Getting To a Water Leak Before It Gets Your House

When someone mentions problems with leaky pipes around the house, you probably imagine that it's a rickety old house with rusty plumbing and a leaky roof. It doesn't have to be that way though. Brand-new houses could have a water leak problem. It's just the nature of these things. They'll show up given even the smallest allowance.

Sometimes, a water leak doesn't show up at most times. It only shows up when your water utility turns up the pressure really high. As an ordinary home inspection won't really uncover a problem of this kind because there is no real way anyone can tell what can happen until the plumbing is tested at very high pressure. Only a really experienced home inspector who really takes his time can ever detect water a leak potential like this.

Quite apart from the regular home inspections, there are a few things you can do to make sure that there aren't hidden weaknesses in your plumbing that could show up any time. You really need to make use of these methods because it only takes a small water leak to cause massive amounts of structural damage to your house.

A water leak detector would be the most cost-effective of these possible solutions. At its most basic, a leak detector is a simple moisture sensing device. You place it in places like your basement, and it tries to constantly measure the amount of moisture in the atmosphere around it. If there is a water leak, then of course the water is going to evaporate and the moisture is going to hang in the air. Right away, your water leak detector will sound an alarm.

One downside to this method is that if you place these detectors somewhere out of the way, you probably won't hear the feeble alarm.

A far better way would be to get an active water leak detector. A device such as this can act on its own. When it senses moisture in the air, it will right away shut down the water mains leading into your house. Of course, this kind of a device can be expensive to buy and to install. It requires professional installation to place such a device in your mains line.

The best of these systems work wirelessly. You place the device anywhere you want in the house. When there is a problem, right away it communicates with its base to have the water mains turned off.

There are many active water leak detectors out there that you could try out today. When you do, go for durability. Some leak detectors tend to be fragile.