When all goes well, you don’t have to worry much about the water line at your home. In an ideal situation, you’ll have clean, clear water coming into your home and getting to every faucet and appliance that needs it.
But when things go wrong with your water line, they can really go wrong in a hurry. A broken water line can cause flood damage to your home, the lawn or the property around your lawn, which can create a serious problem for both yourself and your neighbors. Because of that, if you’re in need of water line repair, you need to make sure to address the issue as soon as possible.
Luckily, there are a few signs that you can pick up on in order to figure out that you need to fix the water line before things really get out of hand. Here are a few obvious signals that you need to make water line repair an immediate priority.
Wet Spots on the Lawn
This might be one of the most obvious signs that something is wrong, thanks to the dry climate of the south. Rain doesn’t happen all that often here, so if you’ve got a wet spot on your lawn, you’ve probably got some kind of issue with the plumbing at your home.
In most cases, your pipes are buried under your lawn, and if there’s a break in the water line, the water has to go somewhere. Trees might help mitigate the problem because they can suck hundreds of gallons of water out of the ground, but when the water keeps pooling out of a broken pipe, not even the trees can help you prevent disaster.
As soon as you see any wet spots on your lawn, you need to make a call to a plumber who can help with water line repair. The longer you wait, the greater the chances are that excess water can build up underground and cause serious damage to other parts of your home or your neighbors’ homes.
Low Water Pressure
Have you ever turned on the water in preparation for a hot shower, only to discover that the water comes out at a mere trickle? In many cases, this is a sign that you’re in need of water line repair.
That’s because when you’ve got a break in the line, you simply don’t have as much water making it to where it needs to go in your home, causing a drop in water pressure that can become very noticeable in a hurry. Unfortunately, your home’s appliances are dependent on optimal water pressure, so if you don’t have the right amount of water coming through your pipes, your appliances aren’t going to perform anywhere near their best.
However, this is one situation where a plumber isn’t the first call you need to make, because low water pressure is not always a sign of a problem. In some cases, your local water company might have shut off a line temporarily in order to solve an issue with the system. If you do have low water pressure at your Henderson, NV home, your first call should instead be to your local water company to see if they can explain the issue. If they can’t, that’s when it’s time to call for water line repair.
Unexplained Increase in Water Bills
Sometimes, an increase in your water bill is inevitable, such as when you’ve hosted a large party at your home and had several guests using the restroom or the sink. But if you’ve had a normal month and your water bill has suddenly skyrocketed, there’s a good chance that a broken water line might be the culprit.
Remember, your water bill is based on the amount of water your house is using, whether or not you’re actually using that water in your home. If you’re in need of water line repair, you’re likely using more water to get the same amount of water your home always needed to the right spot.
Even if your home isn’t facing an issue with the water line, an unexplained increase in water bills should always be followed by a call to a plumber. Maybe you don’t need water line repair, but you might have a leak in your home that only a professional plumber can detect. Or perhaps one of your appliances isn’t operating as efficiently as it should, thanks to damage from low water pressure. Whatever the reason, only a professional plumber can give you a sure answer.
Cracks in the Foundation
Hopefully, you’ll have noticed one of the other signs on this list long before you get to this point. But if you haven’t, a slipping or breaking foundation in your home’s basement is a sure sign that something has gone seriously wrong with your plumbing.
In most cases, water line repair is going to be the solution. When the water line breaks underneath the home, the water has to go somewhere, and even concrete isn’t going to be able to resist that much water pouring out in one spot over time.
Even if your foundation holds up, the ground it sits on probably won’t. Your foundation might not crack immediately, but if the ground around it becomes saturated, it might start to slip, which can cause it to buckle over time as it tries to hold up the weight of your home. Obviously, this is one situation that you cannot ignore — as well as something that will require multiple experts to properly fix.
At Craig’s Plumbing, we’ve got the ability and knowledge to tackle water line repair before it gets to these levels. When there’s an issue with the pipes at your Henderson, NV home and you don’t know what the cause might be, it’s time to give Craig’s a call. Our team can pinpoint the issue and get things fixed before the damage gets too excessive to repair!
