You’ve been using your sink like normal, but one day you open the cabinet underneath it.
Uh oh.
You find a puddle, or worse, a bunch of soaked items. There’s a leak under your sink! What should you do?
Fortunately you can take a few simple steps to take care of the mess and prevent it from happening again. Here’s what to do if you find a leak under your sink.
Turn Off the Water
Step one is to stop the leak immediately. To do this, you’ll want to turn off the water to that specific faucet. There should be two turnoff valves under the sink, one for hot and one for cold.
You don’t need any special tools. Simply grab the knobs and turn them both clockwise until they are tightly closed. You don’t need to go too far – overtightening can cause damage.
Once you’ve turned off the water, don’t use the sink or faucet. Since you don’t know where in the pipes the leak is, you don’t want to risk it.
Clean Up the Mess
You won’t be able to locate a leak or have a plumber help you out until you’ve gotten the items out from under the sink. Hopefully there isn’t too much damage to anything you might have stored down there. You’ll want to remove everything and clean up any standing water.
The process of removing everything from the cabinet should help you pinpoint where the leak is coming from. Many times it’s obvious, such as a leaking trap or pipe joint. Other times, you might have a sink leak or a leaky faucet.
If you aren’t so lucky, it can be hard to find exactly where the leak is coming from, especially with the water off. Whether you’re able to identify the source of the leak or not, you want to make sure you have the right help making the fix.
Call a Professional
Sometimes homeowners want to save money and fix leaks on their own, but if you aren’t sure what you’re doing, you can end up making things a lot worse. If you aren’t a plumber, a YouTube video might not cut it for walking you through how to do a difficult leak.
First, a plumber will have all the tools necessary for the job. You may not, and trying to substitute a different tool that isn’t designed for your pipes can cause damage to your pipes and sink.
Secondly, you don’t want to miss any details. Perhaps there is a leak in more than one area, but you only address one. The result? More leaks, more water under the sink, and more damage.
A professional will know how to do the repair correctly as well. You know the old adage “duct tape fixes everything?” It’s not true! Don’t be fooled by videos that make a process look easy. The folks doing these videos have a lot of experience fixing the problem they are showing you. Some videos also will have multiple takes and do a lot of editing to make things look easier than they are.
It pays to get a professional to do a correct and complete repair from the beginning.
Contact Us For Leak Repair Today
If you’ve found a leak, you need someone who knows how to fix it effectively and quickly. That’s where we come in. Contact us any time you need a leak fixed or have other plumbing needs.
Remember, your plumbing should be fully examined at least once a year. Don’t put it off – contact us today!