{"id":18713,"date":"2018-11-22T13:27:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-22T13:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/?p=18713"},"modified":"2018-11-22T13:28:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-22T13:28:04","slug":"how-do-deal-with-a-water-leak-in-your-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/how-do-deal-with-a-water-leak-in-your-property\/","title":{"rendered":"How do deal with a water leak in your property"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- SEO Ultimate Plus (https:\/\/seoultimateplus.com) - Code Inserter module -->\n<script async>(function(s,u,m,o,j,v){j=u.createElement(m);v=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];j.async=1;j.src=o;j.dataset.sumoSiteId='b68b392479b5981b8acf46565e9fe32a0734fc21a1f7c1e60121eaa6ca1a1c64';v.parentNode.insertBefore(j,v)})(window,document,'script','\/\/load.sumo.com\/');<\/script>\n<!-- \/SEO Ultimate Plus -->\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unwanted water inside a property can be very worrying. Water will always find a way, as they say, and it has the potential to cause a lot of damage very quickly. If you\u2019ve spotted an unidentified damp patch that seems to have appeared out of nowhere, or a large leak has sprung up somewhere inside the property, you need to take action pronto in order to minimise the damage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Left undealt with, water can ruin furniture, furnishings and entire interiors, and even cause structural problems to the building. And should your home or business be unlucky enough to be flooded, getting back to normal can take a long time \u2013 another reason why you need to move fast to sort things out. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what you should do if you find a water leak in your home or premises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Take immediate action<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With any leak that you find at your property, your first move should be to do everything that you can immediately to reduce the risk of any problems. If a leak is dripping from the ceiling or roof, place down a bucket or other container to stop the water from damaging furnishings or upholstery. The sooner you can do this, the less you will have to worry about later on. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, you need to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.churchill.com\/home-insurance\/tips\/home-emergency-burst-pipe\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">switch off the water supply<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into your home. You do this by turning off the stopcock \u2013 this is what allows the water from the mains into your home. It\u2019s important for you to know exactly where this is. In many houses, the stopcock is found under the sink, but it may also be in bathroom, utility room, garage or elsewhere. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may also be worth switching off your electricity at the fuse board. This is a precautionary measure because of the danger of water leaking onto something electrical, which has the potential to be extremely hazardous. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How to detect a leak yourself<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next task is to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.southernwater.co.uk\/testing-for-a-leak\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">detect the leak<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> itself. If you can hear running water or see wet patches, try to follow the source of the water to see exactly where it originates from. It\u2019s the case that many leaks are immediately obvious, but sometimes the actual source may be inaccessible. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There may be a leak even if there\u2019s no dripping or wet patch. Should find that the water pressure when you turn on the tap has dropped noticeably, then you need to check around your property for any obvious leaks. If you can\u2019t find anything but you know water is coming into the property, it is time to bring in professional help. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Call for professional assistance<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clearly, if a broken pipe is spilling water in your bathroom, you\u2019ll be aware of where the problem is coming from. However, often a small leak can emanates from an unseen or inaccessible source and you may need a specialist company to help you find where the problem is coming from, and put a stop to the water ingress. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the absence of any clues, it makes sense to start from the top. Find a company with the necessary expertise, experience and equipment to identify any roof defects. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcpropertymaintenance.co.uk\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This company<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for instance, has a fleet of cherry pickers at their disposal and a team of professionals for high access property maintenance. They can carry out roof surveys and gutter cleans too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Work out who is responsible<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, you need to understand exactly <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thameswater.co.uk\/Help-and-Advice\/Leaks\/Leaks-at-Your-Property\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who is responsible for fixing the leak<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In general, if there is a problem with a damaged water pipe or any aspect of waterworks from the external side of the stop valve, it is the responsibility of the water company to deal with the problem. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the issue is coming from your side of the water meter or the stop valve, then it will be your responsibly to deal with it. It\u2019s worth noting that different water companies have different policies and may be willing to fix the leak for you or contribute to the cost of repairs, even if it is on your property. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Contact your insurance company<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have suffered serious damage to your home from a water leak or as a result of flooding, you should <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebalance.com\/how-to-handle-water-damage-claims-3860314\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">get in contact with your insurance company<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as soon as you have taken all the necessary emergency measures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are covered for water and flood damage, your insurance should pay for any building and contents restoration work. If not, you will be looking at a bill to deal with the clean-up \u2013 this could include everything from water extraction and drying to dealing with long-term problems including odour removal and sanitation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unwanted water inside a property can be very worrying. Water will always find a way, as they say, and it has the potential to cause a lot of damage very quickly. If you\u2019ve spotted an unidentified damp patch that seems<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/how-do-deal-with-a-water-leak-in-your-property\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":11286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[602],"modified_by":null,"_wl_alt_label":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Water-Damage.jpg","wl:entity_url":"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl0502\/post\/how_do_deal_with_a_water_leak_in_your_property","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18714,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18713\/revisions\/18714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18713"},{"taxonomy":"wl_entity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wl_entity_type?post=18713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}