There is a strong possibility that at a certain point in your life, whether you are renting or owning your own house, you have lain awake at night hearing the steady drip, dribbles, drip water sound and wondering a) where the water leak occurs from and b) exactly how terrible the problem could be when you ultimately figure it out. This could have happened to you for a number of reasons.
You might have awoken to find your kitchen soaked because the clothes washer or dishwasher had sprung a water leak, or you might have found a pool of water along with a gap in the ceiling considering a pipe in your home had broken.
Unhappily, none of these events should come as a surprise and none of them are particularly unusual. At least one in every four claims made on building as well as contents insurance are the result of broken or leaking pipes. This type of damage is referred to by insurance firms as an “escape of water.”
If you’re on your water bill or must pay for a plumber to address the problem, damage caused by water in the home can be expensive for you as well as for your insurance company. Damage caused by water in the home is quite expensive for insurance companies.
Even while you can’t prevent all water leaks, you can lessen the possibility that major damage will be done to your property or your finances by taking some preventative measures.
A Home Water Leak Detector’s Guide
You may tell whether there is a water leak in the house, even if there is no visible sign of water, by doing any of the following:
- If you check your water usage on a regular basis, you will be able to detect any abrupt increases in consumption that you are unable to explain (such as having guests over or spraying the garden more frequently due to the hot weather), which may indicate the presence of a leak. Sign up for a web-based account or inquire with your water provider about receiving monthly statements so that you may monitor the amount of water that is being used in your home.
- If you are filling the bathtub or taking a shower and notice that the water pressure has decreased, this could be an indication that there is a leak. You may check by switching off all of your fittings, and then turning on just one of them again. It is likely that there is a water leak if the pressure has risen than it was before.
- In a shower, however, low water pressure might also be the result of a blocked showerhead brought on by a buildup of limescale; alternatively, if your shower is situated above your bathtub, the issue could be caused by a malfunctioning Shower/Bath diverter. A limescale remover should be used to clean your showerhead, and then the shower/bath diverter should be checked to determine if it’s making a difference.
- Keep an eye on how often the water heater or boiler kicks on; if it seems to be on virtually nonstop, you might have a problem with the pipe that carries the hot water. These leaks will typically be located underground and may be more difficult to locate than other types of leaks.
How to Find a Hidden Water Leak?
If there are no obvious indicators of a leak in the ceiling, but there are puddles of water or moist spots on your floor, you should be on the lookout for a leak. Mold and mildew, each of which possesses a unique odor, can form as a result of subsurface leaks since it takes them longer to reach the surface. This results in a musty and musty-smelling environment.
Think about employing a program that can detect water leaks if you’d rather not have to continually hunt for indications that there’s a problem. There are a few available, and their operations are slightly distinct from one another.
To track the temp. of the water that is passing through your taps, for instance, you can use a device called Leakbot by attaching it near the stop tap and utilizing technology to do so. Check out this guide to learn how to detect and repair a swimming pool water leak.
If there is a leak, a water leak detection device will activate an alert, which will then be delivered to your device on a mobile app. This will give you the opportunity to investigate the problem and determine whether or not it is something you can resolve yourself or get in connection with a plumber.
Because a leak identification tool has the potential to save you both time and money, the very modest initial expenditure required to acquire one is more than justified.
Common Water Leak Spots
If you believe that you have a leak but don’t have a water leak detection device that can tell you where the leak could be, there are a few frequent sources of leaks around the house that you should examine before anything else.
Leaks in the water supply can occur anywhere in or around the house. We have already discussed where to search for leaks on the interior of the building; but, what about on the outside of the building?
Water Leak Inspection
- Water tank/boiler: Be sure to inspect the valves that allow water to enter or exit your water tank or boiler. You should be able to spot a leak rather fast. If there isn’t any water dripping out of the valve, you should search for indications of a slow leak, such as markings on the floor beneath the valve along with a hissing sound. Because this is not something you can resolve yourself if you are using a boiler for central heating, and because a leak could be an indication that something more serious is wrong, you should get in touch with an expert.
- Toilets: Due to the frequency with which we use toilets, it is not unusual for them to develop a leak over time. This isn’t anything that should normally cause concern, but if it’s operating all the time, it might rack up some expensive costs. It is possible that you will be capable to fix it on your own. Swapping out a washer, for instance, is a job that is not overly complicated and will save you money in comparison to visiting a plumber.
- Life Hack: The best way to determine whether or not your toilet has a water leak is to put some food coloring in the tank, let it sit for ten minutes, and then check the bowl. If you check again and find that the color of the water inside the bowl matches the color of the water inside the tank, you have a leak.
- Showerheads: Showers are one of those things that, like toilets, we make frequent, if not daily, use of. This indicates that the pieces have begun to wear out, and it is possible that you may detect water leaks. Since we have already discussed the fact that low pressure may be an indication of a leak (in addition to a blocked showerhead), it only makes logical that this ought to be one of the initial areas to investigate if you suspect that there is a problem.
- Appliances: Because of normal use, appliances can move ever-so-slightly from their starting position, which can cause valves and pipelines to become loose and ultimately result in leaks. Conduct routine checks on them to ensure that all of the attachments are in place and secure.
How to Find a Garden or Outdoor Water Leak
Monitoring your water meter can help you identify whether the water leak is occurring inside your home but concealed (such as underground) or outside your property if you are unable to locate any obvious evidence of a water leak within your house.
To begin, turn off the main tap to ensure no water is entering your home; you may verify that it is off by drawing a tap until there is no longer any water coming out of it.
After you have completed this step, check your meter to determine if the dial continues to be moving; if it is, the leak is coming from the supply line that is located outside of your home. In the event that it is not, the leak is likely to be located within your home, either through an interior pipe or through one of your appliances.
Once you have established that the water leak is located outside, you may begin looking for indicators of it. Checking to see if there are any muddy areas surrounding the pipe or whether the grass appears to be growing more effectively in other places of your lawn could be part of this process if your meter is situated in your garden.
Unfortunately, digging up your lawn may be necessary in order to determine the severity of the leak. Doing this before contacting a plumber to check whether the problem is something you can solve yourself is something you may want to consider doing. In the event that the leak is hidden beneath the concrete, you have to look for additional telltale indicators.
Concrete Water Leak Detection
The process of locating a water leak beneath concrete is significantly more difficult than locating a dripping faucet in your bathroom; nonetheless, it is not an impossible task.
When you are looking for leaks underground, some of the things you should keep an eye out for include moist spots on the floor (even if there is no obvious indication of a leak inside the ceiling) and an odor of mold or mildew. Both of these things are also indicators of leaks under concrete.
You should also be on the lookout for fissures in the concrete its own, which can indicate that water is leaking from below, as well as uneven surfaces, which can indicate that the water is pushing the concrete up from below.
What to Do With Water Leak
In the event that you do uncover a leak, the initial thing you’ll want to do is determine the severity of the problem. Is it likely to develop significantly worse in a short amount of time and cause a lot of damage? Alternately, is it restricted to a single piece of equipment, such as a lavatory or a washing machine, for instance?
In the event that the leak is serious, our advice is to get in touch with a plumber so that the issue can be resolved in a risk-free manner.
If it is a little leak that you are able to remedy, you can switch off the water supply to the device while you gather the materials you need to perform the repairs. If it is a larger leak, you will need to call a plumber.
In case it is a more substantial leak, you must turn down the water at the main tap. This will ensure that no water is entering your home, which should prevent the leak from getting worse.
It is essential that you deactivate the electrical service to any area of the home that has been impacted by the leak.
It is important to point out that when individuals try to turn off the tap, they frequently find that they are unable to do so because it has passed so much time since it had previously turned. Because you won’t be able to halt the leak if you are unable to turn down the tap, you should be sure to turn it on a frequent basis so that you don’t risk damaging your property.
