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What a Small Plumbing Leak Really Does

Plumbing Tips

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You need to be very careful if you have a small leak—do not let it go because it will cause extensive damage to your home unless it’s fixed. For instance, a toilet with a little leak around the base might not seem like a big deal because it only leaks whenever you flush it. But think of it this way: if you flush the toilet three or four times a day, multiplied by a week or a month it comes out to hundreds of flushes. A tiny bit of water each flush becomes enough to do serious damage, especially on a wood floor. Eventually it will begin to rot and become soft, and the challenge of replacing a floor is much more complicated than just fixing the slow toilet leak.

Structural decay happens because water and wood don’t get along together. So if you notice a small stain on the ceiling, get it taken care of right away. Stains are a telltale sign that there’s a leak somewhere that needs to be addressed. Don’t gauge the seriousness of the problem by the size of the stain, either, because a little spot could be an indicator of a very large problem. Even worse, the combination of water and warm temperatures from something like a hot water leak can lead to mold issues.

Sometimes you might be able to check the attic for the source of the problem. If there’s a tub right over the stain and there’s an access panel, you could pop it off and take a look. For a sink located right over the stain, maybe open the cabinet doors and check for water. If you have a stained drop ceiling, you might want to pop off the drop ceiling to try and spot the cause. It’s probably time to get a professional involved if you look around and still aren’t able to find the leak that caused the stain.

A home’s crawlspace might remain sight unseen so that you never even find out about a little pinhole leak. It can lead to an excessive amount of water loss and high water bills (utility overpayment). You’d definitely save money by fixing the problem, but first you have to pay attention to crawlspaces or any other areas where you don’t look very often. There are many different components in a home can lead to stains, including HVAC, plumbing system, or roof. If you can narrow down the culprit, it will help you determine which professional to call.

If you suspect that there’s a leak in your home, reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air today. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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One of the things I always like to mention when talking about utility bills is the word ‘overpayment’. We don’t think about our utility bills most of the time, and when we do, we accept that the utility bill is just what it is. But you may be overpaying much more than what’s necessary for your home. I don’t think any of us likes to overpay, so let’s look at how little issues with our plumbing fixtures could really be costing us each month.

If you pay for water, a dripping faucet—even if it’s just a drop every second—can add up to over 2,000 gallons a year. To get a better idea, there’s actually a pretty cool downloadable app that tells you how much water is being used by tapping your screen with the same timing as the drip. A lot of people don’t know about this, but if a dripping tub or sink faucet is using hot water, your water heater has to fill up and heat however much water is used. One drop per second is about 5 gallons per day. Imagine filling the water heater with 5 gallons of cold water that then has to be heated, even though you’re not actually using it. You’re not just using extra water at this point—you’re having to overpay on your electric or gas bill, too.

When we say a toilet is running, we don’t mean in the literal sense. It just means that the water is continuing to fill up or going into the overflow. A running toilet can use over 10,000 gallons per year, which gets very expensive if you’re paying for your water. Even if you don’t pay for water, a constantly running toilet or dripping faucet can damage the septic system. Septic systems are not made to receive a continuous amount of water. Instead, they’re only made to accept a few gallons at a time from a flushed toilet or from water going down the drain. Constant water will be enough to flood and leech out, or simply saturate the septic system and never give it a chance to dry.

Scale buildup on the water heater (e.g., an electric element with calcium buildup) is another area that causes homeowners to overpay their utility bills. On average, it leads to paying 30% more than what the bill should actually be. If you have one or two of these little plumbing issues going on in your home, you’re going to be overpaying way more on your bill every month. That’s real money you could be saving in your pocket.

We live in an area where energy is priced pretty reasonably, at least when compared to the rest of the country. Conservation might not be as much of a hot topic for us, but it’s definitely something which we should all be aware. I’d recommend people get their plumbing inspected no sooner than once a year, but no less frequently than every 3 years. Every 2 to 3 years is usually a good enough schedule. HVAC systems need to get checked twice a year, though, because they go from hot to cold depending on the season.

Diamond Club members can call to schedule an appointment for these inspections at no charge. Otherwise it will range from $150 to $200 depending on the situation. Our Diamond Club schedule is pretty full right now, so it’s definitely a good idea to call as soon as possible to set up an appointment. Reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing by contacting us online or calling 540-483-9382.

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Now that it’s warm outside, it’s a good time to look for things around the home that might need some repair. Here are some of the most common areas to check this spring and summer.

We spend a lot of time visiting homes in the spring to replace outdoor hose faucets, especially if they are the frost-free kind. What often happens is people forget to take their hoses off of the hose faucet during the winter. Of course, we’ve had a pretty mild winter these past couple of years, so it hasn’t been as much of an issue. But the below-freezing temperatures we did experience have caused hose faucets to burst if they had hoses attached. I would definitely recommend paying attention the first time you use your hose faucet in the spring to make sure there’s no water running out of the wall around the faucet itself.

One of the other things we usually see around spring greenup (mid-April through mid-May) is the roots of a tree going into overdrive. This is when trees are looking for nutrients and sucking up water so they’ll have the energy needed to put on lots of green leaves. Roots just love sewer lines, so this is when we see an increase in sewer line stoppages and main line stoppages due to root growth.

I always recommend paying attention to the air conditioner before the weather gets hot, which is basically any time between now and June. If you know your AC has had problems keeping up in previous years, it’s a great idea to be proactive and address the issue now. HVAC contractors get extremely busy once summer rolls around, and you probably don’t want to deal with having no AC once it’s already hot.

These little things around your home can break down depending on the intensity of weather. If you’re a Diamond Club member, we’ll talk about any areas of concern during an inspection just to make sure you’re tuned into your plumbing system and heating & air system. If you have any questions or want to schedule an overall inspection of your system, you can always reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air. Contact us online or call 540-483-9382.

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Let’s assume that someone already knows that they have a water leak. (The leak might have made a stain on the wallboard or produced a dripping sound.) Here are a few pointers to help pinpoint exactly where the leak is coming from.

One thing to consider is the fact that water is going to follow the path of least resistance. I’ve seen a stain show up in the ceiling of a home’s basement that was actually caused by a leak all the way up in the second floor. This happens because a lot of pipes run vertically, from ceiling to floor. Water that leaks from the top of a pipe can run all the way down to the bottom, so don’t assume that the leak is right where the water stain is showing.

The other thing I’d recommend is to listen carefully to see what the leak sounds like. If the cause of a stain is a water line leak, you might be able to hear a spraying sound nearby. A constant dripping sound is also more than likely a water line. If it’s a sporadic drip accompanied with an area that gets wet and dries up, it’s usually related to a drain. Water lines have water in them all the time and they’re always under pressure, whereas drains are only filled with water when they are being used. You might want to pay attention to the water meter outside your house, too. If you’re not using any water and the meter is still spinning, that’s an indicator of a leak somewhere.

You’re definitely going to be ahead if you get support from someone who knows how plumbing systems are put together and how the pipes run in a home instead of tearing into a wall yourself and hoping to pinpoint the problem. If you have a leak and want a professional to take care of it, the process is pretty simple. Give our office a call at 540-483-9382 or request an appointment online and we’ll schedule a visit with a 2 hour appointment window.

We do have a service fee of $79 to bring a technically capable, well-stocked truck to your home that’s ready to do the work right then and there. We’ll be prepared to give you a Straightforward Price once we diagnose the issue and know what we need to do. There are some occasions with a water leak where we do have to open up a wall (if we need extra information to locate the issue, aside from our knowledge of the whole plumbing system). But normally we’ll come out and be ready to solve the problem right at the first visit.

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Why is it that some toilets clog over and over again? Here are a few of the main reasons. (This brings all new meaning to the phrase ‘potty talk’.)

The Toilet Is Too Old

First of all, clogs could just be due to the fact that toilets do not last forever. Just like your refrigerator, washing machine, or microwave, a toilet has a life expectancy too. Its various components will be more likely to fail over time, and aged toilets also use much more water. Toilets have holes and water channels that can get clogged as they age, which weakens their performance.

Maintenance Gone Wrong

It’s common for homeowners to replace the flapper or adjust the float inside of the toilet. If someone doesn’t install the right flapper or they adjust the water level in the tank to be below what’s needed, it could cause the toilet not to flush properly.

Its Performance Rating Is Too Low

Most people think that a toilet’s a toilet—but not all toilets are made with the same quality, just like anything else you buy. Some toilets have a very low performance rating, and some are more capable of flushing a large amount. Maybe getting a $100 toilet from a big box store isn’t the best idea, because you’ll probably have problems with it flushing down toilet paper. You’ll also probably have to keep a plunger next to it (which leads to the next point).

Frequent Plunging

Keeping a plunger next to the toilet might seem harmless, but it’s another thing that can actually lead to problems. If you’re constantly plunging a toilet, you can compromise the seal underneath it and cause water to get into the subfloor (which is a much worse problem than a clog). It’s definitely not the best path to conclude that it’s no big deal to keep a plunger by the toilet and just use it every time it gets stopped up.

Stuck Objects

I’ve seen small, slender objects like pencils, hair combs, and bobby pins go down the toilet and get stuck in the trap. These kinds of objects can’t get around the turns in the toilet, so they inevitably end up getting stuck in there. The toilet might flush fine as long as you don’t use toilet paper (because whatever’s flushed can go right past the stuck object). However, toilet paper will quickly get caught and lead to sporadic stoppages.

Improper Installation

If the toilet isn’t centered properly on the pipe, or if the toilet has an offset flange that wasn’t installed properly, it can lead to problems flushing. This isn’t really an issue with the actual toilet itself, but you’ll end up with the same problem.

A lot of people don’t think about this, but if you ever have a guest over to your home and the toilet stops up while they’re using it, it’s incredibly embarrassing. When your main daily use toilet gets sluggish or stops up frequently (once a week or more), it’s time to get it checked out. Don’t procrastinate and get it taken care of sooner rather than later. Reach out to us by calling 540-483-9382 or requesting an appointment online.

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I think there are a couple of primary reasons why people are dissatisfied or don’t feel like they got what they wanted from their plumbers. What I’m going to share is based upon my experience in the industry and feedback I’ve received from some of our clients. (Their feedback pertained to both us and other providers.) I don’t want to come across dramatic while addressing this subject, either. We’re not working on the human body and this isn’t brain surgery, so I don’t want to make it sound that way. However, plumbing is really important in ways we might not always consider.

If you have someone come to work on your home’s plumbing system, you shouldn’t minimize the value of hiring a professional. Part of that involves taking the time to make sure all the details are covered. Someone who works on electrical or water in your home could cause a huge amount of damage by causing a water leak or flood. Gas lines or gas water heaters involve carbon monoxide, which can be a silent killer. A sewage backup in your home could cause you to come into contact with disease-ridden waste. The bottom line is, we have to protect the safety and health of homeowners, which should never be underestimated.

A lot of times, though, I think the reason people become disappointed is because of the lack of adequate communication. A lot of homeowners fall short by just leaving the door open for a plumber to take care of a small issue in the home. Even though it might just be a dripping fixture, that kind of thinking can really set the stage for mistakes to happen. We always want to have someone at home if possible when we make a visit. That allows us to make sure we discuss the situation as effectively as possible. We can also ask questions about what’s going on, which is really crucial to resolving the problem correctly on the first visit. After all, nobody wants to have multiple visits from a plumber if it could have been taken care of properly the first time.

I’d recommend that you communicate clear expectations and also make sure the plumber has communicated exactly what results you should expect. As a company, we should explain when we’re on our way to someone’s home, what we found after investigating the situation, and how much everything is going to cost in a straightforward way so that you have no unanswered questions. Clear communication across the board is the most proactive way to prevent disappointment.

Sometimes people in the plumbing industry don’t value training and staying at the cutting edge of innovation. Items like tankless water heaters can be very difficult to diagnose if someone has never had any training with them. Homeowners also might not like paying big dollars for plumbing, and therefore might choose someone who charges less. (The trades are not inexpensive if you hire a qualified professional.) But I highly recommend against spending a couple of hundred dollars for someone who’s likely to do the job incorrectly. Not only will this lead to dissatisfaction, but it will end up costing twice as much in the long run when you throw your money into the wind.

If you have any questions or you want to work with the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air, contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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