Did you know that an untreated water leak can, over time, destroy an entire home or building? Even structures made of concrete and steel are not immune. Water is a powerful force. A small leak in your roof may leave a puddle in the attic, but the water can eventually make its way down to your home’s foundation. By then, extensive repair services become the only solution. You might even need to rip out and rebuild parts of your home.
If an apparent leak can do so much damage, imagine what hidden plumbing leaks can do! Contacting a water damage remediation company to identify the source of a leak can save you hundreds and, more likely, thousands of dollars.
What is Water Damage Remediation?
Water remediation is the process of cleaning and repairing water damage from a flood or another water incident in your Central Florida home. It includes steps like water extraction, drying, cleaning, and sanitizing that are taken before you begin restoration work. Water remediation is vital to making sure your home is returned to the dry and sanitary environment that existed before the water damage occurred.
Most homes experience water damage from leaking pipes at some point. The good news is that it doesn’t need to be catastrophic or permanent. You can hire an experienced remediation company to locate and repair any water damage and restore your home and personal belongings.
Reasons Plumbing Leak Detection is Important
Plumbing leaks are a key cause of property damage. Not only are they responsible for weakening structures and destroying personal belongings, but they also waste a crucial natural resource. Water leaks also promote mold growth, creating health problems for you and your family.
Detection is a crucial first step in stopping plumbing leaks. Left unchecked, even the smallest of leaks can escalate into a ruinous water intrusion event. The longer a leak goes undetected, the bigger—and more expensive—any repair work will be. Timely plumbing leak detection ensures repairs are done immediately, which can save you a lot of money.
Here are just some of the reasons it’s so important to invest in plumbing leak detection services.
- Eliminate unreasonably high water bills: We all know water isn’t free. It’s also becoming a more scarce and valuable commodity and, as such, is more expensive. It’s important for homeowners to ensure the water they’re paying for isn’t being wasted. A professional remediation company can perform leak detection in your home, saving you big money in the long term.
- Water safety: A continuous supply of water is convenient, but it isn’t enough. It’s also important to know your home’s water supply is safe for your and your family to use, drink, and cook with. When water supply pipes develop a leak, it’s possible for contaminants to get into the water supply. Professional leak detection services give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing your water supply is safe.
- Environment: Conserving water is essential for anyone concerned about the environment. As populations boom, water demands drastically increase. Droughts are more frequent, snowpacks are being reduced each year, and many states’ reservoirs are at their all-time lowest levels. Preserving water supplies through leak detection is simply the most eco-friendly thing to do.
- Averting structural damage: There’s a high cost that can come when you delay detecting and repairing plumbing leaks. Leak detection helps keep a lesser amount of damage from growing into a widespread pricey endeavor. Plumbing leak detection allows you to quickly fix any problems before they get out of hand, saving you a great deal of trouble and expense later on.
- Preventing other property damage: It’s worth repeating; water leaks do far more than waste water. Over time, a ground leak causes significant damage to a home’s foundation, increases moisture within the structure, and encourages the growth of mold and other infestations. All these problems can be extremely expensive to solve. Plus, water main breaks can damage adjacent properties. Leak detection helps mitigate the possibility of these disasters happening.
- Maximized water usage: Water leak detection ensures you, and possibly your neighbors, get the maximum benefit from your current water supply system.
- Reliable water supply: One of the most important reasons for carrying out water leak detection is to ensure a reliable water supply for everyone who needs it, including homeowners, businesses, and emergency services such as fire departments.
A water damage remediation contractor helps safeguard you and your property against the damaging consequences of plumbing leaks. The sooner you locate a leak, the sooner you can begin to assess the damage, mitigate further damage, and get your home back to normal.
How a Water Remediation Contractor Helps Locate Plumbing Leaks
The truth is many plumbing water leaks are hidden. Water and drain lines are installed underground and within walls and ceilings. Though leaks manifest themselves through signs like spiraling water bills, mysterious puddles, and the sound of running water, figuring out where they’re located is challenging—and there might be more than one leak!
Contacting a detection expert as soon as you suspect a plumbing leak is damaging your home helps mitigate the effects of water damage caused by leaky pipes, water heaters, sinks, tubs, and other places throughout the house. A professional remediation company uses its skills, experience, and advanced water leak detection technologies to locate leaks at their exact source. There’s no guesswork, which means technicians can quickly get to work fixing the root of the issue.
If your home floods or suffers other damage from a plumbing leak, there are a few things you can do before the professionals arrive. For instance, if it’s safe to do so, immediately turn off the water source and electricity.
Once the remediation company’s technicians arrive, they’ll act quickly to minimize any existing damage and mitigate any spreading damage.
- Complete water removal: Using special equipment, the crew removes residual water from carpets, floors, ceilings, and drywall. This specialized equipment speeds up the restoration process and helps save many of your valuable personal belongings.
- Moisture monitoring: This is performed to locate hidden moisture pockets so you can head off long-term problems such as wood rot and mold and mildew growth.
- Cleaning and sanitization: Using special tools and products to prevent further damage.
- A final drying process: This can take several days or longer to complete, and is performed using industrial equipment that’s run until the technicians confirm the process is complete.
- Pre-restoration repairs: This is when floors, ceilings, and drywall are fixed prior to restoration work beginning.
Plumbing Leak Signs to Look For
Plumbing problems are some of the trickiest to track. High water bills and water puddles are obvious signs of plumbing leaks, but some warning signs might be a little more surprising. Here are some issues to look out for so you can avoid devastating structural damage and costly repairs. Since the average American home loses between 2,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per year due to leaks, it’s smart money sense to find leaks and get them repaired as quickly as possible.
- Low water pressure is often the first warning sign a leak might be occurring. It can indicate a leak in your home’s plumbing system. While clogged pipes and faulty valves on water heaters are also sometimes to blame for low water pressure, diagnostics on your system is recommended. At the very least, you’ll find out how to get your water pressure back to normal. You could also potentially stop a leak from ballooning into more costly damage.
- Water spots on the wall or brown spots on the ceiling, particularly below bathrooms.
- Listen carefully for the sound of water dripping. You might try turning on the shower or tub and then heading into an adjacent room or closet to see if you hear an audible leak. A hissing or “shhh” sound also indicates a hidden leak that originates in a ceiling, wall, or underground.
- Check under the sinks in your home. Those U-shaped bends in piping are often a source of internal plumbing leaks. Warped wood or dampness to the touch are sure signs there’s a leak. Catching a slow drip like this can save you thousands of dollars in mold repairs.
- A wobbly showerhead can seem like a small problem, but frequent rotation or swiveling of the head can cause it to detach from the pipe it’s connected to. A leak like this can go undetected for months.
- Lingering odors and smells can indicate sewage pipe problems like cracks and leaks both inside and outside your home.
Another “sneaky” water leak sign you might not recognize is the sudden appearance of patches of greener grass in your yard. It can be a sign that a water line buried beneath them is leaking. You might also notice small puddles inside the patches.
While it’s important to remember that not all water leaks are plumbing leaks, any sign of a leak should be addressed promptly to reduce the expense of water damage.
How Professional Water Remediation Helps
At Central Florida Restoration Solutions, we try to make the remediation process as fast and painless as possible.
- We thoroughly inspect your home and then explain how we’ll perform any necessary work.
- We work with your schedule, with the understanding that the faster you move on remediation, the more you’ll save by preventing further water damage.
- Our super-friendly and knowledgeable staff can help with filing your water damage insurance claim.
Once the water remediation process is complete, you get to enjoy your home once again. And you now have a restoration solution partner you can depend on for any type of future water, mold, smoke, or fire damage to your home!
Trust the Pros To Handle Any Further Water Leak Detection
No matter what time of the day or night, when you have a water problem in your Central Florida home, it’s critical to call in the professionals before it can do more extensive damage. CFRS provides 24/7 emergency water remediation and other residential services, including for:
Of course, we hope you never have a serious plumbing leak that causes significant damage to your home. But keep in mind that small leaks that appear insignificant can turn into major problems that cause extensive damage to your property and your bank account.
For more than 25 years, CFRS has expertly and efficiently delivered fast and thoughtful water remediation services to nearly 1,000 homeowners throughout Central Florida. Our 18 industry certifications assure you get the most professional water remediation services available.
If you have a plumbing leak that requires water remediation services at your Central Florida home, or if you want to hear more about what restoration solutions are all about, CFRS is standing by to answer your questions and help you save money by detecting and repairing any and all types of leaks. Contact Central Florida Restoration Solutions today to learn how.
