If you don’t take proper care of your plumbing system, then you will put unnecessary stress and strain on your pipes and may one day end up with a leak.
Plumbing leaks are a serious issue – if you are not at home when your system springs a leak or are otherwise unable to turn off your water supply at the stopcock (perhaps your stopcock is leaking), your property can become water-damaged, which could even affect its structural integrity. Repairing structural damage costs a fortune.
You’re not out of the woods if you manage to turn the water off the moment your pipes start leaking – if you don’t have home emergency cover or plumbing and drainage cover, you will have to shell out a huge amount of money to replace your plumbing; frequently, people spend over £1, 000 on emergency plumbing repairs even though they have managed to avoid structural damage.
So how can you prevent plumbing leaks?
Keep your water pressure at a reasonable level
Obviously, you won’t want to have your water pressure at a very low level, as this will make it hard to clean dishes or take a shower.
While high water pressure might seem like it only has advantages, in the long-term it can put severe strain on your pipes and reduce the life expectancy of your plumbing; all the components of your plumbing system, such as valves and joints, are put under increased stress as water pressure escalates.
Lag your pipes
Everyone who has lived in the UK for a few years knows how temperamental our weather can be, and that our winters can see the thermostat stay below freezing for weeks or even months. When the outside temperature reaches below zero, any standing water in your plumbing system will freeze and expand, which strains joints and can lead to leaks when the water defrosts.
There are a range of different techniques you can use to prevent your pipes from freezing and leaking, but one of the simplest and most effective is lagging them with pipe insulation. You can do this yourself, although it might be a bit of a long process for a layperson and a specialist contractor may be better-equipped for the task.
Pipe insulation has a number of additional benefits as well as preventing plumbing leaks; one of the key benefits of the product is its energy-saving potential. Pipe insulation works in much the same way as cavity wall and loft insulation, in that it prevents heat transfer. This will keep your cold water cold and your hot water hot and will help you reduce your energy bills for decades.
Keep your boiler serviced
Having your boiler regularly serviced will enable you to discover if there are any underlying problems with your central heating system before these problems become serious. If you don’t have an annual boiler service, you might actually find that your boiler warranty becomes invalid.
Know the location of your pipes
It might sound obvious, but a lot of plumbing emergencies occur when people put a nail or screwdriver in the wall without first checking what is within the wall. Drilling through your pipes might seem like a nightmare, but think how fortunate you were that you did not drill through an electric cable instead!
You can buy a stud sensor that will tell you where cables and pipes are located before you start drilling, or can carefully cut a hatch out of the wall to show you where your pipes and cables lead.
Have you got a plumbing emergency?
Contact us on 0345 3192 247 and we can help! Our technical teams will run through some simple troubleshooting tips with you to see if your problem can be resolved over the phone. If not, we’ll send a highly skilled and qualified plumber round to get your plumbing problems sorted as soon as possible.
There could be a number of reasons for your plumbing issues so it’s better to trust the professionals. After all, you could end up making it worse and you could be faced with a hefty bill to pay to repair the damage. We help, we repair, we care.
247 Home Rescue accepts no liability for any injuries or damages you sustain following the advice on this website. If in doubt, seek professional assistance.
