Having a leak in your property is never ideal and can cause a lot of lasting damage, especially in the case of an emergency water leak. The first thing you need to do in this situation is to stay calm and think rationally. You need to identify what you need to do to try to stop the situation from developing further, and this involves acting quickly. A good way to do this is to ask yourself a series of questions, which will act as a mental checklist to help you handle the situation rationally.
So read on for the top questions to consider during an emergency water leak, and how the team at Leak Tracers Direct can assist you.
Questions To Consider
What Signs of a Water Leak Can You Spot?
Luckily most of the signs of a water leak are quite easy to spot, leading it to be easy to identify the emergency. You should be on the lookout for:
- Any standing water that has appeared
- Damp patches on the floor, ceiling or wall
- A drip or hissing sound coming from the walls
- Warped wooden flooring
- Boiler pressure dropping
- Hot water not working properly
- High water bill
Even just one of these could be a sign you have a leak somewhere, but if you are suffering from a few at the same time, there is probably an issue with your home that needs to be dealt with. It may not seem obvious where the leak is coming from, but if you suspect one is there, it’s time to act.
What Should I Immediately Do?
If possible the first step is to try and turn off the main water supply to your house. If there is a leak somewhere, having the water off should hopefully stop it in its tracks for now and allow you to focus on other things. You can release the water pressure in the house pipes by turning on a tap fully and running it until the water flow dies off.
If you can identify which room the water leak is in, make sure to disconnect anything electronic and turn off plugs, you could accidentally get electrocuted if you form a connection between the power and the water.
Do You Know Where The Leak Is Coming From?
A key thing you need to do in an emergency water leak situation is to try and identify where the leak is coming from. This could be an obvious spot, such as a visible pipe that you can see water coming out of. But not all leaks are that obvious, especially if they’re behind a wall, under the floor or in an area not visible by the human eye.
For these cases, you need to work with a leak detection service like the one we provide here at Leak Tracers Direct. We can trace the source of hard to find leaks that are causing damage to your property and provide evidence to help you make an insurance claim. We use cutting edge technology for underground leak detection and leaks found anywhere in your home.
Once the leak is identified, you can hire a plumber to assist in fixing the issue. But what to do in the meantime?
How To Dispose Of Standing Water?
If you’ve had a major leak, there may be standing water in your home. It is imperative to get rid of this as soon as possible, as it can cause a lot of damage to your home if it is left there to soak in. It can damage most types of flooring, including wood, boarding, carpet and tile.
Use sponges and towels to try and absorb as much of the water as possible. If you’re dealing with a large amount of standing water, you may even want to use a bucket to scoop up vast quantities. Make sure you wear protection while dealing with this water, as it may not be clean.
How Do I Dry The Area? Will A Structural Drying Service Help?
A house with a water leak will need to be dried properly. Open the windows and run an air blower if you have this piece of equipment. This will speed up drying and reduce any further damage. However, you have to be careful when trying to dry a property, as drying an area causes it to become quite moisture heavy, leading to dampness and mould. So you also need to combat this.
The best way to dry a property is to hire a structural drying service to assist you. They will bring with them specialist equipment made to remove the excess moisture from your property, leaving it in as good a condition as possible.
Leak Tracers Direct offers a professional structural drying and water extraction service for you to use. Our great method keeps the moisture out of the air while drying your home, helping to prevent the growth of unwanted damp or mould.
Can You Make a Water Damage Insurance Claim?
You should check to see whether you are insured for water leaks in your home. If you are, you will be able to claim the costs of any repair on your insurance, saving you money. Water damage is very costly to repair, maybe even costing in the thousands. If you currently don’t have insurance against water leaks, it may be best to change this now. While it may increase the cost of your policy, you’ll make this up with the cost of repairs if you aren't insured.
What Shouldn’t I Do?
Do not turn the water back on until the issue is fixed, this will make the leak worse and cause more damage to your home.
You also should never try to repair the leak yourself, even if it seems simple. The simplest of problems might lead to further issues down the line if you attempt an amateurish repair on it. If it is an issue behind a wall, never try to open up the wall itself. You could cause unnecessary damage and void any insurance claim you may want to make. Plus if there's any mould in the wall, you could release it into the house. Always leave it to an expert to deal with.
Leak Tracers Direct - Leak Detection Experts
Sometimes the cause of a leak is not that easy to find. You could be seeing the effects without having any idea where the cause it. This could be damp walls and ceilings, warped wooden flooring, a high water bill or more. And these are symptoms that could develop over time. But if you’re in an emergency water leak situation, these effects could be happening extremely fast, so it is imperative that you detect the source of the leak so you can begin the process of solving the issue.
This is where Leak Tracers Direct can help. We are specialists in finding leaks in all kinds of properties when the leak is hidden or not obvious. We do this with non-destructive methods, using the latest in leak tracing technology to avoid unnecessary damage to your home. Finding hidden leaks is imperative, especially if you are planning to claim for water damage repairs on your insurance. Insurers will require evidence of the cause of the damage.
The cutting edge technology we use includes thermal imaging, endoscope cameras, acoustic microphones and gas trace surveying. These methods are all non-invasive, meaning they’re able to detect the leak without cousing any damage to your property. If the repair of your leak requires intrusive access damage, the engineer will be able to carry this out using sophisticated technology to ensure that the intrusive access damage is minimised. A regular leak repair service may cause way more damage than needed, but the experts at Leak Tracers Direct are trained to avoid this.
We have more positive reviews than any other UK-based leak detection company, providing you with a detailed report which includes a detailed description and photographic evidence of the cause of your water leak damage, allowing you to use this to validate your onward insurance claim.
So if you have a suspected water leak and can’t figure out where it’s coming from, call now on 0203 011 0902 to talk with one of our team and arrange a survey. If you want to find out more about our leak tracing technology or the services we offer, visit our website now for more information.