What to do about it!
Suspecting that your property has a leaky pipe can be a frustrating and worrisome suspicion, and for good reason!
Leaking pipes can be as obvious as hearing dripping and actually having visible flooding out of cabinets, or it can be buried deep in one of your wall claddings where it is harder to detect – but either way, they can cause expensive damage to your property!
Catching a leaky pipe early is the goal to minimise repairs to both the pipe and the surrounding damage.
So how do you figure out if you have a leaky pipe? What are you meant to do about it?
The Signs Of A Leaky Pipe
You can smell a leak if it has been going on for a little while undetected, as it causes the surrounding area to become damp and start to smell. If you can smell any kind of mustiness that grows stronger as you move to certain areas of your property, with no obvious other culprits for the smell, you may need to call the experts to come and have a look and check for any other leaking signs which may need further investigation inside your walls to find the source of the smell.
This one is a dead giveaway of a potential leak as you may be able to clearly see where the water is pooling, particularly in the ceiling. The wall may appear swollen or spongy to the touch if a leak has affected the cladding and inside the walls.
While changing seasons can make your water usage and related bills fluctuate, if you suspect a skyrocketing water bill isn’t adding up then there could be something else at play. It could be that somewhere in your property, water is passively escaping – and you’re paying for it!
Checking all of your rooms for any damp spots, spongey walls, musty smells or dripping sounds is the first way to start investigating a potential leak. If there’s no obvious sign, calling an expert to have a thorough inspection of your property may make it easier to pinpoint if a leak is the cause of your bills to rise.
While low water pressure can be down to other problems like a clogged shower head, it can also indicate that there is water escaping from a crack somewhere else which causes your pressure to dip. If the pressure isn’t consistently low across the house, try descaling and cleaning the showerhead or tap that is suffering from noticeable low pressure to see if that makes a difference or if there is a bigger problem at play.
Where there is mould, there is dampness. While visible mould and mildew isn’t instantly an indication of a leak, if ventilation and other factors aren’t present and explaining why there is mould in the area, it could be smart to have an expert take a look just in case there could be a deeper problem.
The most obvious and irritating sign of a leak is the tell-tale drip drip drip of water somewhere in a room where there shouldn’t be. If it sounds like it’s coming from somewhere it shouldn’t be, there is probably a leak somewhere that will need attention.
Another easy way to tell if you ever have a leak in a pipe is to regularly check your water usage so that you know what ‘normal’ water usage looks like on paper, and can then see the high water usage difference when you have guests or are watering your lawn during the summer.
Knowing the difference in your usages will make it easier to notice a sudden spike in your water usage that can not be explained, and therefore a sign of a leak that needs a repair before it causes damage in your property.
If you think it’s time for a leak expert to come take a look, give our team at Easy Flow Drainage a bell today!