Leak Repair in Denver

Some leak sources come up far more often than others, and most of them can be checked without tools:

• Supply hoses and shutoff valves under sinks and toilets, especially older rubber hoses and compression fittings.
• Toilet flappers and fill valves, which leak silently into the bowl and show up only on the bill.
• Toilet wax seals, which leak a little with each flush onto the subfloor.
• Water heater connections and the relief valve discharge line.
• Exterior walls and hose bibs after a hard freeze. A split pipe often stays quiet until it thaws.
• Pinhole leaks in older copper, which tend to repeat along the same run.

A toilet is easy to test: put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait without flushing. Color in the bowl means the flapper is leaking. If the leak is in pipe that is corroding throughout, patching one spot buys time, and our pipe repair and repiping page explains when replacement makes more sense.

Many Denver-area houses have basements, but basement floors and slab-on-grade homes both carry water or drain piping under concrete. A pressurized leak there can run for a long time before it surfaces. Watch for a meter that moves with everything off, a warm spot on the floor (a hot water line), damp carpet with no visible source, or the sound of water under the floor.

The Colorado Geological Survey documents swelling clay soils across parts of the Front Range urban corridor. Soil that swells and shrinks with moisture puts stress on concrete and on pipe that passes through or under it.

Denver Water's published rules say the service line between the main and the house is owned by the property owner and installed at the owner's expense. Owners also maintain the stop box and curb stop valve, though Denver Water replaces broken stop box covers. Denver Water states that it is not responsible for water damage caused by a property's service line or internal plumbing, and it suggests checking with your insurance agent about coverage.

A service line leak can show up as a strip of lawn that stays green or soggy in dry weather, water in the meter pit, or low pressure throughout the house.

Suburbs and districts outside Denver Water's service area set their own rules, so check with your provider.

1. Close the main shutoff. It is usually where the water line enters the house, often in the basement or next to an indoor meter.
2. Open a low faucet, such as a basement sink or exterior hose bib, to drain pressure off the system.
3. Protect the water heater. If the leak involves it, turn a gas unit's control to pilot or switch off the breaker for an electric unit.
4. Kill power to wet areas at the breaker if water is near outlets or fixtures.
5. Photograph the damage and any wet materials before cleanup, for your insurer.

Then leave the water off until the leak is found. Turning it back on to see where the water comes from usually means another round of damage. Leaks at the tank itself are covered on our water heater repair page, and slow leaks at hoses and valves are the kind of thing routine plumbing maintenance is meant to catch.