Preventing Leaks In Your Calgary Home

Do you have Poly-B Plumbing?

If your home was built between the late 1970s and the late 1990s, there's a chance you have Poly-B (polybutylene) water piping.

Poly-B was originally installed because it was cheap and easy to work with. Over time, it gained a reputation for premature failure. Exposure to UV before installation, chlorine, and other chemicals in municipal water supplies weaken the pipe, making it brittle as it ages. Fittings and connections are also common failure points.

Calgary saw a major construction boom through this same period, so it's common to find Poly-B still in place in many of the city's established communities today.

Most insurance companies see Poly-B as a higher-risk plumbing system. Some may request that it be replaced before providing full water damage coverage.

If your home still has Poly-B, it doesn't necessarily mean it will fail tomorrow. However, as the system gets older, the likelihood of leaks increases.

How Can You Catch Slow Leaks?

Some leaks happen slowly enough that they continue for months before they're noticed. In that time, water can damage drywall, flooring, cabinets, and insulation while also creating the right environment for mould to grow.

Though harder to notice, slow leaks usually leave signs.

The most common signs are:

• Green or white deposits around fittings
• Corrosion on copper piping
• Water staining on walls or ceilings
• Soft or swollen flooring
• Higher-than-normal water bills

A slow leak is generally cheaper to repair than the damage it causes if left alone. Catching these issues early can potentially save thousands of dollars in damages.

How Can I Avoid My Basement Flooding?

Not many plumbing problems are as stressful as finding water in your basement. Avoid the following problems, and you can avoid flooding. (Many prevention methods are simple and can be done by yourself.)

Common causes are:

• Collapsed or blocked weeping tile
• A sump pump that stopped working
• Improper grading around the home
• Downspouts that direct water too close to the foundation
• Heavy rainfall that overwhelms the drainage system

What Does Weeping Tile Do?

The purpose of your home's weeping tile is to collect groundwater around the foundation and direct it to a sump pit or, in some older homes, to the sewer. When that system becomes blocked or damaged, groundwater has nowhere to go except into the basement. Sometimes blockages can be cleaned using a pressure washer or by removing the debris if it's easily accessible.

Does Your Sump Work?

Checking your sump pump twice annually and making sure water is directed away from your foundation reduces the risk of basement flooding. If you are not sure how to test a sump pump, read more. You can always call your plumber to test it. We provide annual plumbing inspections for our loyal customers, and typically test our clients' sump pumps at that time.

Does Water Slope Away From Your Home?

Proper slope and grading around your home is critical. Water will always follow the lowest point. If the water slopes towards your home, you have a problem. Fixing the grading of your home can be simple. Sloping down 1 inch per foot is a good rule to follow. Observe where water is pooling, or where the grading does not slope away from the house in rainy weather or when the snow melts.

How Are Frozen Pipes Prevented?

Every winter, frozen pipes are one of the most common emergency plumbing calls.

Calgary's chinook winds make this especially unpredictable, since a mild afternoon can be followed by a hard freeze the same night, putting extra stress on pipes that haven't fully thawed.

The best ways to prevent frozen pipes are:

• Keeping your home heated well
• Sealing cold air drafts
• Insulating exposed piping
• Disconnecting garden hoses before winter

Water expands when it freezes. If water inside a pipe freezes, the expansion can cause the pipe to split. Sometimes the leak doesn't become apparent until the ice melts.

Frozen pipes are commonly found in:

• Exterior walls with poor insulation
• Crawl spaces
• Garages
• Areas where cold air drafts reach the plumbing
• Seasonal properties that have been left unheated

Why Do Toilets Leak?

Toilets are one of the most frequently used plumbing fixtures in any home. Naturally, they will experience more wear and tear than other fixtures.

Some leaks are more obvious, while some waste loads of water every day without you realizing it.

Common causes are:

Worn Tank Components
The seals inside the tank naturally wear out over time. Chlorine tablets and in-tank cleaning products can speed up this process by drying out and deteriorating the rubber components.

Failed Wax Seal
The wax seal beneath the toilet prevents sewage from leaking where the toilet meets the pipe.

If the toilet rocks or wobbles when you sit on it, the flange is likely installed at the wrong height or the toilet wasn't secured well during installation. With poor installation, the seal is more prone to fail, and water may start leaking around the base of the toilet every time it's flushed.

A failed wax seal can damage subfloors and flooring, turning a relatively small issue into a larger project.

Read more about how a toilet works.

What Are Main Sewer Problems?

Your main sewer line is the plumbing line that carries all the wastewater from your home to the city sewer system. Because it's underground, problems frequently go unnoticed until an issue occurs. Usually the result of a main sewer problem is a sewer backup. This is often when homeowners learn about the problem, but the cause of the backup will vary.

In Alberta, two of the most common issues are sewer settlement and tree roots.

Settling Sewer Lines

As homes and surrounding soil settle over time, sections of the sewer can shift. This creates low spots, separated joints, cracks, or misaligned pipe connections that restrict water flow and allow debris to accumulate.

Calgary's clay-heavy soil expands and contracts with moisture more than many other soil types, which can accelerate this kind of shifting under older sewer lines.

Tree Root Intrusion

Tree roots seek out moisture and nutrients. Even a small gap or crack in the sewer pipe can allow roots to enter the system. Once inside, they continue growing toward the nutrient-rich sewage flowing through the pipe.

Over time, those roots trap toilet paper, grease, and other solid debris until the line eventually blocks, often resulting in a sewer backup inside the home.

Routine sewer camera inspections can discover these issues long before they become emergencies, allowing you to take action before a backup occurs.

How Can Plumbing Seals Prevent Water Leaks?

Every plumbing system relies on many rubber seals, O-rings, washers, and gaskets to keep water sealed.

You may think these components fail suddenly, but they actually begin to fail the day the system has water introduced.

Years of exposure to water, heat, chlorine, and normal wear slowly cause the rubber to lose its flexibility. As the material ages, it hardens, shrinks, and becomes brittle until it can't maintain a proper seal. Eventually, small drips begin to appear, or the seal gives out altogether.

This is why older plumbing fixtures often develop multiple leaks within a short period of time. The components are all reaching the end of their expected service life at roughly the same time.

Replacing worn seals before they fail is almost always less expensive than repairing the water damage after a leak develops.

How Can A Plumbing Inspection Prevent Water Damage?

A professional plumbing inspection can identify problematic old valves, failing seals, corrosion, drainage issues, and aging materials before they become bigger problems. Combined with regular maintenance, you can avoid expensive water damage repairs.

Like most things in your home, plumbing problems are usually easier and far less expensive to fix when they're caught early.

Do You Know Where Your Main Water Shut-Off Is?

Knowing how to stop the water when a leak occurs is one of the biggest factors in minimizing damage.

Every homeowner should know where their main water shut-off valve is located. If a pipe bursts or a fitting fails, every minute the water continues flowing increases the amount of damage to drywall, flooring, cabinets, and personal belongings.

Take a few minutes to locate the valve, make sure it works properly, and ensure everyone in the home knows where it is. During an emergency, turning the water off quickly can be the difference between a small repair or a major restoration.

The main shutoff valve can wear out over time. Depending on the age of your home and type of valve, the main shutoff valve may need to be replaced.

How Can I Prevent Water Leaks?

Plumbing systems naturally don't last forever, and every component will fail with time. While this is a normal part of homeownership, they don't have to be big emergencies.

The best way to protect your home is to be proactive. Annual plumbing inspections and preventative maintenance can find issues long before they result in damage. Addressing issues early while they're small is almost always less expensive than repairing damage.