A drip from the tub faucet or hand shower for a short while after you shut the water off is normal. When the handles close, the water still sitting in the spout, in the lines between the valves and the spout, and in the hand shower hose has nowhere to go but out, and it drains into the tub a little at a time. Staff describe it as roughly a cup of water. It stops on its own once the lines are empty. A drip that continues hour after hour is different, and it usually points to a worn cartridge inside the faucet.

What Is Actually Draining Out

The faucet valves close at the handles, but the spout, the hand shower and the flexible lines that connect them sit downstream of the valves. Whatever water is in those parts when you turn the handles is trapped, and gravity lets it dribble out through the spout or the hand shower head. A rain-head shower column does the same thing after shutoff, as described in why the shower column drips after I shut it off. Nothing is worn and nothing needs adjusting.

Why You Find a Small Puddle Later

The residual water lands in the footwell in front of the seat, which is the lowest part of the tub. If the drains are closed it collects there. If you wipe the tub dry right after the bath and then come back later, the last of the line water has arrived in the meantime and you find a small puddle even though the tub looked dry. Leave the drains open after the bath so the trickle goes straight down the drain, and wait until the drip has stopped before doing the final wipe.

Telling Normal Residual Water from a Real Leak

1. Close the handles firmly but without forcing them. Handles only need to be snug.
2. Leave the drains open and watch the spout and hand shower head. A normal drip slows and stops on its own.
3. If water is still dripping at the same steady rate much later, or if the spout runs a thin continuous stream, the cartridge is not closing fully.
4. Check under the deck as well. Water on the floor rather than in the tub is a supply line or fitting problem, not residual water. See supply line leaking at the nut.

A constant drip is covered in why the tub faucet drips constantly and how to fix it. Replacement cartridges for Ella faucets ship under the parts warranty for the original owner. Open a ticket with your model and serial number and a short video of the drip if you can. The hand shower diverter article explains the handle that switches water between the spout and the hand shower, which is also where the residual water in the hose comes from.

Shutoff Valves Make Faucet Service Easier

The faucet handles are not the only way to stop water to the tub. Your contractor should install shutoff valves on the hot and cold supply lines below the faucet so the faucet can be serviced without shutting down the house. If you are not sure whether yours has them, look behind the access panel or ask the plumber who installed the tub. Do not force a handle past its normal stop to try to make a drip quit, because the drip is water already past the valve. Close the shutoff valves or the house main instead if you need the water off for service.

Related Guides

• Faucet drips or the handle feels stiff: replacing your faucet cartridge step by step
• 5-Piece Faucet: Water Keeps Flowing With the Valve Off, Low Pressure, Handle Replacements and Finish Options
• Temperature Control Valve (TCV) Stuck or Not Mixing: Cleaning the Cartridge and Replacing the Valve

Related Videos

Common Questions

Still Need Help?

Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 and have your model and serial number ready.