At Vanguard Plumbing & Sewer, we take every call we get from our customers seriously and give their issue our full attention to ensure they get the answers they need, the services they’re after or anything else that can help them with their Chicago residential plumbing. That includes complex things like hot water heater and battery backup system issues, sure, but it includes a wide range of simple things too – like what to do when you find a leak.

Because we care about helping our customers, and because every second of leaking water can mean more damage to your Northwest Side home, Vanguard’s here to give you some tips on how to deal with a leak when you find it – aside from the obvious which is calling (773) 633-6139 for immediate assistance from our five-star rated plumbers.

Vanguard Plumbing Tips: 8 Things To Do If You Find A Leak

Water is the enemy of your home’s interior. That’s what roofing and walls are for – to keep water outside where it belongs. Your plumbing system is the lone exception to that rule and even then it’s thoroughly controlled at every area where you interact with it – until it isn’t. When you find a leak timing is everything so take these steps as soon as you can!

Step #1: Turn all of the taps inside and outside your home off.

Once you’ve found a leak you need to shut off all the water sources inside and outside your home. This step will tell you if there’s something wrong with just a faucet or a sink or something much worse – like your home’s plumbing system. When all the taps are off you’ll have an idea if you have one thing or multiple things to deal with.

Step #2: Clean up the loose water so that no one gets hurt.

This one is pretty obvious but you’ll want to remove all the water from the leak if possible. This may take towels, it may take a shop-vac but do the best you can so that you limit water damage to your home and its inhabitants. Spills are no fun at any time but especially not when you have a water leak to deal with!

Step #3: Go check your water meter to see if it’s still running.

Now that you’ve shut off all the water to your taps you should be able to see what’s happening at your water meter. It should be stopped which is what you’re hoping to see. If the meter is giving a low-flow indicator or still running normally then you have a worse leak than you previously imagined and need to call Vanguard Plumbing & Sewer right away!

Step #4: Turn off the water to your toilets and recheck the meter.

If you got a low-flow indicator in your water meter or if it kept running you’ll want to turn off the water to the toilets in the home – all of them. Then go back and check the meter again. If it’s stopped running then you’ve found the issue. And that’s common too because toilets are probably the biggest contributor to hidden water leaks in the home.

Step #5: The low-flow indicator keeps on spinning. What next?

So we know it’s not the toilets now which is a good starting point. The next logical step is to weed out each of the other plumbing appliances in the home. Start with one and turn the water off before checking the meter again. If it’s still moving then turn off another and repeat until all appliances in the home are shutdown. If you get this far then you really only have one option left – calling Vanguard Plumbing & Sewer.

Skip the Steps & Get Leak-Solving Plumbing from Vanguard!

While it’s not rocket science to find the cause of a leak it can be a daunting process for those who have never interacted with the water system connected to their home or its reliant plumbing appliances. For those people there’s the team from Vanguard Plumbing & Sewer – a team that always hits the mark with leak-solving plumbing services for residential customers across Chicago’s Northwest Side. Call (773) 633-6139 for an estimate today!