How to Prevent Water Damage Under Your Sink

After paying to get your kitchen or bathroom (or perhaps both) sink pipes sealed, the last thing you want to do is shell out more money again for the same thing. That’s why it’s a good idea to get to know your sink pipes.

Every week or biweekly, give your pipes a thorough once-over. Are the caulked seals still secure or have they begun to break down? Are the pipes themselves in usable condition? Perhaps you see hairline cracks in the pipes.

Although this damage is barely there now, it won’t stay that way. The moment you see pipe damage of any kind, you should contact a professional to come out and look things over. Make sure you turn off the water in the meantime to prevent further damage.

Mitigating the problem early is usually less expensive too, which is great for any homeowner on a budget. 

You can do more to prevent water damage below your sink. For instance, you might install an under-sink mat. Most mats are rubber so even if they get wet, the water won’t saturate through to your sink or kitchen cabinetry and wreck the wood.

Most under-sink mats have grooves throughout that can hold water to contain a leak. Some mats are even capable of retaining several gallons of water. They come in an assortment of sizes, and you can usually cut one of these mats to fit in a tight bathroom or kitchen cabinet.

Another option you have is an under-sink tray, which works in much the same way. You slip it into place and its raised edges will hold water as it accumulates. Unlike under-sink mats, you usually cannot cut an under-sink tray since it’s made of metal. Make sure you measure the space correctly to find a tray that fits!

A mat or tray alone is not going to prevent water leaks. If you never check under your sinks, then even those mats that can hold more than three gallons of water will become overwhelmed.

Sometimes you get busy and forget to look under your kitchen and bathroom sinks for a while. Perhaps you have to travel for work once a month and you know your sinks will go unattended that entire time.

For these purposes, a water leak detector can make your life easier. While the way they work varies depending on the product, most leak detectors include a sensor that determines when water has accumulated under your sink. Even if it’s only a few drops, these devices are supposed to alert you when they detect any level of moisture.

That’s done via an alarm, which might be as loud as 90 decibels. There’s no way you’ll be able to miss that, but if you do, the leak detector will keep sounding until it drains the battery. Some water leak detectors even float so in the event of a flood, you’ll still hear it.

The last time you had a sink leak, you didn’t notice until there was a deluge of water coming out. In the future, what should you be looking for as you inspect under your kitchen and bathroom sinks? Here are some signs that things have gone awry.

At first, the discoloration will only occur where the leak is. If that’s under your sink, then you’d need a flashlight and an optimal angle from the floor to notice. That’s why it’s usually clearer to homeowners that they’re dealing with a leak when the water spots have spread to the walls, floors, and adjoining cabinets in their kitchen or bathroom.

When you reach into your sink, have you noticed that the pipes and hoses are very moist? This is typically a sign that a leak has developed, although it’s one of the more easy-to-miss ones.

Here’s a symptom of a leak under the sink that you should easily detect. Your bathroom shouldn’t have a musty odor, nor should your kitchen. If these rooms are wretched with a mildewed stench that doesn’t want to go away, that’s a surefire sign that there’s a leak nearby.