How Do I Check My Home for Water Leaks?

Owning a home comes with lots of joy, but also lots of responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is making sure you stay ahead of any potential major damages or destructions by maintaining your home. Checking for leaks is an important, crucial task to ensure you complete. Prior to purchasing a home, you’ll undergo an initial home inspection. It’s important to keep up with those home inspections, or even complete them yourself once a year so that you can stay ahead and be proactive when it comes to tackling repairs.

Checking for water leaks is one of the more important items to check off of the inspection list. This can be one of the most damaging if not caught early as leaks can cause slow long-term damage that can go unnoticed. Follow some of these tips and steps that the crew at Handyman Connection of McKinney has put together to make sure you know how to check your home for water leaks.

One of the best ways to find out if you have a leak in your plumbing system is by going straight to the source: the water meter. Before checking the meter, make sure no water is being used inside or outside the house while you are checking it. After that’s done, take a look at the leak indicator to see if the dial or hand is moving. The leak indicator might look like a small triangular dial or a wheel that rotates when water flows through the meter. If you’re 100% sure that no water is on while you’re checking this and the dial is moving, it might indicate a leak. You can also take a reading of your meter and wait a couple of hours to take another reading. If the reading has adjusted or changed in any way, that also indicates that you have a leak.

The next step is determining the location of your leak. Start by examining each room and areas around the outside of your house that may have this effect on the meter. Locate your home’s main shut off valve and turn the water off. You will most likely find this in the garage or basement if you have one. Again, keep checking the leak indicator and make sure that no water is being used during your test. If the indicator or meter stops moving, that will indicate a leak inside of your house. If the leak moves or changes, then the leak is outside between the meter and the house. If you’re unable to locate the location or general area of the leak, you may want to call a professional for help.

After you’ve located the area of the leak, a number of other measurements and inspections need to be completed before addressing the actual issue. If you need help locating a leak or need help repairing a leak, be sure to give our crew at Handyman Connection of McKinney a call as we’re here to help.