Installing new plumbing in a home can cost as much as $15,000.

This is a tidy amount of money. The good news is that these are charges for a complete overhaul of the system.

Repair and spot replacement costs are significantly lower than this. However, you have to catch them on time before they become serious problems.

Here are the main causes of pipe leakage and what to do to prevent it from blowing up into a major plumbing issue.

1. Pipe Joint Damage

The pipes’ joints or the bends are the more vulnerable parts of your pipes. These are put in place to ensure that water is redistributed to different parts of your house.

The joints are usually manufactured separately, then attached to straight pipes on each side.

Unfortunately, high water pressure and extreme temperatures can overtax these sections of your pipes.

If you hear banging or clanking, especially when running hot water, you might have joint damage.

To be on the safer side, call in a plumber for leak detection immediately.

2. Severe Corrosion Leading To Pipe Leakage

Despite your maintenance and care regimen, your pipes will undergo wear and tear over time.

If your pipes are over 30 years old, this problem is more likely to occur. The materials used for piping in that era were not as resistant as the materials used today.

Corrosion can eat away at the pipes in your home and create open spaces for water to seep through.

Your piping can also get corroded if your water has a low pH.
Such corrosions can create holes significant enough for you to encounter pipe leaks.

3. Damaged Seals

Aside from the metallic piping, your piping system also has seals. These are located where your pipes connect to a specific fixture.

These are used to keep the connections water tight.

Just as it happens with the piping itself, these seals can degrade over time as well. When seals break apart or crack, it becomes an avenue for water to seep through.

Old and overly dried up seals are the most likely ones to degrade in this manner.

4. Shifted Connections

With time, the pipes in your home might shift. This can be brought about by flooding, erosion, foundation problems, tremors, or earthquakes.

Some symptoms of this include low water pressure, discolored water, and running water noises behind walls.

If you notice these or any other unusual occurrences after a natural disaster, get your plumber in for an inspection.

5. Faulty Pipe Laying

A significant number of occurrences that lead to plumbing emergencies have something to do with how the pipes were laid to begin with.

Typically, there could be small errors or oversights that might even be hardly noticeable. With time, however, they can cause massive water damage.

A plumbing system forces water to flow against gravity in numerous places.
For this reason, it’s important that connectors and pipes are laid correctly, and firmly. Backflow devices should be installed as well.

It therefore imperative to have all your plumbing work done by a reputable plumbing company.

If you move into a house with any plumbing issues, ensure that the team you get to evaluate the problem is well qualified as well.

This will give you the assurance that the problems will be identified and sorted out sufficiently.

6. Clog Issues

On the face of it, drain logs seem like a minor issue. However, ignoring them can severely compromise your plumbing system.

If a clog has corrosives like household chemicals, these could eat into the piping and create holes. This is one reason why using chemical drain cleaners is discouraged.

The main assumption when using these cleaners is that they will run through the pipes and clear them along their lengths. This does not always happen.

Instead, they might get trapped along the system. Standing in one spot in this manner, over time is enough to create serious damage.

If you feel your pipes need a thorough cleaning, call in a plumber to do a plumbing snake or hydro jetting, and remove any obstructions.

7. Excessive Water Pressure

While everyone loves high water pressure, excessively high pressured water can be disastrous to your pipes.

In extreme cases, water pipes can burst.

However, the more common occurrence is leaking water immediately after you turn off the water.

If you notice this severally throughout your house, have a plumber and come in and reset the water pressure to something more manageable.

Why Ignoring Pipe Leakage Is a Bad Idea

Most people ignore the little signs of plumbing problems either hoping that they will resolve themselves, or to avoid the associated costs.

It is ill-advised to go about it this way.

These issues are more likely to get worse than go away. And not just that, pipe leakage can seriously damage your home.

Moisture encourages the growth of invasive black mold. This is not only difficult to eliminate, but also costly and can affect your family’s health as well.

Another problem is that water leaks may warp your home’s walls. This reduces its aesthetic value and will reduce the home’s value if you ever decide to sell it.

Your pipe’s bursting is just about the worst outcome you could get from a defective plumbing system.

If this occurs, you could be dealing with floods. The property damage, as well as the plumbing system overhaul that might be necessary, are enough to dent one’s finances significantly.

Evaluate Your Plumbing System

One way to avoid huge bills and inconveniences is by assessing your plumbing system every so often as well as being keen on the symptoms outlined above.

Having regular inspections done on your property can also alert you to issues before they get out of hand.

KP Plumbing uses the latest technologies to ensure your piping system performs optimally and that any pipe leakage is arrested before causing any significant damage to your home.

Are you a homeowner in Rowland Heights? Check out our testimonials so that you can have the confidence of calling us today for a plumbing inspection.