Plumbing Leak Repair in Florence, AZ: Find It and Fix It

If water is running now, shut it off before anything else. Know these two valves.

• The fixture shutoff, a small oval-handled valve under a sink or behind a toilet.
• The main shutoff where the line enters the house, often near the meter box or at the side of the home.
• The water heater shutoff, if the leak is at the tank.
• The breaker for the water heater, if you plan to drain or turn off the tank.

Turn valves clockwise until snug. If a valve will not turn or does not stop the water, call right away.

Hidden leaks give hints long before water appears on the floor.

A warm floor patch or a sound of running water with every tap closed are the signals to call for slab leak repair.

You can confirm a leak without tools. Turn off every water use in the house, then read the meter. Wait two hours with no water use and read it again. If the numbers changed, water is moving somewhere.

Look at the small leak indicator on the meter as well. If it spins with everything off, you have a leak. Narrow it by closing the main valve and watching the meter again. If it stops, the leak is inside the house. If it keeps moving, the leak is in the line between the meter and the main valve.

The right repair depends on what the pipe is made of and how long it has been in service.

• Copper pinholes can be repaired with a section replacement, but repeated pinholes suggest the whole run is wearing out.
• PEX leaks usually occur at fittings and are fixed by replacing the fitting or a short section.
• Galvanized steel corrodes from the inside, so spot repairs often fail and replacement is the sound answer.
• Polybutylene and similar old plastics are brittle, and replacement is usually safer than patching.

When several leaks appear within a short time, a repipe may cost less than repeated repairs. See repiping for how that decision is made.

A plumber first finds the leak. Pressure testing, acoustic listening and thermal imaging narrow the location so that as little as possible is opened. The repair follows, then a pressure test confirms the fix.

If the leak is in the yard, the line must be exposed. Our water line repair service covers underground supply lines from the meter to the house. For general location work see leak detection.

Many policies cover sudden water damage but not the pipe that failed or slow seepage over time. Photograph everything before cleanup, keep receipts and call your agent early. We provide a written summary of what we found and what we repaired when you need it for a claim.

Many household leaks start at a connection and not in the pipe. Check these places once or twice a year.

• Supply lines under sinks and behind toilets, especially braided lines that are several years old.
• The hose to the washing machine, which carries full pressure all the time.
• The ice maker line behind the refrigerator.
• The dishwasher supply and drain connections.
• The water heater fittings and relief valve discharge.

Replace rubber washing machine hoses with braided steel and note the date on a tag. A hose that bursts while you are away can flood a house in hours.

Plumber's tape, repair clamps and epoxy putty can slow a leak while you wait for help. They are bandages, not cures. Pressure, heat and movement loosen them over time.

Use a quick fix to protect the floor and buy time, then schedule a lasting repair. A clamp on a pinhole copper leak holds for a while, but the thin wall around the hole is still failing. Put a bucket under the leak and keep a dated photo so you can show an insurer how the problem developed.