If left alone, a leak in your property can cause devastating damage to your home. Here’s how you should approach the problem of a leak.
Spot the Signs of Trouble
There are a number of key signs of trouble when it comes to leaks. It’s important that you recognise these so that you can avoid more trouble by letting the problem get worse. Your walls, floor and ceiling is where you’ll find most of the problems. Minor signs like slight damage to your flooring or loose tiles can be easy to miss, so keep an eye out for them in case they cause serious damage over time.
Some problems are pretty impossible to miss though. Persistent mould is something you’ll spot if water is leaking from a pipe in your house. You’ll probably pick up on the smell as well of the sight of it. You might also see stains and wet patches on the ceiling and the walls. Other things to look out for include loose toilets and sinks, water gathering around the bases of fittings and deteriorating caulk around baths and sinks.
Find the Source
Once you’ve realised that there is a problem, you need to find out exactly where the leak has started. This isn’t always an easy thing to do though. There are a lot of possible sources of the leak, and some of them will be pretty well hidden. Some pipes that carry water can be very difficult to find unless you have an intricate knowledge of your home’s plumbing. If you can’t see where the leak is coming from, it might be best to contact a plumber.
Not all problems are hard to uncover though. You should start by checking your shower door. The most common cause of damage to laminate flooring and poolings of water in the bathroom is a poor shower door. Leaks in a sink’s supply line can be checked by turning the tap on and seeing if any water drips from the pipes underneath the sink. If you think that the problem is coming from your toilet, check the flange and that the toilet is screwed to the floor correctly.
Get it Fixed
If the problem is coming from your shower door, that’s easy to fix. Just have the door replaced, and you’re done. Leaks coming from the drainage system are not so simple to sort out though. These usually result in water damage to the ceiling below. You might have to replace the gasket and the drain flange. If that still doesn’t solve the problem, having a professional look at it is probably the best option.
For problems with your kitchen sink, tightening screws and making sure the pipes are in working condition is usually the way to fix the problem. If water is pooling on your worktops, you need to secure the faucets with a spanner so that no water will be able to leak through. And if the problem is underneath the sink, try tightening the packing nut. If this doesn’t stop the leak, you might have to replace the valve. If the leak is at the shut-off, you should start by tightening the compression nut rather than the packing nut.
Having to deal with a leak is never much fun, but let this simple guide help you.