You might think you will know when you have a leaky pipe in your home, but leaks aren’t always as easy to spot as you might think. You’ll almost certainly know when you have a burst pipe that is causing your basement to flood, but smaller leaks are surprisingly easy to overlook until the damage is done.
The best way to find out if you have a leak in your home is to contact Precision Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric and let us take a look at your plumbing. However, there are still signs that you should watch for that could indicate a leak somewhere in your house.
Increasing Water Bills
Water bills can go up for a number of reasons. For example, you can expect higher than usual bills in the summer when you have to water your lawn regularly or if you have a pool on your property. You might also notice high water bills if you have houseguests who are using more water than your household normally would. On the other hand, if your water bills are going up when you haven’t been using more water than usual, you might have a leak somewhere in your home.
Mold and Mildew
Unless you stay on top of cleaning your shower or bathtub, you probably have a little mold and mildew in your bathroom. That’s normal, and it goes away with diligent cleaning with the right products. However, visible mold and mildew on walls, baseboards, floors, and ceilings is a serious problem that could become a health hazard if it goes unchecked. This can be caused by a number of things such as a leaky roof or flooding after a severe storm, but a leaky pipe is a common culprit, especially when it happens in your kitchen or bathroom.
You obviously need to fix a leaky pipe that causes mold growth in your home, but you will likely need to get rid of the mold itself before it becomes a health hazard. Contact Precision Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric to have us deal with your leaking pipe, but contact someone who specializes in mold removal while you’re at it.
Musty Smells
If you have mold growing in your home, you will likely smell it before you see it. It has a damp, musty smell that can be incredibly unpleasant. If the problem is coming from a leaky pipe, the smell could also be stagnant water that is allowed to pool in your home. Either way, you will need to find and fix the leak and remove any mold before the smell will go away.
Water Stains in Your Walls, Floors, and Ceiling
Water stains are sometimes hard to spot. Many of them appear as dingy spots on your walls that look like they can be wiped away. Others still may look like faint outlines, almost as if something was hanging on your wall at some point. However, water spots are almost always signs that something is very wrong just behind your walls. If you see anything that looks like a water stain that is getting worse with time, you might have a leaky pipe in your home.
You might also notice similar stains on your floors if your plumbing is leaking. If you do, step on it to see what happens. If it creaks more than usual or sinks down, you likely have water damage.
Keep in mind that water-damaged walls, floors, and ceilings might be caused by things other than a leaky pipe. Water damage in ceilings can be caused by a leak in your roof, while high humidity and poor ventilation can do a lot of damage to floors and walls. As always, it’s best to consider all possibilities whenever you have to fix water damage in your home.
A Water Meter That Keeps Running
One of the best ways to find out if you have a leak in your home is to shut off your water completely and take a look at your water meter. Naturally, your water meter should stop running if your water is shut off. If it doesn’t, it means you’re still losing water somewhere in your home. This is likely caused by a leak that you’ll need to find and fix.
Wet Spots on Your Property
If a pipe is leaking in your home, you will likely see puddles of standing water near the pipe. That much is a given. Sadly, not all leaks are that visible. Some leaks occur behind your walls or in a crawlspace where you rarely look. Still, you might still see some wet spots from leaky pipes if you look carefully enough. A leaky pipe in your wall could actually cause the wall to be damp to the touch, and a leak in your home’s sewer line could cause your lawn to feel wet and spongy in certain places. Granted, these problems could be caused by other things, but they are also signs of a possible water leak.
If you suspect that you have a leak, look for these wet spots. Start in places where you have exposed pipes to see if there are puddles of standing water or water-damaged floors. If you can’t find anything, check your walls and your backyard. You’ll likely see something if the leak is severe enough.
Cracks In Your Foundation
Houses naturally settle over time, which can cause tiny hairline cracks in your walls. These aren’t difficult to fix, nor are they cause for alarm. On the other hand, if you see a larger crack appear seemingly out of nowhere that keeps getting worse, you might have a leak that is damaging your house’s foundation. This is a serious problem. An undermined foundation will slowly sink, which will cause even more cracks and other signs of damage as your house is literally slowly being torn apart.
As with the other signs discussed here, a crack in your foundation can be caused by things other than a leaking pipe. If you notice such problems along with any other signs of a leak, contact us right away to find the problem before you contact someone to fix your foundation and your walls.
Contact Precision Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric for Assistance
A leaky pipe can do thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to a house if it goes unchecked. It will also break your bank with rising water bills, so it’s imperative that you find and repair any leaks in your house before things get out of hand. Fortunately, that’s where we can assist you. We at Precision Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric specialize in leak detection, plumbing repairs, sump pump services, and many other plumbing services that can repair the damage caused by a leaking pipe. We also offer drain cleaning services as well as trenchless sewer repair, so don’t hesitate to contact us with any of your plumbing needs.
For more information about our plumbing services or if you suspect that you have a leak somewhere in your home, contact Precision Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric in Boulder, CO today.
