Burst pipes
Burst pipe water damage in Maple Valley, WA
A burst pipe puts a lot of water in the wrong place in a short time. The first job is stopping it. After that, it’s about finding everywhere the water went and drying it before it settles in.
We’ll help you get the water shut off first.
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The problem
What “burst pipe” usually means in a Maple Valley house
In most houses built around here since the 1990s, a burst pipe isn’t a corroded old pipe splitting open. It’s more often a connection failing: a braided supply line to a toilet or faucet, a compression fitting, an angle stop, a crimp ring on plastic supply pipe, or a pipe that froze during a rare cold snap. It happens under pressure, so water keeps coming until someone closes a valve.
Because the supply is pressurized, a failure under a sink or inside a wall can release many gallons in minutes. Where it goes depends on the house: across the kitchen floor, down into the crawl space, through the ceiling below an upstairs bathroom, or into a wall cavity where it can’t be seen.
Right now
What to do right now
Close the nearest valve
For a fixture, the angle stop under the sink or behind the toilet closes that line. If you can’t find it or it won’t turn, go to the main.
Close the main if needed
Commonly in the garage near the water heater, or where the supply line enters. On a well, switch off the pump.
Stay clear of wet electrics
If water is near outlets or panels, do not enter. Call your utility and emergency services.
Open a lower faucet
Once the main is off, opening a faucet on the lowest level drains remaining water from the pipes and reduces what escapes.
Photograph the failure
Take a picture of the failed part before anyone removes it, and of each wet area.
Check below and beside
Look in the room below, the crawl space and the rooms either side of where it happened.
If the valve won’t turn, we’ll talk you through the next option.
Help Getting the Water OffLocal causes
What fails in houses around here
Braided supply lines
Stainless braided lines to toilets, sinks and faucets can fail at the crimped ends, often without warning.
Angle stops
The small valves under sinks and behind toilets can leak at the stem or the connection, or snap when turned after years untouched.
Plastic supply pipe fittings
PEX and older polybutylene systems rely on fittings, and a failed crimp or a cracked fitting is a common cause of a sudden leak.
Frozen lines during cold snaps
Uncommon in the lowlands, but pipes in unheated crawl spaces, garages and exterior walls can split in a hard freeze. See frozen pipe burst cleanup.
Hose bibs
Outdoor faucets that froze with a hose attached can split inside the wall and leak the next time they’re used.
Water pressure
High water pressure puts extra strain on every fitting. A pressure-reducing valve that has failed can contribute to repeated leaks.
What you notice
What people notice
- A hiss or spray from under a sink or behind a toilet.
- Water pouring from a ceiling light or around a fan.
- A wet floor spreading from under a cabinet.
- A sudden drop in water pressure throughout the house.
- The sound of water running in the crawl space.
Sometimes the failure happens while nobody’s home, and the first sign is walking into a wet house. In that case the water may have been running for hours, and it will have reached further than it looks.
Where it goes
Following the water through the house
Under flooring
Water runs under laminate, vinyl plank and hardwood through the seams and spreads across the subfloor. The surface can look dry while the underlayment is soaked.
Into cabinets
Kitchen and bathroom cabinet bases are often particleboard, which swells and loses strength when wet. Water hides behind the toe kick for days.
Up the walls
Drywall wicks water upward from a wet floor. The bottom plate of the wall and the insulation behind hold it.
Through the ceiling
An upstairs failure travels along joists before dropping, so the stain below may be some distance from the leak.
Into the crawl space
On the main floor, water finds gaps around pipes and at the edges of the floor and drips onto insulation and the vapor barrier.
Along ducts
Water can run into floor registers and heating ducts in the crawl space, which then carry damp air and odor through the house.
Each of those needs to be checked and, where wet, dried. Missing one is the usual reason a leak that seemed handled comes back as a smell a few weeks later.
Step by step
How burst pipe damage is dried and repaired
Confirming the water is off
The crew checks the source is isolated and advises if a plumber is needed to repair it.
Mapping the water
Moisture meters and, where useful, thermal imaging show how far water travelled in floors, walls, ceilings and the crawl space.
Extraction
Standing water is removed from floors, carpet and the crawl space.
Removal
Saturated drywall, insulation, pad and swollen cabinet bases are removed where they can’t be dried in place.
Drying
Dehumidifiers and air movers are placed for each affected area. Wall cavities and ceilings may be opened to dry them.
Monitoring and repair
Readings are repeated until dry, then drywall, flooring and finishes are replaced.
The crew explains what they’ve found and the price before starting.
Call for Upfront PricingTime and cost
What affects time and cost
- How long the water ran before it was shut off.
- Which floors and rooms it reached.
- Whether it went into walls, ceilings or the crawl space.
- Cabinets, hardwood and other slow-drying materials.
- The time of year, and humidity during drying.
- The extent of repairs afterward.
Afterward
After the pipe is fixed
Once the house is dry and the plumbing repaired, it’s worth checking the other supply lines and angle stops of the same age. If one failed, others may be close. Many homeowners replace all of them at once.
Knowing where the main shutoff is, and making sure it turns, is the single most useful thing to do before the next leak. Label it so anyone in the house can find it.
The crew can document the work performed.
Local crews who deal with failed supply lines every week.
Talk to a Local CrewRelated services
Questions
Burst pipe questions
Close the nearest valve, or the main shutoff if you can’t isolate it. Then keep away from any wet electrics and call.
In many local houses it’s in the garage near the water heater, or where the supply line enters the house. There may also be a valve in the meter box at the street. On a well, switching off the pump stops the supply.
Usually, yes, to repair the pipe or fitting. The restoration crew handles removing water, drying and repairs to the building.
Further than it looks. It spreads under flooring, wicks up drywall, runs along framing and drops into the crawl space or the ceiling below. Moisture meters find where it went.
Sometimes, if it was wet only briefly with clean water. Drywall that is saturated, sagging or has been wet for a long time is usually cut out and replaced.
Several days is typical, longer if hardwood, cabinets or the crawl space are involved.
Braided lines and fittings can fail at the crimp or connection with little outward sign. Age, water pressure and movement all contribute.
If one of the same age has failed, many homeowners choose to replace the rest. A plumber can advise.
Expect a short written summary of what was found, what was removed or dried, and the readings that confirmed it was dry. Keep it with your other house paperwork.
If the main supply will be off for a while, setting a gas water heater to its vacation or pilot setting, or switching off the breaker for an electric one, is a sensible precaution. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and ask a plumber if you’re unsure.
Water’s off, but the house is wet?
Call and we’ll connect you with a local crew to find where it went and dry it properly.
A calm conversation about what’s next and what it will cost.
Call About a Burst Pipe