Most plumbing trouble announces itself quietly long before it floods anything. The trick for a homeowner is knowing which quiet signs are worth a phone call, and which ones you can rule out yourself in ten minutes with a flashlight and your water meter. Here are the five we’d pay attention to, with a simple check for each and who to call if the check confirms it.

1. Your Water Bill Jumped and Nobody’s Using More

A bill that climbs without a change in habits usually means water is escaping somewhere you can’t see. The U.S. EPA’s WaterSense program puts the average household’s leaks at more than 9,300 gallons a year, and says fixing the easy ones can cut a water bill by about 10 percent.

Check it yourself. Read the water meter, then make sure nothing uses water for two hours: no faucets, toilets, dishwasher, washer or sprinklers. If the meter has moved at all, you probably have a leak. Next, test each toilet: put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, wait 10 minutes without flushing, and look in the bowl. Color in the bowl means the flapper is leaking. Flush afterward so the dye doesn’t stain. A worn flapper is a cheap fix, and EPA suggests replacing it at least every five years.

Who to call. If the toilets pass and the meter still moves, the leak is in the supply piping: in a wall, under a floor or slab, or in the line from the meter to the house. That’s a job for us. Our leak detection page explains how we find it before anything gets opened up.

2. Water Pressure Has Dropped

Check it yourself. First decide whether it’s one fixture or the whole house. If only one faucet or shower is weak, unscrew the aerator or showerhead and look for mineral crust and grit; that’s the usual cause, and you can clean it at the sink. If the whole house is weak, thread a pressure gauge from the hardware store onto an outside hose bib and read it with nothing running inside.

Who to call. Whole-house pressure that drops, or swings high and low, often comes from a pressure regulator that’s failing. Pressure above 80 psi is a problem too, since it wears out supply lines, fill valves and water heater relief valves. Customers have told us about weak pressure at a single shower that turned out to be the regulator. Our pressure regulator page covers how we test and replace one. City of San Diego customers can also ask the City for a free pressure test at the nearest hydrant by calling 619-515-3525.

3. More Than One Drain Is Slow or Gurgling

One slow sink is a local clog. Several fixtures slowing down together is different. So is a toilet that gurgles when the washing machine drains. Both usually point further down, to the main drain or the sewer line out to the street.

Check it yourself. Note which fixtures are affected and whether the lowest drain in the house backs up first. Don’t keep pouring drain cleaner into a main line problem.

Who to call. Drain and sewer work isn’t something we do in-house. We hand this kind of problem to Drain Mob, the drain and sewer specialists we trust. They clear the line and can run a camera through it to see whether roots, a crack or a sag is behind it. Once the drains are flowing, we’re glad to handle anything on the water side of the house.

4. Stains, Soft Spots or a Musty Smell

Watch for a brown ring on a ceiling, bubbling paint near a baseboard, a soft floor next to a toilet or tub, or a musty closet. Each one means water is getting where it shouldn’t. Slow leaks matter because mold can start growing within 24 to 48 hours of moisture, and a drip hidden behind a wall can run for weeks.

Check it yourself. Look at what’s above or behind the stain: a bathroom, a water heater closet, a refrigerator with an ice maker line, a washing machine. Check under sinks for water on the cabinet floor. Run the meter test from sign 1 to see if the leak is on a pressurized line.

Who to call. Find and fix the source first, then deal with the wet materials. We locate and repair the leak, and when water has already soaked into walls or floors, our restoration crew handles the drying.

5. The Water Heater Is Telling You Something

Check it yourself. Read the manufacture date on the label. Then listen and look. Rumbling or popping while it heats points to sediment on the bottom of the tank. Rusty hot water points to a corroding tank lining. A drip from the pipe on the side means the relief valve is opening, and moisture under the tank itself means the tank is failing.

Who to call. A part such as a thermocouple, igniter or heating element can usually be replaced. A tank that’s rusting through or leaking from the bottom can’t be repaired. If yours is past about ten years and showing any of these signs, it’s time to plan a replacement before it decides for you. Our water heater repair page lays out what can be fixed and what can’t.

What a Plumber Looks At on a Visit

A good service call starts with the symptom you called about. From there, a plumber should look at the parts that tend to fail together: shutoff valves, fixture supply lines, house water pressure, and the water heater’s age, straps, venting and relief line. You should get the findings and your options before any work starts. For more ways to catch leaks early, the EPA’s Fix a Leak Week page has a good checklist.

Master plumber Tony Misleh has run Courtesy Plumbing since 2007 under California license CSLB #910268. If one of these signs sounds familiar, phone (858) 567-0544 during weekday business hours, or tell us what you’ve noticed on the Contact Us page.