Many of us cannot imagine life without running water. Though it makes our lives easier, water can still cause a lot of strife. Leaks, visible and hidden ones, allow water to go where it is not supposed to be, and the impact can be catastrophic. A neglected water leak can quickly lead to health issues, structural damage, and expensive repairs.
Dangers of Ignoring a Leak in Your Home
Mold and Fungi Growth
One of the biggest issues that comes with leaks and water damage is mold growth. Fungi and mold thrive in moist, damp environments. Mold spores spread through the area and pollute the air in your home. This can have a serious impact on your health and your family’s health. It can lower the air quality, cause allergic reactions, and trigger asthma symptoms. To protect your family’s health, you must find the source of the leak, repair it, and clean up the affected area as quickly as possible.
Structural Damage
Another serious problem that goes hand in hand with leaks is structural damage. Water can seep into the structural elements of your home and cause costly harm to them. Drywall and other materials swell, warp, and weaken when they absorb water. Severe water damage can impact the structural integrity of your floor, ceilings, walls, and even the foundation. These issues make your home less safe to live in for your whole family. Plus, they can cost a lot of money to fix, especially if the damage is severe enough. Sometimes, you may not even know you have a leak or that your home is sustaining water damage. You will need to hire a professional company that specializes in leak detection in Sacramento to find the source of the leak so you can inspect and repair the damage it has caused.
Attract Pests
Leaks and sitting water can also attract all sorts of pests to your home. Just like you, these critters need water to survive and, by neglecting your leak, you have given them the perfect source. Leaks often draw in pests like mice, rats, cockroaches, termites, carpenter ants, silverfish, and more. All of these pests thrive in areas where moisture is present like basements, bathrooms, and kitchens. Keep in mind, too, that pests in your home are more than just an annoyance. They can cause damage to your home, bring in germs and disease, and even contaminate your food. Prevent these negative effects and more by repairing your water leak the first time you notice it.
Empty Your Bank Account
Water leaks in the home can also have a serious impact on your bank account. Think about all the wasted water pooling in your home and adding to your monthly water bill. But that isn’t the only cost you’ll need to consider. Though fixing a leak may seem expensive, mold removal, home renovations, and pest control will cost even more. By handling the problem right away, you can catch the problem in its early stages, mitigate the damage, and cut down on costs in the long term.If you believe you have a water leak in your home, contact us at Bullseye Leak Detection, Inc. to learn how we can help.
Various Causes of Water Leaks
No one wants to experience a plumbing leak. They’re inconvenient and tend to happen at the worst possible times. Not to mention, leak repairs in Sacramento can be expensive, particularly if you weren’t prepared for what can often be a costly job. There’s also the fact that some leaks can be completely hidden from sight, which results in not only the need for a plumber, but a professional who specializes in water leak detection in Sacramento, CA.
Leaks can occur anywhere that you have plumbing, and that can include the slab upon which your home sits. However, no matter where a leak has sprung, it must be quickly remedied to prevent extensive damage that can not only be expensive to repair, but can result in dangerous mold growth that negatively impacts indoor air quality. Not only can leaks lead to secondary damage, but they will also needlessly drive your utility bills higher, which will cost you even more money. Modern plumbing is resilient and can work flawlessly for years without any trouble. However, when it does begin to leak, there can be many varied causes that are at the heart of the problem. Read on to learn more about a few of the common causes of plumbing leaks in your household plumbing.
Faulty Fixtures
The kind of leaks that spring from your fixtures aren’t usually the type that result in structural damage or mold growth. That’s because if a fixture is leaking, it will likely be leaking into a receptacle such as a bathtub, shower, or sink. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s not important to repair fixture leaks, as they can cost you a lot of money over time. Fixtures sometimes include O-rings, washers, and seals that wear out over time, which can lead to slow dribbling leaks. Fixtures also endure a lot of wear and tear over time, and valves may become slack or lose their tight seal. All these factors lead to fixture leaks that can cost you a lot of money is left unrepaired.
Compromised Seals
There are many junctures in your household plumbing that requires seals to prevent leakage. Some of those seals are mechanical in nature, such as valve mechanisms, while others like washers and gaskets are more passive. If those seals become worn or degrade over time, they can let water drip through. Depending on the location of the leak, it can result in small leaks that can create tremendous water damage in your walls or beneath your floors.
Cracked Pipes of Joints
Pipes are the backbone of your plumbing system, and though they can last for years without attention, any damage to your pipes can result in severe leaks. The water in your pipes is under extreme pressure, and all it needs is the smallest fissure to start a leak. Pipes can become cracked if they are bent, are exposed to freezing temperatures that make pipes expand, or if they are subject to excess pressure for long periods of time. Rusting or corrosion can also lead to cracks and perforations in your pipes, which will result in high-pressure leaks that can cause a lot of water damage in a short amount of time.
Uncleared Clogs
Clogs aren’t a problem for the input side of your plumbing, but they can plague the sewage lines that carry wastewater out of your home. Most sewage systems aren’t sealed tightly because they are not under pressure. Most are gravity-driven systems that require the sewage pipe leading from the home to have some drop. Weak pressure from flowing water helps move wastewater downstream. However, if there is a clog in your sewer line, water can build upstream and eventually cause leaks that are quite destructive. That’s one reason that any sewage clog should be cleared immediately to prevent costly property damage and an altogether unpleasant situation.
Where Leaks Come From
Where do leaks come from? What causes those irritating drips and troublesome puddles in your plumbing? The truth is, there’s no single cause of a leak. There are many possible reasons that your pipes might spring a leak. Keep reading to learn the most common sources for plumbing leaks and how to determine if you need plumbing repair in Sacramento.
Joint Troubles
Just as you can develop joint problems as you get older, your pipes can too. Most pipe leaks occur at a joint, where one pipe connects to another. It’s easier for water to find a weakness where there’s a connection between 2 pipes, rather than having to wear down a solid piece of metal in the center of a pipe. But in addition, the water in your pipes experiences a lot more turbulence when passing through a joint or bend. It’s forced to swirl and squeeze around that corner, which causes the area around the joint to wear down much more quickly than the straight parts of your pipes.
This is why it’s best to minimize the number of bends in your plumbing system, as it will reduce the number of locations where a leak is likely to form. If you have a leak in your plumbing somewhere, checking those bends is a good bet to help you pinpoint the location quickly.
Water Attributes
Water is water. When it comes to your plumbing, that’s not entirely true. Water can have different attributes depending on your area and your home’s system. One common cause of plumbing leaks is a higher concentration of minerals in your water—also referred to as hard water. Though you might overlook the minerals yourself, these microscopic deposits are quite coarse. As the water passes through your pipes, it scrapes along with the metal and wears it down much more quickly than softer water would. If you live in an area prone to hard water, investing in a water softener can reduce the odds of a pipe leak.
Additionally, your water’s pH value can impact your pipes. Most water should have a pH level right around neutral, but sometimes, certain chemicals in the water can skew that pH value. If your water is slightly acidic, it will eat away at the pipelining, making it wear and more prone to leaks.
Water Pressure
Another common cause of plumbing leaks is high water pressure. We all like having good, strong water pressure in our showers, but it can damage your pipes if your water pressure is too high. High water pressure means that the water in your pipes moves at a very high velocity; the faster it moves, the rougher it is on your pipes’ inner linings. Over time, this can cause tiny hairline fractures in the pipes that leak.
Determining If You Need a Plumber
Whatever the cause of your leak, it’s important to determine if this is something you can handle alone or something you need a plumber for. If the leak is at a joint and can be fixed by simply tightening that elbow piece in your pipes, you might be able to take care of the problem. But if the leak is caused by wear and damage to your pipes, you should contact Bullseye Leak Repair and schedule an appointment with a plumbing contractor in Sacramento today.
Signs You Need Professional Leak Detection
Leaks are easy to spot, right? You can see the faucet dripping, moisture under your sink, or puddles pooling around your toilet. When you notice all these things, you know exactly where the leak is, and you can find someone to fix it—or fix it yourself if you’re handy enough. So why would you ever need to hire a water leak detection company in Sacramento, CA, to find a leak for you? Here are a few signs that indicate a professional is what you need.
Puddles on the Floor or Yard
Sometimes, a puddle leads you right to the leak under your sink or dishwasher. Other times, it’s just a little spill that needs cleaning up. But if you’re finding puddles on your floor or in your yard, and there’s no clear explanation for where they came from, you have a bigger problem on your hands. Likely, there is an underground pipe leaking on your property and moisture seeping through your foundation or lawn. This isn’t the kind of leak that you can handle on your own; you can’t even really pinpoint it on your own. It would be best if you relied on a professional to handle underground leaks of any kind.
Unexplained High Water Bills
Water bills can go up for several reasons. Yards require more water in the summer. Visitors can increase water consumption in your home. But high water bills without an explanation can point to a leak—one that you can’t see yourself. This leak could be in a pipe in a wall that hasn’t made itself visible yet, or it could be underground, as described above. Either way, the sooner you get a professional to find it and fix it for you, the sooner you can stop paying for water you’re not even using.
Mold Growth
Where there’s mold, there’s moisture. Sometimes, you can find where that moisture is coming from yourself. But if the problem has progressed to the point there is mold growing in your home; you want to ensure it’s handled as quickly as possible. A professional will be able to track down the leak, fix it, and deal with the mold problem in a much shorter amount of time than you can do it yourself. It’s always best to stop mold sooner rather than later, as it can spread very quickly.
Sound of Running Water
Sometimes you can hear a leak, but you can’t see it. If you hear dripping sounds or a whooshing noise when no faucets are open, and no appliances are using water, there’s probably a leak somewhere. Perhaps you can use your ears to get an idea of the general area where the leak is located. But if you can’t see it, you can’t fix it. A professional can get the exact location of the leak so that you can minimize the amount of demolition required to repair the problem.
Any time you have a leak that isn’t in an exposed pipe, you’ll need to cut out portions of your walls or dig up areas of your property. When this kind of work is required, you don’t want to have to dig up the whole pipe or expose the entire wall’s worth of plumbing to find the exact source of the leak. Professional leak detection and repair in Sacramento helps you avoid this to minimize repair costs.
The Importance of Early Water Leak Detection for Homeowners
Water is a precious resource, but it’s one that is too often wasted thanks to costly leaks. While water isn’t an expensive amenity when it comes to standard utility costs, an unmitigated water leak at your home or place of business can lead to a tremendous spike in your monthly bill. That alone would be enough cause to contact a provider of water leak repair in Sacramento, CA, to help locate and repair or seal off the leak.
However, there are other secondary costs associated with water leaks that are quite expensive due to the amount of damage they can inflict. Some leaks lurk out of sight, a circumstance which can lead to extensive structural damage to your home or business. Unmitigated water leaks can even endanger your health in some cases. That’s why it’s important to contact a water leak detector if you see the signs of a leak in your home. Early detection can be a key factor in mitigating the damage done by a water leak. Keep reading to learn why early detection of water leaks is so important for the average homeowner.
Utility Costs
When you have a dripping faucet, there’s no doubt it will cost you additional money on your water bill. While that amount may only be pennies in the span of a single month, over the course of a year that leaky spigot could add up to a more noticeable amount. But when you have a larger leak, the amount of water wasted and ensuing cost can be tremendous. That could cause an immediate unexpected spike in your utility bill that won’t relent until the leak has been repaired. You can avoid those expanded water bills by calling in a leak detection service to locate a hard-to-find leak. The alternative is conducting an exhaustive search yourself, which will only cost you more money in lost water.
Property Damage
Your home isn’t made to flourish in a high-humidity environment. Most residences contain wooden structural components, such as studs, framing, trusses, and gables. When water leaks into attics, crawlspaces, and walls, it begins a cascade of problems that can result in the need for replacement of large portions of your home’s structures. Wood rots when wet, and leaks have the power to inject water into places that were never intended to experience moisture. When a leak is sprung, it’s critical to locate it quickly to prevent damage to your home that could cost you thousands of dollars to repair.
Mold Growth
Even a small leak in a wall of confined area can create the perfect setting for the development of dangerous mold in your home. It takes little time for spores to activate under the right conditions, and those dark, moist conditions are common whenever there’s a leak inside your home. Given the quick timeline for mold development and its impact on the health of you and your family, early leak detection is the best way to prevent a potentially dangerous mold infestation.
Water Safety
Your plumbing represents a closed loop system that is supposed to be sanitary. The only opening in your plumbing occurs when you open a spigot, and that positive pressure of water streaming out prevents contaminants from entering your water supply under most conditions. If there’s a leak between the water main and your faucet, that provides an opportunity for contaminants to enter your water supply. They can include dangerous pathogens, chemicals, and detritus that can make your water unsafe to drink. The earlier you can detect a leak and repair it, the less likely your water supply is to become corrupted.
The Perks of Hiring a Leak Detection Company
When you find water leaks at your home, the damage might already be far-reaching and expensive to repair. That’s why it’s a good idea to hire a company for water leak detection in Sacramento, CA, as a precautionary measure before the problem gets out of hand. Protecting your home from water damage should always be one of your main priorities to keep your home in its best condition. Check out these five perks of hiring a water leak specialist today.
It’s Cost-Effective
Many people refuse to pay for water leak detection services because they’re under the impression that these services are expensive. Surprisingly, they’re quite affordable. In fact, they’re much more affordable than paying thousands of dollars for plumbing repairs, foundation repairs, and other services you need following a water leak in Sacramento, CA.
Leak Detection Protects Your Belongings
When a tiny leak turns into burst pipe, any belongings in the area are at risk from water damage. Many leaks aren’t protected by homeowner’s insurance either. This means you won’t have insurance money to replace furniture and other belongings. Of course, no amount of money can replace belongings with sentimental value. Hiring a leak detection specialist helps you eliminate this problem and protects your household valuables.
Protection for Your Family
Did you know that even the smallest amount of water can cause unhealthy living conditions? Mold loves wet conditions, and when it starts to grow, it grows fast. Mold isn’t just unsightly to look at, it’s also dangerous. Breathing in mold spores, especially those from black mold, cause respiratory and other issues. Also, if a sewer pipe bursts and raw sewage backs up in your home, you have the added worry of getting rid of wastewater from your property. Hiring a water leak finder in Sacramento keeps your family safe.
Improves Property Value
Homes that have been exposed to water have problems that aren’t always noticed right away. Unfortunately, by the time these problems are exposed, your home’s structure and interior components could be compromised. It doesn’t matter if you’re planning to sell next week or selling isn’t even on your radar. Anything that lowers the value of your home is a bad thing.
Slab leaks are especially harmful to your home’s foundation and affect the value of the home. These leaks form in water pipes under the concrete foundation of your home. They are hard to find without professional leak detection service because they are tiny and hidden. Yet, even a small amount of water leaking from an underground pipe can eat away at your foundation and the soil. Leak detection services find the smallest leaks and give you the information you need to get help right away.
Convenient
Detection services for a water line leak in Sacramento, CA, don’t take long and can be done around your schedule. Many companies offer 24-hour service to meet the needs of their customers. With so many appointment opportunities, there’s really not an excuse to put off this preventive maintenance service.
Tips for Choosing a Leak Detection Company
Sometimes it’s easy to spot a leak in your home: there’s a wet patch in your ceiling or mold growing along your walls. At other times, it may not be so easy to detect yourself. It’s these hidden leaks that can do damage since they can waste water and cause thousands of dollars of structural damage before you’re even aware of them. If high water bills or other signs make you suspect that you have a leak somewhere in your house, it’s important to use an experienced leak detection service in Sacramento, CA, to be able to find and resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Here are some of the most important things to look for when choosing a company to work with.
Experience
First, how much experience does the company have? Have they only been around for a year or two, or have they been established in your area for a decade or more? You should also ask about the personal experience of the individual people who will be inspecting your home. Ideally, they should stay involved in learning about new leak detection techniques and equipment.
It’s also important to make sure the company has the right kind of experience. Someone who deals with septic tanks and toilet replacements may not have the expertise required for pool leak detection in Sacramento, for example. Find out what the company specializes in and what its technicians do day in and day out, so you know you have the right team for the job.
Equipment
Many leaks can be very difficult to spot without special equipment, even for trained professionals. The company should have the latest tools that allow them to pinpoint the source of the problem without tearing apart your house. For instance, they may use ultrasonic listening devices or molecule counters, depending on the severity or faintness of the leak. Some may also use miniature cameras or sewer inspection equipment that can allow them to get a good look at the pipe in question.
Licensing
Any company you hire to work on your home should be a contractor licensed in the state of California. They should carry a current C36 license to perform work on your plumbing system. Hiring a company without proper licensing leaves you liable for any problems or damages that might occur. A licensed contractor knows both state and local codes.
Reputation
Finally, look for a company that has a good reputation for quality work. Once again, this is where it helps to work with a company that has been around for a while. Many people get recommendations from friends or neighbors when looking for home repairs. You can also look online to see what people are saying about the company and its employees on yelp, google, and other review sites. Keep in mind that it’s rare for any business to have perfect reviews 100% of the time, but the majority should be positive. Another strategy is to get recommendations from other professionals in the field. Regular plumbers, as a rule of thumb, don’t specialize in leak detection, for example, so you can ask your plumber or general contractor who they. Pool service companies don’t specialize in pool leaks, so ask for their recommendation when it comes to pool leak detection service in Sacramento, CA.
The Perks of Hiring a Leak Detection Company
When you find water leaks at your home, the damage might already be far-reaching and expensive to repair. That’s why it’s a good idea to hire a company for water leak detection in Sacramento, CA, as a precautionary measure before the problem gets out of hand. Protecting your home from water damage should always be one of your main priorities to keep your home in its best condition. Check out these five perks of hiring a water leak specialist today.
It’s Cost-Effective
Many people refuse to pay for water leak detection services because they’re under the impression that these services are expensive. Surprisingly, they’re quite affordable. In fact, they’re much more affordable than paying thousands of dollars for plumbing repairs, foundation repairs, and other services you need following a water leak in Sacramento, CA.
Leak Detection Protects Your Belongings
When a tiny leak turns into burst pipe, any belongings in the area are at risk from water damage. Many leaks aren’t protected by homeowner’s insurance either. This means you won’t have insurance money to replace furniture and other belongings. Of course, no amount of money can replace belongings with sentimental value. Hiring a leak detection specialist helps you eliminate this problem and protects your household valuables.
Protection for Your Family
Did you know that even the smallest amount of water can cause unhealthy living conditions? Mold loves wet conditions, and when it starts to grow, it grows fast. Mold isn’t just unsightly to look at, it’s also dangerous. Breathing in mold spores, especially those from black mold, cause respiratory and other issues. Also, if a sewer pipe bursts and raw sewage backs up in your home, you have the added worry of getting rid of wastewater from your property. Hiring a water leak finder in Sacramento keeps your family safe.
Improves Property Value
Homes that have been exposed to water have problems that aren’t always noticed right away. Unfortunately, by the time these problems are exposed, your home’s structure and interior components could be compromised. It doesn’t matter if you’re planning to sell next week or selling isn’t even on your radar. Anything that lowers the value of your home is a bad thing.
Slab leaks are especially harmful to your home’s foundation and affect the value of the home. These leaks form in water pipes under the concrete foundation of your home. They are hard to find without professional leak detection service because they are tiny and hidden. Yet, even a small amount of water leaking from an underground pipe can eat away at your foundation and the soil. Leak detection services find the smallest leaks and give you the information you need to get help right away.
Convenient
Detection services for a water line leak in Sacramento, CA, don’t take long and can be done around your schedule. Many companies offer 24-hour service to meet the needs of their customers. With so many appointment opportunities, there’s really not an excuse to put off this preventive maintenance service.
