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Same Day Service
Since 1992
Call The Gentleman Pros Now!
(780) 809-3219
We're In Your Neighborhood!
Same Day Service
Since 1992
Call The Gentleman Pros Now!
(780) 809-3219
Water damage and leak detection can cause significant damage to your home! Please call us to help you detect leaks, repair plumbing leaks and stop water damage! Water leaks create a lot of immediate and long-term problems in your home.
Water leaks can significantly damage walls, ceilings, and baseboards, to name a few. Leaking water can also lead to mold growth, rot and structural damage to your home. Major leaks in your home can be costly.
Sometimes major water leaks can cause your water bill to skyrocket. A running toilet or faucet, for example, may seem inconsequential but can waste enormous amounts of water.
Small leaks, in contrast, may use little water, but cause a catastrophic amount of damage. Small leaks can be hard to detect, and often not visible right away.
For “no muss, no fuss” installation, call Calgary’s Gentlemen Electricians today!
If you notice a foul smell, damp walls, flooring, or ceiling you may have an undetected water leak.
Water damage over time can cause havoc in your home. Small amounts of water leaking for a significant period of time can cause structural damage to your home.
Consider the damage caused when a toilet isn’t sealed correctly. Over time, with each flush, water will leak into the floor, causing damage to all the materials in the area.
Other leaks, may increase your utility, and waste large amounts of water, but cause no damage. For example, a toilet that continues to run will significantly increase your utilities and wastewater, but won’t damage your home.
Check your toilets for leaks by adding a drop of water into the toilet tank let it sit for 10 minutes. Don’t flush!
After 10 minutes, look into the toilet bowl and see if the color has seeped into the toilet bowl. If it has the tank is leaking water into the toilet bowl. Even a small leak will increase your utilities each month.
If your toilets are not the problem, consider doing a leak test using your water meter.
After turning off all the water to the plumbing fixtures and appliances, watch if your water meter continues to move on the dial or gears. If so, this indicates water is being used, or leaked.
Because toilets are the leading cause of leaks, check everything else after testing the toilets. Examine all faucets, sinks, shower/tub heads and shower/tub drains.
If you have any of these, also check the fridge water supply line (if you have an ice maker or water dispenser), air-conditioning unit, water softener and or sprinkler system.
Plumbing leak repairs should be done quickly! Prevent further costs and more damage to your home. Even small leaks can be costly. Consider the cost of a small water leak from a faucet that is steadily running can waste enormous amounts of water!
Slow leaks can be just as damaging. If undetected a slow leak can cause enormous amounts of damage to your home. If an area remains moist, mildew and mold will grow.
Often a leak may be in an undetected area, such as under the sink or behind a wall. All the while, more water damage slowly wrecks your home. Minimal damage may result in discoloration and warping. Left untreated, the drywall may crumble, wood may rot, and mold and mildew will multiply.
If you find moisture in your home, and cannot find the source, please call us. Water can cause the most costly damage to your home. Catching the leak sooner than later will prevent further damage and potentially forgo the need to make an insurance claim.
Plumbing leak detection is not always easy or obvious. Use this checklist to help identify where a plumbing leak could potentially be coming from.
Plumbing leak detection is not always easy or obvious. Use this checklist to help identify where a plumbing leak could potentially be coming from.
Stop the leak as fast as you can to prevent more destruction to your home.
If you need our assistance, we have methods, expertise and equipment to help.
A smoke test can be done to identify smells or cracks from sewer pipes. A smoke test is done by caping off and isolating the affected sewer pipes and introducing smoke into the system by a smoke machine to identify a breach in the plumbing system. As the smoke moves through the pipes it will escape through openings and cracks, signifying where wastewater can escape.
A smoke test can be done to identify smells or cracks from sewer pipes. A smoke test is done by caping off and isolating the affected sewer pipes and introducing smoke into the system by a smoke machine to identify a breach in the plumbing system. As the smoke moves through the pipes it will escape through openings and cracks, signifying where wastewater can escape.
Finding plumbing leaks using cameras is another advantage our technicians have.
Cameras that are designed to inspect pipes, typically only work if the pipe is at least 3” wide. A camera inspection is ideal for inspecting a main sewer line. The main sewer line, in the sewer pipe, connects the wastewater in your home to the city sewer line that conveys the wastewater to a water treatment plant.
If there is an obstruction in the sewer line or a problem with the main sewer pipe, wastewater can return back into your home. This is called a main sewer line back, or a sewer backup. (It is not pretty!) Sewage returns to your home at the lowest point. In Edmonton, that is most commonly a basement floor drain or a basement shower.
If a leak is resulting from a pipe other than the main sewer line, it is often difficult to run a camera through the line. Cameras inside the sewer pipes are great for identifying the quality of the pipe, but more difficult to detect leaks.
Wall cameras are small enough to be used behind walls to inspect if there is or isn’t damage caused by moisture. They are particularly helpful to measure the extent of water damage after a plumbing leak is suspected or detected.
If the water damage from a plumbing leak is extensive you may want or need to make an insurance claim, but insurance will only cover specific types of water damage.
Water damage is most likely covered if the damage results from a sudden escape of water. Likewise, insurance companies often will not cover water damage for an ongoing leak.
It is the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain their home, so the cost of repairing the plumbing that resulted in the water damage is not covered by insurance.
Insurance will often cover the cost of the water damage caused by an appliance that breaks down or malfunctions. For example, after a washing machine floods the laundry room, the insurance provider may decide to cover the cost to repair the flooring, baseboard and other materials damaged in the flood. The insurance provider will not cover the cost to fix or replace the washer.
Contact your insurance provider to understand how your insurance policy limitations.
In Alberta, most likely your insurance provider will not cover the cost of pipes bursting because of pipes freezing. Even when you are away be sure to keep the temperature of your home warm enough to ensure pipes do not freeze. Because water expands when it freezes, frozen water in your pipes can cause your pipes to burst.
Ensure that water pipes in colder parts of your home are insulated. This is very important if you have a trailer home or a modular home.
If your basement is prone to flooding when the snow melts, or after heavy rain, prevent a flood by having a sump pump installed. Be sure your eaves are repaired and pointed away from your home to prevent flooding, and direct water away from your home.
Be sure to read and review your insurance policy with your broker to ensure you have the right coverage for your home, and understand what you are responsible for.
