Plumbing that leaks over time, can be costly and aren’t covered by your home insurance. You should check your plumbing every once in a while to make sure a leak isn’t happening right under your nose. If the insurance adjuster sees that you didn’t do preventive maintenance to your property, your water claim might not be covered by your standard homeowner’s insurance policy. These are 4 easy and consistent things that you can do that will help prevent a leak cause costly water damage and flooding.
- Inspect bathroom plumbing: Make sure your shower and tub are draining properly, there are no cracks or leaks in the tub or shower pan. Make sure that you seal and caulk around the tub and shower pan and your walls and around the bathroom fixtures to ensure it is watertight. Same goes for bathroom sinks, and be sure to check the pipes under the sink every so often. You will want to check that the toilet is sealed correctly and that the water line from the wall and up into the tank is not currently leaking. It will be hard to visually see this, but the plumbing connection on the drains on tubs, showers, and toilets can leak too.
- Inspect kitchen plumbing: Make sure your kitchen sink and garbage disposal are connected correctly and not actively leaking. Due to the vibration and aging, your garbage disposal will start to leak over time.
- Inspect appliance hoses: Make it a habit to inspect your dishwasher, washer, refrigerator water line, and water heater every so often and check the hoses connected to each appliance. There are also leak sensors available on the cheap that send audible alerts to your smartphone whenever a leak happens within a certain distance of the device.
- Shut off the water when you’re on vacation, the property is vacant, or away: Be sure to turn off the water supply to your washing machine when you’re away, and never under any circumstance leave the dishwasher or washing machine running as you leave. You might even consider shutting off the valves to all faucets and toilets in the property.
