Being a handy person is great when things around your house start breaking down, falling apart and tearing up – having the luxury of not calling a professional every time you need something repaired makes your life much easier. However, what to do when you know that something is wrong, but are unable to see and diagnose it? One of the most difficult problems are hidden plumbing leaks that trigger a number of other issues if not handled on time. Here is how you can manage them.

Test One: Tubs and Showers

The most troubling part of any water-related home matter is locating the source of the concern and that is why you need to check your tub and shower for leaks. If you fail to do so, water will continue seeping underneath your shower and damaging your bathroom floor. Ultimately, this will result in a flood leading to an expensive renovation project. This all might be happening in your bathroom as we speak, without you being aware of it!

The best way to check your tubs and showers is to splash some water around the shower door and check if it is seeping around – if so, the leaks will be visible within minutes. Should that occur, you need to fix your sliding doors so that they overlap when closed, as well as seal the entire frame with a small bead of caulk. Finally, if your door sweeps are old or not functional, you need to install new ones.

Test Two: Further Problems with Tubs and Showers

Unfortunately, leakage is not the only thing you need to worry about when it comes to tubs and showers, claim the people behind company Dial up Plumbing. At least two major source of concern are drain leaks and tile leaks, each causing more and more problems the longer you ignore them. The latter issue is, however, not that difficult to handle because you can easily notice water collecting in the wall behind the tile. This leads to rotting, mold, peeled paint, stains and loose tiles. The most efficient way to manage this is by removing the tiles, replacing the old grout and caulk with new ones and installing a new backer board, just in case.

When it comes to drains, the biggest threats occur with fiberglass tubs and shower pans because these are rarely built from solid materials and can, hence, easily break, leaving you with a flooder floor and your downstairs neighbors with a stained ceiling. The way to deal with this is by fixing the drain – clean the flange or just install a new one.

Test Three: Toilet Leaks

This is something not many people pay attention to – who would expect their toilets to leak water? However, such a situation occurs if your toilet is not connected to the waste pipe properly. If that is the case, you will easily notice water seeping every time you flush your toilet, damaging the tiles behind the toilet seat.

There are generally three ways to handle this situation: fix, replace or ignore. If you apply a coat of silicon caulk on the meeting point of the toilet and the pipe, or install a new rubber gasket there, you might effectively solve the problem, but only for a while. A more permanent solution is installing a new toilet and new pipes, thus making sure the leaks stop occurring. Finally, you can just place a plastic cup under the pipe and collect excessive water there instead of letting it flood your tiles: this idea is the cheapest, but highly ineffective in the long run.

Further Issues

If you thought that the bathroom is the only place where plumbing issues occur, you are quite wrong. Water-related headaches are triggered by sinks as well, so you need to check your kitchen sink rim and pipes for leaks. Only when spotted on time can these issues be dealt with success, so you should do everything you can to make this happen.