Burst pipes and failed lines on Cavalero Hillupstairs leaks in newer homes

People who live in fairly new houses do not always think of themselves as being at risk from a burst pipe, and in a sense they are right. The pipe itself is rarely what goes. The city's comprehensive plan says large portions of Lake Stevens developed in the past several decades, and the things that fail in a house of that age are mostly the parts that wear: rubber washer hoses, braided sink connectors, refrigerator lines, toilet fill valves, water heater tanks and the fittings on them.

The second common cause is damage. A nail or screw driven through a pipe during a later project can sit in place for months before it starts to leak. A shelf in a closet, a picture on a bathroom wall or a new cabinet could be the culprit. Crimped plastic lines may be fine for years, then fail at a badly made joint. And lots of leaks start in places people had recently worked: a new dishwasher, a new faucet or a replaced toilet.

Because the houses are often two stories, a small failure upstairs can do a lot of damage. Read the first-steps list on our main burst pipe water damage page, then look at where your own weak points are.

Water from an upstairs laundry goes down through a predictable series of layers. It soaks the floor covering and subfloor first, then gets into the space between floors, where it wets insulation, joists and ducts. Part of it collects above the ceiling drywall below. Another part goes down the wall cavities to the bottom plate, and it may eventually drip through the main floor and into crawlspace insulation.

This is why an upstairs leak needs a floor-by-floor assessment. Expect a contractor to ask about what is below the leak and to check with a meter at each level. You might hear about opening a section of the ceiling, because wet insulation above drywall holds water and will not dry through the board. If a wall has been opened to reach the pipe, leave it open until drying is finished. The structural drying page covers how that stage works.

A water heater in the garage or a closet can leak for a long time before you notice. Water may run across a sloped garage floor and out under the door, which hides how much there has been, while also soaking the bottom of the wall the garage shares with the house. Drywall there may wick up water and show little on the living-room side, apart from some swelling at the baseboard.

If the tank has failed, close the cold-water valve at the top of the heater. Turn the gas valve to off, or switch off the breaker for an electric unit, and let it cool before you try anything else. If you smell gas, leave the house and call the utility or 911 from outside. Pans and drain lines help with small leaks, but they cannot handle a large tank failure, and they do not protect the wall behind.

Freezing is a smaller risk in a well-insulated modern home, but exposed spots remain: hose bibs on the windward side, pipes in a garage ceiling below a bonus room and lines in a crawlspace close to a vent. Disconnect hoses in the fall, and pay attention to any plumbing near a cold wall. Higher ground can feel more wind, so don't assume that a low-lying neighbor's experience applies to you. If you travel in winter, leave the heat on at a sensible setting and consider closing the main.

Most repairs of this sort are simple, but ask your plumber whether a permit is needed, as the Lake Stevens permit center handles plumbing applications online. Electrical work goes through Washington Labor & Industries. Check any contractor's registration on the Washington L&I Verify tool. ^[6]