Soil Shifting, Aging Pipes, And Other Water Line Repair Causes

soil-shifting-aging-pipes-and-other-water-line-repair-causes

When You Need Water Line Repair, You Can Have Floods Or Subtle Clues

Water line damage can show itself slowly in changes in the water bill, sounds below your foundation, and stripes of green in your lawn directly over the broken water line. You may have noticed low water pressure. Water may be coming up through the sump in your basement from leaks below the foundation. Damp spots in your walls and ceilings could appear from indoor pipe leaks. Floods occur from broken piping, resulting in an emergency call to the plumber in the middle of the night. At Drain Flo Plumbing, we’ve seen the diverse ways that water line repair jobs show themselves. We’re ready to respond, to solve unexplained water seepage, or quickly fix an urgent disaster.

Looking For Layers Of Clay Soil And Other Causes Of Foundation And Water Line Shifts

In the Tampa Bay area, existing layers of clay soil can shift and cause problems. They break pipes and foundations leading to water line repair. The problem doesn’t occur as often here as in the panhandle of Florida where clay is common, but if it affects your property in the Tampa Bay area, you’ll need to take care of it. You’ll need similar repairs for damage to your underground pipes from heavy equipment in your yard or construction and digging in the wrong spot. The damage may not be obvious at first, especially if the ground was not broken and there was no digging. Still, when you see the signs such as elevated water bills, it’s time to call us to check it out and see if a repair is needed.

Hard Water And Pipe Damage Below Your Basement Concrete

Besides pipes broken by soil movement and ground pressure from vehicles, pipes located below your foundation can break as the foundation shifts or degrades and fails over time. Some plastic piping is destined to fail after about ten years, and copper pipes can corrode from hard water. As leaks develop, you’ll see a rise in your water usage and then signs around your basement. They indicate water is pooling below the concrete, making water sounds below the floor and damp spots in your flooring. While repairs in such inaccessible places can be costly, we have a variety of ways to accomplish them that may reduce the cost and prevent future damage.

Unexpected Indoor Pipe Breaks

Bumping a pipe in the basement, drilling through a pipe in the wall, or otherwise accidentally causing a leak can lead to a quick flood and an urgent water line repair. Our team answers emergency calls to minimize the damage and correct the problem promptly. Sometimes it’s not so obvious why damage has occurred, though, such as a weak pipe connection that finally starts to give way, or a pipe bursting from the “water hammer” effect. This results from sudden valve shut-offs such as those which can occur in appliances. If you think that you might need a pipe repair, it’s wise to have us check for unexpected problems in your indoor plumbing before water damage occurs or gets worse.

On The Hunt For Pipe Leaks With Modern Techniques

Each water line repair is a good detective story, too. Even an obvious dripping from an exposed pipe in the basement might be deceptive. The water could be traveling down the pipe from a leak in another location, then dripping from the lowest point. Our team of expert plumbers has extensive experience in locating leaks with the least disruption to your property. In the past, it was necessary to keep opening holes in the wall, floor, ceiling, or even basement concrete to locate the problem. Now, we have technologies that can help us pinpoint the problem by listening for the high-pitched sounds of water escaping and determining the distance from our sensor to the leak. A combination of experience and equipment is usually required to perform an expert water line repair, making sure that we’ve located and resolved the water leak for you.

Preventive Water Line Repair

Inspection to verify the source of a water line leak can reveal corroded or decaying piping and the eventual development of more pinhole leaks. In that case, we may recommend that you consider the state of your piping and whether it needs renewal. We might also suggest if you have copper piping in particular, that you consider a water softener unit to reduce the effect of hard water on your pipes. You may have recently heard about pipes freezing in areas where this problem has been rare in the past. Our plumbers can inspect your plumbing for issues that could arise in the future including exposure to freezing temperatures.

Re-piping To Avoid Future Plumbing Issues

Just as other parts of your home age and need updating, your plumbing may require replacement at some point. It usually takes decades for piping to wear, and it depends on the type of pipe in place. With the Tampa area’s hard water, copper piping can corrode more quickly than normal, and though it’s an excellent pipe material, re-piping might be advisable. Certain types of plastic pipe, such as polybutylene, can take only a decade to degrade to the point where replacement is necessary. The cost of water line repair is only part of the concern with degrading pipes since escalating leaks will also cause damage and incur repair and remediation expenses each time they occur.

Your General Purpose And Emergency Plumber For Temple Terrace, Fl And The Tampa Area

We’re Drain Flo Plumbing, your plumbing team for jobs like water line repair, drain cleaning, water heater replacement, and preventive plumbing maintenance at the most reasonable prices. Keep our number handy in case of plumbing emergencies in the Temple Terrace, FL area, and get to know us by calling for all your plumbing needs. Our experts are ready to help you.