Troubleshooting - Where's The Leak

manzano16 · Sep 28, 2008

Hello,

I'm very ignorant when it comes to plumbing, but for the past few weeks I've had the consistent sound of running water near all faucets in my home. All water is off, and I'm not experiencing any water pressure loss. One strange thing is that, when turning on my cold water, it will run hot for a moment before cooling off - not sure if it's related to the running water sound???

Anyway, I have no idea where to start with this and was hoping for some general advice before having to call a plumber out. Any help is much appreciated!

Cass · Sep 28, 2008

Is your house on a slab or do you have a basement?

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

hj · Sep 28, 2008

leak

1. You have a hot water leak under the floor. It does not cause any change in your pressure.
2. Your water heater is operating more than it should in order to make up for the hot water you are losing. When it gets bad enough you will not have any hot water and might replace the water heater and still not have hot water.
3. The pool of hot water under the floor heats up the water in the cold pipe so that is why you initially get hot water.
4. If you have a hot spot in the floor, that is the leak.
5. If one of your faucet gets hot water instantly, the leak is close to it.
6. Call your insurance agent to see if the leak is covered. Some, like Allstate, only cover it if the water is coming onto the floor and damaging things.
7. Call a leak detector and have him find the location of the leak.
8. Call a plumber to have the leak fixed.

manzano16 · Sep 28, 2008

It's on slab, so I've got no visibility to the pipes.

I failed to mention earlier that when we moved in (about 2 1/2 years ago) we did have to replace some pipes under one of the bathroooms due to root growth in the pipes...hoping this isn't the case again!!!

hj · Sep 28, 2008

pipes

This is a water pipe. Those should have been drain lines, and if so, replacing them might not have been necessary.

manzano16 · Sep 28, 2008

Thanks for your input, I'm sure this will be expensive to fix but a lot more expensive if I wait and have to also replace the hot water heater, too!

I'm assuming the plumber will need to break through the foundation to get to the leaking pipe (I've found a 'hot spot' and it's not near the edge of the home). I'll contact my insurance and see what is and isn't covered.

hj · Sep 28, 2008

heater

You will not HAVE to replace the water heater, but I have known innumerable plumbers who have replaced the water heater in situations like this and then wondered why the customer still didn't have hot water. In fact one plumber tried to return the water heater to the distributor claiming it was defective, and would not listen when told that he had misdiagnosed the problem and it was due to a hot water leak.

Kingsotall · Sep 28, 2008

hj said:
1. You have a hot water leak under the floor. It does not cause any change in your pressure.
2. Your water heater is operating more than it should in order to make up for the hot water you are losing. When it gets bad enough you will not have any hot water and might replace the water heater and still not have hot water.
3. The pool of hot water under the floor heats up the water in the cold pipe so that is why you initially get hot water.
4. If you have a hot spot in the floor, that is the leak.
5. If one of your faucet gets hot water instantly, the leak is close to it.
6. Call your insurance agent to see if the leak is covered. Some, like Allstate, only cover it if the water is coming onto the floor and damaging things.
7. Call a leak detector and have him find the location of the leak.
8. Call a plumber to have the leak fixed.

Troubleshooting - Where's The Leak

manzano16

New Member

Cass

Plumber

Sponsor

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hj

Master Plumber

manzano16

New Member

hj

Master Plumber

manzano16

New Member

hj

Master Plumber

Kingsotall

Plunger/TurdPuncher

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