Key takeaways
- Fall: test every downspout in a hard rain and find the footing drain outlet before the wet season.
- Winter: insulate exposed pipe, close crawlspace vents in a cold snap, and do the meter test after any hard freeze.
- Spring: compare the water bill to last year and walk the lot for soft spots as the ground dries.
- Summer: a green stripe across a brown lawn is a leak; irrigation season is when mainline leaks show on the bill.
Fall
Before the rains settle in, walk the house in the first hard storm and watch every downspout: overflow at an elbow, pooling at the base, or no visible outlet anywhere means a buried line that has failed or was never there. Find the footing drain outlet, usually a pipe end downhill of the house, and confirm it flows. Clear catch basins and yard drain grates of leaves and needles. Look at the grade against the foundation and regrade anything that slopes inward. This is also the time to get a chronically wet crawlspace diagnosed, while the ground is still workable.
Winter
Hard freezes are infrequent on the peninsula but they happen. Insulate the pipe at the point of entry and any exposed run, close crawlspace vents in a cold snap, drain and disconnect hoses, and heat or insulate a well house. If a shallow or exposed line is a known problem, let a faucet trickle on the coldest nights. After any hard freeze, do the five-minute meter test even if nothing looks wrong; freeze splits are often small and on the buried side of the line, and the leak starts when it thaws.
Spring
The bill for the winter months arrives, and it's the easiest time to catch a leak that's been running since a freeze or a settle. Compare to the same month last year. As the ground dries, walk the lot and the driveway for soft spots, sunken trench lines and areas that stay wet after everything else has firmed up. On a well, notice whether the pump is cycling more than it used to. Spring is also when a footing drain that failed over the winter leaves its evidence in the crawlspace.
Summer
Dry ground is a leak detector. A stripe or patch of green across a brown lawn, especially along the line's route from the meter to the house, is water from a leak. Irrigation season is when mainline and valve leaks show up on the bill; isolate the irrigation and re-test the meter if the number jumps. And summer is the best time for planned work: replacing an end-of-life line, rebuilding a footing drain or installing a curtain drain in ground that isn't saturated.
Written by the crew at 360 Leak Finders
We locate, excavate and repair buried water lines and exterior drains across Kitsap County, 24 hours a day. If this guide raised a question about your property, call (206) 354-9906.