A leaky pipe is both an annoying and challenging problem to track down and deal with. Unlike a dripping faucet or a blocked toilet, a leaking pipe is not always visible or apparent. However, it can still take a toll on a home through wasted dollars and even water damage.
If you’re not sure whether your home has a leaky pipe in it somewhere, keep an eye out for these four signs.
Mold Outside The Bathroom
Because people take baths and showers in a bathroom, it’s a given that the heavier presence of moisture in this room will mean mold and mildew find it easy to grow here. However, while it’s normal in your bathtub or shower stall, it’s not customary in other parts of your home.
If you find mold or mildew accumulating in a specific part or parts of your home that is not the bathrooms, that could be evidence of a leaking pipe. The more significant water presence in that area from the leaking pipe creates a suitable environment for mold growth.
Your Water Bill Is Spiking
In some households, a sharp rise in the water bill could be more family members wasting water and, upon being questioned, lying about it. But in other situations, everyone in a household could be sensibly using water. However, water bills are still rising as if people are letting taps run or taking showers that last for hours.
If you know water isn’t being used frivolously in your home, but your water bill is still on the rise, odds are the water is literally leaking away, but the water company is still charging it as being used.
Your Water Meter Is Always Running
The water company only charges you when water is used in a building. Every time a toilet is flushed, a faucet runs, or a laundry machine goes off, this adds to a water meter. However, this also means that if none of these things are being used, your water meter should not be running up and counting off used gallons of water.
If you’re not running any water-consuming appliances or even turn off the water in your home, and the water meter is still running, indicating water use, you’ve got a leak.
You See Water Damage
The only time a leaky pipe is visible to you is if the leak is located in a portion of the wall or ceiling where the leak can make contact with the part of the home you see. In other words, if you notice that there’s a water stain in your ceiling or on the part of a wall, that means that water has been leaking steadily enough and long enough that’s it’s damaged the plaster or drywall in that area. It is now the victim of water damage.
If left alone, this water damage will spread, leading to higher repair costs as it’s now not just the leak that needs to be fixed but parts of the structure.
If you have a leaking pipe in your Suffolk County home that needs quick response and fix, we can help. Contact us, and let us find the leak and repair it.