When you have a leaky pipe in your Oakville home, it can feel like you’re waiting forever when a plumber is on the way. Plumbers will get to your home as fast as possible, especially when it’s an emergency, but you don’t want the pipe to continue leaking into your home and potentially cause more damage. While waiting for the plumber to get there, there are a few ways you can temporarily fix a leaky pipe in your Oakville home.
Turn off the water
If the pipe that is leaking is a water pipe (as opposed to a waste pipe), you can easily stop the flow of water to the pipe.
Locate the water supply – either the main one for the house or a local one for just that pipe – and turn off the water supply. This will stop water from flowing through and causing more damage to your home.
Clean up the area around the pipe.
The area around the leak will likely have water or moisture from whatever was in that pipe, so it will need to be cleaned up appropriately.
While waiting for the plumber, you can easily take some towels and clean up the surrounding area so that the plumber can get to work and fix the leak more easily.
Prepare the pipe for repair.
Take a look around the area that has a leak. See if you notice any rust or other rough edges where the leak happened. If there are, you can take some sandpaper and smooth down the area.
With a smoother surface, a temporary patch or repair may hold for longer so you can wait until the plumber gets to your home without worry the pipe will leak again.
Place a temporary patch.
Using a material like epoxy putty is the best for an emergency repair on a leaky pipe. To apply it as a temporary patch, you will need to break off a reasonably sized piece and work it in your hands until it’s soft and pliable. Put the piece over the hole, smooth out the edges and then wait for it to completely settle.
You can also use duct tape by wrapping several layers around the pipe, which will hold until the plumber gets there to help you.
Stop the leaky pipe early on.
No Oakville homeowner wants to hear they have a pipe that’s leaking in their home, but hopefully, it happens when the homeowners are at home. If you can stop it early on, then you may be able to prevent some major damage from happening to your home.
Contact McKenna Plumbing today.
Call us today if you suspect you have a leaking pipe in your home. We offer 27/7 emergency service in Oakville and surrounding areas. While you’re waiting for one of our licensed plumbers to arrive, using the above techniques to stop the leak can help prevent further damage to your home.