tap connnector. From your pictures you have attached this to the compression joint on an isolating valve. Unfortunately that has a sharp bevelled edge designed to compress an olive round the inserted pipe. Your flexible pipe is therefore just pressing against that sharp edge. What you needed was a flexible tap adaptior. This has a short length of pipe that fits into the compression joint of the isolating valve, with the other end providing a flat, threaded end, onto which you screw the flexible hose connector. If it helps look up FLEXIBLE TAP ADAPTORS 15MM X ½" 2 PACK (2665R) on Screwfix's website but other plumbing suppliers will have the same things.
Alternatively you can get monobloc flexible hoses with compression joint at the pipe end so you could just use a short piece of copper pipe to connect to your isolation valve.