What to Do When You Find a Leak in Your Home
There’s nothing more annoying than the faint sound of water dripping, which means you’ve sprung a leak!
No, finding a leak in your home is never fun, and neither is waiting anxiously for the plumbing repair professionals to arrive (hopefully, before there’s any serious water damage). But there are a few things you can do in the meantime to make the situation a little better.
Identify the Source of the Leak
Locating the source of the leak to the best of your ability is crucial. If you don’t know where the leak is coming from, you can’t correctly assess the damage.
Finding the source of the leak is also important in preventing further water damage. Once you find it, you can place buckets or pots underneath the hole(s) to prevent water from damaging your floors or anything valuable.
Figure Out What Type of Leak You Have
Once you’ve figured out where the leak is coming from, you’ll want to determine how bad it is.
Minor leaks
These are the easiest to handle although they’re inconvenient to deal with and cause minimal damage.
Moderate leaks
Not minor, but not severe. This type of leak can start small but worsen with time. Because these leaks go unnoticed most of the time, they often lead to costly repairs down the line.
Severe leaks
This is the type of leak that we all hope to avoid. With a severe leak, you may need to make an insurance claim. Some valuable items or parts of your home could be damaged as a result of this type of leak.
We do not advise you to attempt leak repair for this type of leak (or any other type, for that matter). It can make the situation much, much worse and even lead to more extensive damage.
Assessing the Damage So Far
It’s important to assess any damage the leak has caused so far and take the right steps to prevent any further damage.
Little to No Damage
Even if your leak has caused very little or even no damages so far, you’ll want to turn off your faucets first. Next, you should check your water meter to see if the low flow indicator is still spinning. If it is, there is water still running, which means you may have not properly located the leak.
Minimal Damage
First, turn off the water in your home using the water meter. After you do that, you’ll want to clean up the mess, at which point you can further assess the damages.
Significant Damage
As you would for a small leak, turn the water off in your home using the water meter. If you can clean up, try. If the leak was so severe and the damage so significant, you may need to wait for the professionals.
No matter what, if you see significant damage, it is crucial that you document everything you can both in writing and through photographs and videos. This information and evidence will be necessary if you decide to make an insurance claim.
Call an Expert
In the event of any type of leak, the most important thing to do is call an expert. Forget the “plumber near me” search. You’ll get hundreds of results and ads. If you need reliable plumbing services and are looking for leak repair services, T.E. Spall & Son can help. CALL SPALL today for a consultation!
