Water Leaks

Have ready

Before we arrive, do not run anything that uses water if you can avoid it, and note when the stain or the drip first appears and whether rain changes it. Clear the area under the stain so we can get a ladder and a light in. The first three checks are the water meter with every fixture off, the static and flowing pressure at a hose bib, and the supply lines and stops under the nearest fixtures. We also look at the ceiling or floor from below and feel for warm or soft spots.

• Supply and drain leaks
• Fixture leaks
• Shutoff
• Coordinate drywall and flooring

The visit

We find the water before we open a ceiling. A meter test with the fixtures off tells us if it is a supply leak. A stain that grows only when it rains is the roof or a window, and we do not cut a plumbing hole for a roof leak. Once the source is stopped, the wet board comes out and the drying starts the same day.

The classic shore-house leak is a failed toilet supply or a pinhole in copper at a slab. One is a valve and a line. The other is a location problem we mark before the floor gets cut. They are not the same visit, and we do not quote them the same on the phone.

Permit

Finding and repairing a leak normally needs no permit. Cutting out a bad section of supply or drain and putting it back the same way is a repair, not new work. A permit is normally required when the repair turns into a re-pipe of a room or a house, when a drain or a vent is relocated, or when a new fixture is added. Repairing the drywall and the floor afterward is finish work and is not permitted. We say which one you have before we open anything.

On the Shore

The Shore is hard on plumbing in a specific way. Salt air corrodes the outside of copper and brass, so a pinhole opens on a line that looks fine, and the failure is usually at a fitting or a bend. Freeze-thaw in a house that is not kept warm splits supply lines and traps. High humidity keeps a slow leak from drying, so the wood stays wet and the rot spreads before anyone sees a stain. We look at the fittings and the exterior walls first.

When we leave

We confirm the repair under pressure before anything is closed. Supply repairs get the system back on and the joint watched with a dry paper towel for a few minutes, and the meter gets read again with everything off. Drain repairs get a full fixture load and a look at the joint from below. We mark where we opened the wall so the patch lands in the same place, and we leave the wet material out and the bay open to dry. Photos go in the note.

Built with

Supply repairs use copper, PEX, or a push-fit or compression coupling rated for the line, with a new stop rather than the old one. Drain repairs use PVC or ABS fittings and primer and cement matched to the pipe. Wet drywall gets replaced rather than dried in place, and any soft subfloor comes out. We use brass or stainless fasteners, not steel, and a braided stainless supply where a line is being replaced. Shutoffs are quarter-turn ball valves.