Pittsburgh Commercial Water Leak Repair Problems Solved
No plumbing lasts forever, so a leak will inevitably develop in your commercial building. Time is of the essence regarding water in a building because water always leads to damage. So what starts as a minor leak that can be easily repaired can over time become a far more significant repair issue due to the damage that the water itself will do to a building.
So your choices are one of three.
- Your first choice in the Greater Pittsburgh area is to call in a licensed, bonded, and insured professional plumbing repair expert like Kwiatowski Plumbing, by dialing 412-681-9525.
- Choice number two is the roll up your sleeves and have a crack at doing it yourself.
- The third choice is a contact a local handyman and hand the job over to them.
Either way, almost without exception, a plumbing leak in a building is not going to go away with time.
Instead, it will continue until a repair is done. The water may appear and go away depending on its source. So a drain pipe will leak only when water is sent into it, while a primary water source will continue until the main valve is turned off.
How do I find a water leak in my commercial building?
Locating the source of a leak in a building can be trickier than it appears on the surface. For example, a puddle on the floor or a wet spot on a ceiling area is readily visible while the actual source of the water is not.
So it needs to be located before the repair can be done. Finding a water leak in a building comes with experience and knowledge of how buildings are put together. For example, it’s not hard to imagine that water in a building may not even be a plumbing leak. It could be making an entrance around the edge of a window that was improperly flashed when installed, or it might be a roof leak.
In both these cases, vapor barrier sheeting installed inside the walls or under the roofing can carry a water leak several feet before it finds its way into the building. Then as another example, a plumbing leak, where the water is seeping from a failed pipe coupling, might travel several feet or even yards on waterproof insulation backing before it reaches a point where it can then run down onto the ceiling itself.
Also, if the source of a leak is periodic such as a condensation drain pipe connected to an air conditioning system that only generates water when the system is on can be tricky to find, particularly in the winter when a cooling system isn’t in use.
In the end, though, it’s imperative that the cure not create more damage than the leak itself by tearing into the building, hoping to stumble onto the problem and leaving behind yet another massive project after the leak has been found and repaired.
So here again, knowledge and experience will factor in the bottom line of the overall cost of the repair.
Is it expensive to fix a water leak?
The cost of repairing a water leak can vary greatly depending on several variables.
For example, the actual damage done to the building by the water itself can factor substantially into the final cost of the repair. So, in this case, a prompt solution will always work to drive the price down, while putting the repair off and allowing time to elapse can result in the final bill being substantially greater.
It’s not hard to understand that continuous water leaking onto a floor or ceiling that’s repaired in days will leave a simple cleanup job. Whereas a water leak allowed to continue weeks can and most likely will result in more extensive repairs that will have to be done after the water leak is dealt with and repaired. Then again, it’s not hard to imagine that who you bring in to do the job will affect the bottom line. But this doesn’t mean that cheap work is a surefire ticket to a lower final bill if you are left with a persistent leak and damage to the building.
So generally speaking, in most cases, it’s always better to bring in an expert who has previous experience in locating and repairing a water leak.
How do you fix water seeping through walls?
Water seeping through walls has to be dealt with promptly before it becomes a mold issue.
Also, keep in mind that after the dampness on the surface is gone, water stored in the insulation inside the wall can lead to a mold problem on the backside of the sheetrock, where it’s not visible.
The first step to fix water seeping through walls is a locate the source, and because the water flows downhill, the first two places to check are the roof above the wall and the outside surface area of the wall where the leak is occurring.
So, for example, an irrigation sprinkler directing water to a window that’s not sealed correctly is a common source of water seeping through walls.
A leak in a roof, where water is entering then flowing down on the underlayment under the shingles, then dripping in above the top plate onto the wall framing, may then flow down the vapor barrier underlayment to make entry into the wall cavity, some distance from its source.
How do you know if you have a water leak underground?
An underground water leak can go on for years and even decades undetected, a steady source of sustenance for termites, as it provides moisture for dry rot.
A constant source of water underground near a foundation can lead to settling and structural issues:
- Doors that don’t close right,
- windows that jam,
- and even rain gutters that, because the building is leaning, have the water flowing away from the downspout.
If an underground water leak is close to the surface, mushy wet ground with no apparent source is a red flag.
Then a water leak underground that’s coming from a pipe that’s deeper down can continue without producing the more visible surface symptoms. In this case, a professional plumber will have the equipment and the knowledge to isolate and pressure test pipes to determine if and where a water leak underground is located.
If the source of the leak is simply a bad connection in a PVC irrigation line, you’re in luck. But then again, if it’s an older rusted water line doing the work yourself is usually out of the question.
How much does it cost to fix a water leak underground?
Generally speaking, a water leak underground allows you more time to shop around for the most affordable solution than perhaps a leak that has water dribbling down on the interior of a building. If the leak source isn’t a main supply line, a temporary fix may be to shut it off at the knob if it has one.
It’s quick but won’t solve the problem permanently. How deep down a water leak underground is located considerably affects the repair cost. Then again, there are other mitigating factors. Problems like
a line that runs under a sidewalk, a driveway, or under a home will up the cost. Other mitigating factors include whether or not it’s a high-pressure or low-pressure water line, such as a drain line that is low pressure.
Rusty steel pipes are the most difficult to deal with because they require a higher level of skill and experience to work on. Old rusty pipes are difficult to disconnect and reconnect without damaging threads on the end. If the threads are damaged during the repair job, often the only solution is to excavate out the entire length of the steel pipe and replace it in its entirety. So here again is another leaky pipe repair job that can start small but in the wrong hands, expand into a much larger and more expensive job than anticipated.
Does building insurance cover leaks?
There is a broad range of variables that can factor into whether or not building insurance will cover the cost of a leak and the resulting damage done to a building.
For example, many policies have what’s often referred to as a divine intervention stipulation. That is whether or not water damage was brought about by, say, a rainstorm, which would be classified as divine intervention or whether its cause was man-made. So, for instance, you could have flood insurance that will cover your entire building, but it may not cover a leaky water pipe.
In the end, though, anything can be insured, and the plumbing in your building is no exception, if you are willing to pay for it. If you do have building insurance that will cover the cost of a leaky pipe and the resulting water damage, they will most likely require that the work be permitted by your local municipality and be done by a licensed professional. Then if the source of water is a leak in a roof caused by, say, an air conditioning or solar panel installation, it may be their insurance carrier that will be held accountable.
So the first step to determining the overall cost of a water leak repair is to track down the source of the leak. Then a report produced by a licensed professional can be submitted to your insurance carrier. Keep in mind that if your insurance carrier does cover your leak repairs, just like car insurance, they’ll have an adjuster that may arrive at a figure that’s lower than the actual cost of the job.
A licensed contractor like Kwiatowski Plumbing at Phone: 412-681-9525.
on your side may be the ticket to getting your building insurance to cover all costs for repairing the entire project.