Plumbing Leak

Best Practices: Stop a Plumbing Leak Now

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Take precautions when you notice that turning a handle won’t cause water to completely stop. Plumbing leaks will only get worse over time. If a faucet washer is already worn out, applying more force can actually do more harm than good. You don’t want to strip the threads. If you do go that far, turn off the water under the sink at the source so that your faucet will stop running.

The leak grows.It’s a good domestic practice to regularly go around your house and make a mental note of the state of your faucets. Don’t forget the faucets that exist behind your washer and under the kitchen sink, connecting the dishwasher and refrigerator to the main water line.

Next, take a good look around the outside of your home. Outside hosebibs are easy to overlook, and during the colder months, even more susceptible to unnoticed problems. Be sure to disconnect your hose before a freeze. Outside hosebibs that freeze usually do not cause any trouble until they start to thaw. You may notice a wet spot on your carpet in the closet for instance.

Another thing to quickly take notice of is the ceiling of a two or more story building. If water is leaking somewhere overhead, you need to know about it before it gets out of control. Pay attention to the flooring around toilets, dishwasher and washing machine. If there is cracked and blistered paint, or water-damaged material, it could be a leak that is intermittent, happening only when a certain fixture is used,  but not constantly. Those situations still need to be corrected immediately to salvage the remaining building materials and keep serious rot and mold from happening.

Tell us your plumbing leak discoveries. Everyone has some sort of disaster they can remember – share yours here!

Photo Credit: jmgold on Flickr through a Creative Commons License

Sewer Leaks are Not Your Friend

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We talked about slab leaks in last week’s post. The only thing that I can think of that could rival the frustration of sewer pipedealing with a slab leak, would be a sewer leak.

Sewer leaks are smelly, potentially dangerous, and somewhat difficult to detect and repair due to the nature of a sewer itself.

How do we know if the sewer is leaking?

When you call us out for a sewer clean-out because your plumbing is backing up into your home from a clogged sewer, we’ll use a rod to clean that line. If we draw mud back on the line from the sewer, we can be reasonably sure that there is a break in the sewer pipe somewhere.

At that point we don’t know how long it has actually been leaking! Sometimes it is one spot and one bad piece of pipe and sometimes it can be several sections of pipe that might be rotted out and leaking.

The plumber will put a sound down the sewer to the point of stoppage. The sound puts out a signal that we can track above the concrete or soil. That’s  where we break the floor or dig the soil to repair. We then test…and check for any other breaks in the sewer.

If you have any questions about possible sewer leaks on your property, don’t let the fear of the costs associated with the leak repair stop you from calling us to get the urgent help that you need.  It is far more costly to wait. What most people don’t realize is that the sewer in your home connects to the sewer in the street and when that break occurs in your home, you are connected to everything that gets flushed down that drain in the street. The possibility exists that any back up of the city sewer could back up into your home too!  In addition, any uncontrolled water leaking into the soil beneath your home can cause foundation problems, especially with our N. Texas soils.

Contact us today for more information.

Photo Credit:  ilovebutter on Flickr

You Have a Slab Leak, Now What?

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Maybe you’ve noticed a ridiculously high water bill or heard water running that you can’t find, maybe you’ve noticed warmth on a particular part of the flooring; when it comes to unusual predicaments like these, you need to know whether or not you’re dealing with a slab leak. What to do if you might have a slab leak?

  1. Call your reputable Plano plumber
  2. Ascertain the approximate location of leak

Don’t worry, we won’t just start busting! Our men are trained to locate the leak first.

  1. Is it outside – a yard line?
  2. Is it inside?

These are some of the easy things we do to find out where your leak is:

  • Turn shut off valve in box by house. Check your meter. Is it still running? Your leak is outside.
  • Turn shut off valve in box by house. Check your meter. Did it stop? Your leak is inside the house

Is it on the hot or cold water side?

  • Turn off water to water heater.
  • Turn valve for yard back on.

Did the meter stop? If it did, you have a hot water slab leak.

There may be more detective work involved:

  • Any hot spots on the floor when you are walking barefoot in the house?

We hook a signal generator on the water pipe and follow it with our pipe locating device. Once we know where the pipe is we take our infrared heat sensor and find the hot spots along that line.

Then we must determine the depth of the leak with our pipe locating device. We use our geodesic headset and listen for the leak. If it is difficult to hear we will pressurize the system as the harder flow of water will make the leak easier to hear.

Not until this point will we break your floor and repair. We silver solder all joints below floor.  We backfill with sand and pour back floor after testing. We do not put back finished flooring.

I hope this takes some of the anxiety out of your slab leak problem. Things never really are as bad as they seem. Hire the right plumber and you’ll be put at ease through the whole thing.

Less Chance of a Plumbing Leak with a Quality Faucet

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The right faucet and the right installation have a lot to do with the amount of service that will be needed on your fixture in the future. Not that price should be the sole determining factor, but higher quality usually costs more. You get what you pay for. If you purchase a cheap (though pretty) faucet from a home improvement store, or for that matter, even from a wholesaler – you may end up with a plumbing leak you didn’t count on.  [Read more…] about Less Chance of a Plumbing Leak with a Quality Faucet

Water leak detection: Stop That Plumbing Leak

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Some leaks are obvious and show themselves readily, other plumbing leaks aren’t apparent unless you know what to look for. The leaks that are harder to find can do far more damage than those that are easily noticed. Many homeowners don’t realize that many of the faucets and handles available today consist of plastic parts that easily crack under frequent use, and replacement washers aren’t helpful in the newer washerless designs. When that is the case, water leaks can end up puddling in an area that may not be readily visible, and you’re going to have to look a little harder to see if damage is evident.

Look for:Leaking faucet fixture.

  • Bulging drywall
  • Peeling paint
  • Mineral deposits
  • Sagging wood beneath the sink or the wall behind
  • Mold or mildew, especially in an area that should be entirely dry
  • Buckling or loose floor tiles or
  • New insect populations

Sometimes those leaks aren’t originating from the sink faucets or drains, sometimes they are due to old shut-off valves that are located under and behind the sink. Those need to be repaired, usually replaced, as soon as possible because they are often problematic behind the wall for some time before a leak is evident. What could have been a simple repair can then become more costly.

Protecting your home or property from a significant plumbing leak will save you money. It’s better to take care of those types of problems before they get out of control. If you notice rust around your drain, fixtures, or valves, that is also a clue that moisture is going where it shouldn’t be going.

Take a closer look around your home for plumbing leaks in the laundry room behind or under the washer, under the kitchen sink, below the dishwasher, around all your bathroom fixtures, and outside at your hose bib. Remember to call us at 972-424-6479 to get on the schedule as soon as possible if those repairs involve more than you feel confident doing yourself.

Don’t be embarrassed if you end up over your head in a do-it-yourself repair! We understand, and we can help. If you have a story about a plumbing leak that got out of control, leave us a comment and tell us about it, and let us know how you handled the repair. We love to hear from you.