Oh RATS! How to Prevent Water Leaks in Your Home

On a nice Saturday morning, all you want to do is wake up, get some coffee and maybe take a walk around the block. Few people appreciate the joy of walking into the kitchen to find water raining down from the ceiling. Was it a frozen pipe that broke? A faulty plumbing job from the guy who said he would run all your pipes for a hamburger and a soda? Nope. It was a rat.

Rodents and pipe leaks in the Yakima Valley

You may not expect it, but many water leaks in the Yakima Valley are caused by rats or other rodents chewing holes in pipes. When a pipe is ruptured, even a small pin hole can let a large amount of water pass through and cause unseen damage for a long time. In many cases homeowners do not notice the leak until there are visible signs of damage, and by then there can already be secondary damage like mold growth. The only way to treat this damage is to remove the affected material, then sanitize and dry the area.

How to avoid it

As a homeowner, the best way to avoid this problem is to make sure all holes and possible entrances from the outside of your home are locked up tight, and to keep the area around your house cleared of debris. If you find water damage and cannot tell where it came from, call Baxter Restoration at (509) 452-2464.