Sprung a Leak in Your Home? Here’s What You Need to Do

Contributed post.

​There’s nothing worse than discovering a mystery leak in your home. If something goes wrong with your plumbing, you need to act quickly to prevent major damage to your property and your belongings, and to get it fixed right away. Some leaks are more disastrous than others, but even a small leak can lead to a big problem.

Here’s how you can deal with a leak in your home and get it sorted as soon as possible.

Find the Source

The first step is to find out where the leak is coming from. 

Leaks can happen for a number of reasons. Pipes and drains can corrode over time, causing a slow leak that might eventually cause the pipe itself to burst more dramatically, especially if there’s a lot of water pressure. The leak can also be caused by exterior damage, loose connections, or a burst pipe due to freezing and thawing in winter.

Ideally, you want to prevent these issues before they happen, but being aware of what could cause leaks can help you find where they are.

You also need to know how dirty the water is. A sewage leak is far more damaging than an ordinary water leak, and you can usually identify it immediately from the smell.

Preventing Further Damage

Once you know where the leak is, you should try to control the water. This is easier for a slower leak, for obvious reasons. You can sometimes use a bucket or towels to catch the water and prevent it from spreading. Move everything you can out of the path of the leak.

If you have a more serious leak, one option could be to turn your water supply off. While this prevents you from using water in your home, it’s sometimes the only way to prevent significant water damage from an uncontrollable leak.

Call an Emergency Plumber

One of the first things you should do is get in touch with your local plumbers for an emergency callout. Ideally, if there are more than one of you in the house, one person should make the call while the other person tries to stop more damage. The sooner you call, the sooner a plumber can come and fix the problem.

Identifying the leak can help them work from the right area more quickly, and moving things out of the way before the plumber gets there doesn’t just prevent more damage; it allows them to get to work as soon as they arrive.

Repairing Any Damage

Sometimes, no matter how quickly you act, you might still have some water damage to deal with. In this case, let it dry out as quickly as possible so you can properly determine the extent of the damage.

From there, you can look into water damage restoration. This is especially important in areas with wooden floors or other materials that are more prone to water damage. The sooner it’s fixed, the better the end result will be.