Water problems can be very stressful for the home owner. Leaks and moisture problems can lead to significant damage to the home. One of the biggest plumbing problems that could occur in the home is to have broken pipes under dry walls. When this happens, not only do the homeowners end up with a broken pipe, they also have to deal with the water damage to their walls.
Fix It Yourself or Hire a Professional?
If you’re pretty handy in the home then fixing the broken pipe on your own should save you a significant amount of money. Working on the plumbing will of course take up some of your time so make sure you can carve up time from your schedule to work on the broken pipes. You need to have knowledge in plumbing and you must also have all the necessary tools needed for the job. Another thing that you must remember is that aside from fixing the broken pipes you will also need to fix the hole on the wall that you will create to fix the pipes underneath.
The only way you can fix broken pipes under a dry wall is to cut out holes from the wall to repair the pipe underneath. This can be pretty tricky especially if you have designs on your walls.
One more thing, even if you are saving yourself a good amount of money by doing all the work yourself, fixing broken pipes under walls can still be pretty expensive.
However, it is still more expensive to hire a professional plumber to fix the broken pipes in your home. The reason you end up paying more when you are hiring a professional is because you are paying for their expertise. Hiring a professional also saves you the time you otherwise would have to use fixing the pipes yourself. Having experts do the plumbing also ensures that you do not cause any further damage to the pipes or cause an irreparable damage to the wall. They can also ensure that you do not experience any mold problems as a result of the leaking pipe.
If you are not handy at plumbing, you may end up spending more money than if you hired a professional. You may end up buying more materials than you need and even do more work than is actually required.
How to Fix the Broken Pipe
The first thing you need to do when you have a leaking pipe inside the dry wall is to turn off the water supply to your home. This way, the water will stop leaking through the damaged pipes.
You should cut a part of the dry wall to expose the leaking pipes. You need to cut a hole that will give you easy access to the pipes but do not cut too big a hole that will give you a hard time repairing after you have fixed the broken pipes.
Once you have access to the pipes, try draining the pipe by turning on the faucet that is closest to that part of the pipe. Remember that the main water valve to your home should be shut off.
Dry off the leaking pipe with a rag. You should also find a way to minimize the leaking of the water to your floor and dry wall by placing an appropriate water receptacle.
Depending on what situation the pipe is in, you may have to cut and replace pipes, change valves or simply tighten the pipes. You need to evaluate the situation and think of the appropriate solution for the problem. This is why it is important to ensure that you are handy with plumbing before you even decide to cut a hole in your wall. Fixing pipes whether they are under a dry wall or exposed is not an easy task to do. Not only do you have to have the right knowledge, you also must have the right tools for the job.
After exposing the leaking pipe and evaluating the situation, visit your local hardware store and purchase the pipes and other items you need to repair the pipe. There are even pipe repair clamp kits available from the hardware store for fixing minor broken pipes.
If the leak is minor, and the pipe is not linked to the pipes that supplies drinking water to your home, you may try fixing the leak with a simple epoxy to seal the leak. Sometimes, the leak may be coming from the valve connections and all you need is to apply epoxy on the connections.
It is also possible that you need to reroute the pipes to stop the leaks and to solve the problem with the broken pipe. Rerouting pipes require more work but if it is needed then you really should reroute the pipe and not postpone the work. Since you are opening up a portion of the wall already, you should fix all that needs to get done so that you save money in the long run.
If you are not very handy at plumbing then you should definitely hire a plumber to do the work for you. This way you do not cause further damage to the pipes which may later lead to more expenses for you in the future.
After fixing the pipes, you will need to cover up the hole on the drywall. You will need concrete or wood depending on what material your wall is made of. You need to do a just as good a job in fixing the wall as you did in fixing the pipes.
How to Choose the Right Plumbing Company
If you decide to hire a professional plumbing company to work on the busted pipes instead of doing it yourself, remember that it is very important to choose the right plumbing company that will do the job.
A lousy plumbing company may not be able to deliver the kind of results you want and worse, could even cause more damage to your pipes and your home.
Here are some tips you can follow to ensure that you hire the right plumber for the job.
Search for information online. There are so many companies offering their services online. You can easily find several companies operating in your area offering plumbing services. By using the internet as a researching tool, you can find several companies that could be right for the job. Company websites offer information on the type of services that the company offers. Some companies even have the prices of their services posted online. This will help you compare the prices. If the prices or the menu of services are not available online, you can contact each of the company and ask for the cost of the basic services. You can also describe the current state of your plumbing so that the plumber can give you a more accurate quote. When comparing the prices of the services, make sure you are comparing the same types of services. Take the time to actually compare the services and the reputation of each plumber or plumbing company so that you don’t end up hiring one that can’t deliver satisfactory services.
You should get price estimates from about six or seven contractors so that you have a good idea how much you should really spend on the project. Choose a company you feel at ease with and is easy to communicate with. After you get the price estimates, clarify with the contractor any of the vague details on the price estimates or the quotation. You don’t want to hire a contractor thinking you only need to pay a certain amount and then end up being billed for more. Check for hidden and additional charges which may not be clear in the quotation. Ask if the service already includes all the materials that will be used.
Aside from the price of service, another factor that will help you determine who to hire would be the kind of service that you require from the person or the company. If the leak is minor and the problem only involves busted water pipes or faucets, you can hire the neighborhood plumber. But if the problem involves the sewage system or major pipe installations in your home, then you may have to hire an experienced plumbing contractor that will look into the problem and solve it quickly.
You should ask the companies you are considering hiring their experience in operating as well as how much experience they have dealing with the same problem that you have. You need to make sure that the person or the company you are hiring has significant experience dealing with the kind of plumbing problem that you have. If the plumber or the plumbing contractor is inexperienced, then they can cause even more damage to your plumbing instead of fixing it.
Check if the plumber or the plumbing company that you are planning to hire has full insurance coverage. Ensuring that the contractor you hire has insurance coverage will help keep you protected.
As in buying or getting any other form of product or service, make sure you go for quality. You should always get the product or the service that provides you with the best value for your money, not necessarily the cheapest that there is out there. Some companies may charge cheap rates but deliver unsatisfactory services that may lead to further damage or even greater expenses in the future.
