Home & Garden
A Quarterly Plumbing Check Catches Leaks While They’re Small
Job for today: do the quarterly plumbing check. It takes about 45 minutes, and you don’t need to touch a pipe wrench.
- Find the main water shut-off tap and turn it a quarter of the way, then back. Make sure it moves. Five minutes.
- Read the water meter with every tap and appliance off. Note the numbers, and watch whether the small dial is moving. Five minutes.
- Open the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Look at the hoses and taps for drips, rust or a damp base. Five minutes.
- Repeat under the bathroom and laundry basins. Five minutes.
- Check the toilets with the dye test (below). Fifteen minutes, mostly waiting.
- Look at the ceilings and the corners of walls for stains, bubbling paint or a musty smell. Five minutes.
- Look at the hot water system’s relief valve and the pipe that runs from it. Five minutes.
- Write the date and your notes on a card and keep it with the meter reading. Two minutes.
Each of those steps is a look, not a repair. The aim is to catch a small problem while it’s still a small problem. Here is what you’re looking for at each stop.
The shut-off tap
Everyone in the house should know where the main shut-off is, because the first thing to do in a burst is stop the water. A tap that hasn’t moved in years can seize, and that’s the sort of thing you want to find out on a calm Saturday. If it won’t turn, or it drips from the spindle when you move it, that’s one for a licensed plumber.
The meter test
This is the cheapest leak check in the house. With everything off, including the dishwasher, washing machine and any irrigation, look at the meter. A moving dial, or numbers that change after a stretch of nothing running, point to a leak somewhere between the meter and the taps. Many water retailers publish a guide to this test, and it’s worth looking up yours. It also shows you where the meter is, which most people have never checked.
Under the sinks
The flexible hoses and small isolation taps under basins are some of the most common places for a slow leak. Run a dry paper towel along each hose and around the tap, and look at the cabinet floor for swelling or discoloured board. Corrosion on fittings, a crusty white deposit or a hose with a bulge are signs to book a licensed plumber before the hose gives way. Hoses are cheap to replace and cabinets are not.
For a tap that drips from the spout, our short guide to fixing a leaky kitchen faucet covers what is usually behind it.
The toilets
Toilets can leak silently from the cistern into the bowl. Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern, do not flush, and wait. If colour shows up in the bowl, the seal is leaking. It wastes water and shows up on your bill, and it’s usually a straightforward repair for a plumber.
Ceilings and walls
Water stains, bubbling paint, peeling wallpaper and a musty smell are all things that a leak leaves behind. Look at the ceilings below bathrooms and the walls around laundry and kitchen. A stain that gets bigger between checks is the one to act on.
Resist the urge to climb into the roof space for a look unless you know how to do it safely. Roof spaces can be hot, can hide electrical wiring and have fragile ceilings. If there’s a reason to suspect a leak up there, ask a professional to look.
The hot water system
Most hot water systems have a pressure and temperature relief valve and a drain pipe from it, usually running down the outside of the unit. The valve is a safety device. Water may discharge from it occasionally as the system heats, depending on the type, but a steady drip or a flow that doesn’t stop is a sign that something is wrong.
Don’t plug the pipe or tamper with the valve. The manufacturer’s manual will say how often the valve should be tested and how to do it, and it’s worth following that guidance. The same goes for servicing: the manual or the installer will set out the intervals for that particular system. Gas fittings, in particular, are for licensed gasfitters only.
Drains and outdoor taps
Slow drains are a warning that something is building up. Grease poured down the sink, food scraps and hair are the usual causes. If you need a refresher on why drains block and how to avoid it, see why drains get blocked so fast, and for a sink that’s already slow, quick fixes for kitchen sink clogs is a good place to start.
Outside, check the outdoor taps for drips and look at the hose connections. Tree roots can damage underground pipes, so notice any wet patches or sunken ground where there shouldn’t be one, and keep large plants away from known pipe lines.
What an owner can and can’t do
The check above is looking, testing and noting. Plumbing work itself is regulated. In Victoria, for example, most plumbing work must be done by a licensed plumber, and the Victorian Building Authority, now trading as the Building and Plumbing Commission, sets out which tasks, if any, an owner may do. Other states and territories have their own regulators and rules, and they differ. Check with yours before you replace anything yourself, and use a licensed plumber for gas, hot water systems and anything inside a wall.
Hiring a plumber is worth doing when the check turns something up. Ask to see their licence, and ask them to explain what they found and what it will cost before they start.
A fair word on frequency
Quarterly is a sensible rhythm for a look-over, because it catches things in time and doesn’t take much effort. It isn’t a rule from a regulator, and it’s fine to make it twice a year if that suits your home better. The point is to do it often enough that the notes on your card start to show a pattern. A meter reading that creeps up between checks is a good reason to look harder.
Next job
Put a reminder in your phone for three months from now, and put the card with today’s notes in the same drawer as the hot water system manual.
Sources: Building and Plumbing Commission (the Victorian Building Authority’s trading name), plumbing regulatory framework (https://www.bpc.vic.gov.au/plumbers/plumbing-regulation-and-compliance/plumbing-regulatory-framework)