Why You Need to Have Your Plumbing Inspected Once a Year

04/13/2015

Your plumbing system is one of the most unobtrusive of your home utilities. It is largely hidden from view, with the pipes installed in the walls and floors. Though you interact with it every time you use a sink or a shower, it remains largely out of sight. This a good thing in many ways. After all, you probably don’t want plumbing pipes snaking throughout your house where you might trip over them. However, this also makes several plumbing problems much harder to identify and deal with.

One of those problems is pinhole leaks. Read on to find out more about pinhole leaks, and why you need to have your plumbing inspected at least once a year.

Pinhole Leaks

The most common kind of plumbing pipe material is copper, primarily because it is resistant to most forms of corrosion. However, it is still vulnerable to pitted corrosion. Pitted corrosion starts on the outside of the pipe and works its way in. It is also always focused on a relatively small area of the pipe, allowing it to open a leak much faster than other types of corrosion. Once it finally opens a leak, the hole tends to be quite small. This is why it is called a “pinhole leak”. Though a pinhole leak is small, it can cause damage far beyond its size.

Due to their small size, pinhole leaks often don’t give off any obvious signs to announce their existence to homeowners. This means that they could be leaking for months or years without anyone noticing. As most of your plumbing pipes are surrounded by insulation and sheet rock, the first sign that you will likely have of a pinhole leak is when a large section of your wall is rotted by water damage.

The best way to detect pinhole leaks early is to have your plumbing inspected at least once a year, if you haven’t had your plumbing inspected in over a year, call Rooter Man. We provide water leak detection services throughout Albany, NY.