What type of faucet? Single lever control or separate H/C knobs? What do you mean by 'running' - trickle or balls out?

Sounds like a bad seal - if it is, it's likely fixable.

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"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Can you take the handle off? Do you see a phillips screw head, or set screw?

My experience has been that older faucets tend to crumble or are hard to find parts. Fortunately new faucets are not too expensive.

Single lever tall faucet over a vessel sink. Between a trickle and balls out. Assumed someone left it on til I tried to turn it off.

We remodeled the bathroom when we moved in ~15 years ago.

No expert but sounds like a seal or the cartridge could be bad. If my memory serves me correctly if it is a Moen or Delta, these parts are lifetime warranty so you can call them up and get a replacement part for free. Or you can just go to a home improvement story and buy a new cartridge for $30 or so.

My approach would be this: since you've already turned off the water, start by taking the handle off - it'll probably be held on with either a phillips-head screw or an allen bolt. After that, there's usually a cap on the faucet that's removed by unscrewing it - some need a special tool, some you can grip with channel locks. Lefty loosey. Underneath that cap you'll find the valve body - mine looks like a white plastic ball on the end of a short metal rod (the handle attaches to the metal rod). You'll need to remove the valve body - usually held in place with a circular plastic ring that unscrews. If yours looks like what I'm describing, you'd unscrew that retaining ring and pull out the valve body - underneath, you'll find two black rubber seals that sit on top of springs down in separate recesses within the main body of the faucet (these are the seals for the hot & cold sides). Remove the seals and take them and the valve body with you to the hardware store - note the make & model of your faucet, too. My local Ace has a nice selection of faucet parts - find the ones that fit your model faucet, and make sure they look like the parts you brought along. Some kits will include seals, the valve body (ball + metal rod) and a replacement retainer ring for the valve. Might as well replace all the guts while the patient is disassembled. Go home, reassemble the faucet with the new parts, turn the water back on, have a beer and enjoy that DIY satisfaction.

Might also consult YouTube or the interwebs if none of the above makes any sense.

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_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Replacing a faucet is easy.

Go to Youtube and search on some combination of brand/model/ problem/repair. My first guess is the cartridge needs to be replaced.

YouTube is the place for how to

Jimatbeyond will probably offer to fix it for 5 bucks and a pack of gum.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Bathroom faucets range from 40$ to 4k$ plus.

If it’s 40$ then throw it out and don’t even think about repairing.

Maurice

This is far simpler than a kitchen faucet, but might be close enough.

I'm assuming that you have a hot and a cold handle not a single handle - that makes it simpler.

Water comes in, hits a valve like the one pictured, then mixes with cold water(if that's open) and out the spout. What keeps the water back is that little white and tan piece (often called a washer, sometimes something else though)
The washers wear out and are replacement parts IF it's a good faucet.

Cheap faucets aren't repairable!

If you have enough room around the sink, replacing a faucet is the easiest plumbing job if it comes down to it ;)

Would it be overkill to change out the floor tiles while I was fixing this? I have 4 days before my husband gets home. I’m pretty good with a tile saw.

No. Do it. What could go wrong?

This.

About 20 years ago, I owned a rep firm that had faucets and faucet replacement parts in our line. Unless it is a solid brass faucet, don't bother with replacement parts. However, I would spend the money for a better quality faucet that is solid brass. Another consideration is your water quality - hard or soft? Water with high amounts of calcium and other impurities, will shorten the life of any plumbing product.

That was my thought. I've replaced cartridges before on my own, but sometimes it can be difficult removing the necessary parts to access the cartridge, especially if it's an older faucet that needs to be drilled out.

You can replace the entire fixture too, but you may run into the same problem if something is so rusted, engrained, that it needs to be drilled out, and if you don't know how to drill it out.

I'm guessing that this is something that can be replaced by a plumber for under $200 labor, parts excluded. But the parts may be no more that $30 to $50.

I tried to replace a fixture a couple months ago but couldn't get it out. I bought the replacement fixture, but the labor was $100.

It's easy unless there has been water corrosion, or whatever, that make it difficult to remove the faucet. Sometimes you have to drill out a stripped or corroded screw or some other part, and you can make things worse if you do it wrong. It may be an easy task for a professional or for someone who knows what they're doing, but it's not something that can be easily done by simply watching a youtube video.

Did you do it?

second.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

I agree, I mean if the water was running that long, who's to say some didn't get under the floor, you should check it out and confirm that. I mean its the only responsible thing to do.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

Not yet. Unfortunately after a week and a half vacation there is bunch of work I have to dig out from under. But it’s almost the weekend (with unplanned flight and business trip on Monday- it might not happen though). We shall see what my motivation looks like tonight!