Sometimes things go wrong in your home and in our experience, these things happen in threes! This year we have had a couple of things go wrong, which always tend to happen in the most inopportune moments!
The first was when we woke up to hear a noise that we couldn’t quite place. We dozed back off and then suddenly Lee, jumped out of the bed and started down the stairs. I half wondered what was going on when he called my name. I stumbled down the stairs to see what the fuss was and realised I could hear water. Lots of water. That noise – it was spraying water and had been going for a while! Thank goodness for tiled flooring though!
The pipe under the kitchen sink had sprung a leak and water was spraying out of the units. It was silly o’clock so we turned off the water, threw some towels down and went back to sleep! It was of course a Sunday and getting hold of a plumber was going to be an issue. Luckily an ex-student of ours is now a plumber and he came out and fixed the problem. Lee took the footing off all the kitchen units and luckily they dried out in the garden with no lasting damage we considered ourselves lucky as water removal can be challenging without specialist understanding.
However, that wasn’t the end of our water problems as just last month we had another leak! This time Lee went to get a towel from the airing cupboard to notice the floor was wet. After looking a little further it became clear that a valve had gone on the hot water tank. I went downstairs into the dining room and looked up at the ceiling only to discover watermarks spreading across the ceiling. A bowl in the airing cupboard caught most of the water until the same plumber could get out to us.
These incidents taught me that I need to know how to manage a water leak if it ever happens when I am home alone!
- Turn off the water supply. Everyone should know where the stopcock is in your home.
- Turn off any electrical appliances as water and electricity don’t mix!
- Move any furniture that you can or pull back carpets etc.
- Do what you can to extract the water. If the flood water you clean up isn’t exposed to power or any loose wires, you can use towels, buckets, and mops to start the water restoration process
- Dry out the affected area. Here you can use fans or even dehumidifiers. If it isn’t raining, open the windows to let the air circulate
- Have the number of reliable tradespeople to hand. It is good to compile a list of these so that you have them to hand and don’t need to start asking on Facebook like we did.
Finally, maintain your internal plumbing by regularly checking fixings, check nothing is damp to the touch or looking worn or call a toronto plumber for professional analysis. After all, prevention is always better (and cheaper) than cure!
Would you know what to do in an emergency if a pipe was found to be leaking?
2 Responses
Oh no! How unlucky to have two leaks!
We had a burst pipe under the bath earlier this year. We thought we knew where the stopcock was but it wasn’t the one for the water tank. We ended up on the phone to the water company at midnight asking for advice. The main stopcock was in the back street. Thankfully my fella managed to turn it off. Phew and the landlord sent someone to sort it in the morning.
In extreme cases, these can cause expensive damage to floors and belongings. To stop a small leak from turning into a big one, take a look at your pipes periodically to check for rust or white lime deposits that may indicate a leak is starting. Nathan