Undetected Water Damage: Find a Plumber

If you suspect your home may have a water leak but you aren’t sure where it is coming from, here are some simple steps you can take before you call the plumber to repair the problem.

To check for the signs of water damage in the bathroom look for loose tiles. If more than a few tiles are loose, check the surface wall behind them. If the wall is spongy, you have water damage from a slow undetected leak. You may be able to remove the tile and install a new back board, but you won’t know how extensive the damage is until you start tearing things out.

Persistent mold is another indicator of water damage. Look at the tile grout and caulk lines. If you see gaps you will almost always find mold. If you have mold you probably have a water leak feeding it.

Another good way to find hidden water damage in the bathroom is to look for stains on the ceiling under where the shower sits if it is a two story home and if the shower sits against an exterior wall look for peeling or blistering paint on the outside wall. These are both indicators of water damage occurring.

Turn the shower on and close the shower door, does water leak through and get on the floor? Your caulking is probably getting old and is not holding a seal anymore. This can be fixed with a simple re-caulking job but it may have already caused some unseen damage that you are not aware of.

Another location of water leaks is the toilet. If you can rock your toilet it means the wax seal ring isn’t secure and there is the potential for water damage to occur under your toilet that will cause the floor under the toile to rot away unseen until it collapses. The only indicators you may see include water damage to the ceiling under the toilet on a second story home or water on the floor around the toilet.

If you suspect you have water damage you need to call a plumber to help correct the problem before it gets worse. Water damage can become very expensive to repair the longer it is allowed to continue, and it is a silent killer to the homes structure, walls and flooring.

If you don’t have a plumber a good way to find one is to check out a consumer based web site like Angie’s List. Web sites like this will give the reviews of local plumbers, both the good and the bad, posted by real clients so you can benefit from their mistakes or good fortune.

This is a good way to find a trusted professional without doing a lot of leg work to get there. The worse thing you can do is ignore water damage so if your home failed any of these inspection tips, get a plumber that you can trust and do it right away.