Home Water Leak Prevention Checklist

Start with the shutoff valves

Find every shutoff before you need one. A burst supply line does the most damage in the minutes people spend looking for the valve.

Work through this list once, then repeat it twice a year:

• Find the main shutoff and make sure everyone at home can reach it.
• Turn it off and on to confirm that it actually stops the water.
• Find the valves at each toilet, sink, washer, water heater and refrigerator line.
• Replace any valve that sticks or will not close all the way.
• Keep any tool needed for the valve within reach of it.

The guide from the Connecticut Insurance Department and the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) says to test valves every six months. A valve that sits untouched for years is the one that fails on the day you need it.

Every month: five-minute checks

Monthly checks catch slow leaks before the damage gets expensive. The EPA says household leaks can waste more than 9,300 gallons a year in an average home, and many of them make no sound at all.

• Read your water bill and look for a jump with no explanation.
• Look under each sink for drips, stains or swollen cabinet floors.
• Touch the wall around toilets and look for soft spots in the floor.
• Check the pan under the air handler, and confirm the drain line is flowing.
• Walk the ceilings and look for new stains after heavy rain.
• Note any new musty smell in a closet or a cabinet.

Every six months: the closer inspection

Twice a year, take a closer look at everything that holds pressure. These intervals come from the IBHS guide, and they are worth putting on a calendar.

• Inspect washer, dishwasher and icemaker hoses for cracks, kinks and blisters.
• Inspect toilet supply lines and the flushing mechanism.
• Inspect the plumbing under every sink for corrosion.
• Check tile and grout for cracks around tubs and showers.
• Flush sediment from the water heater tank.
• Do the meter test: read it, wait two hours with no water running, then read it again.
• Do the toilet dye test: add food coloring to the tank, wait 10 minutes and look for color in the bowl.

Any change on the meter probably means a leak, according to the EPA.

Once a year: the whole-house review

Once a year, look at the systems that move water around and away from the house. Do it in the spring, before the wet months arrive. August is our wettest month, at about 7.4 inches of rain.

• Have a plumber or roofer look at anything you cannot safely reach.
• Clean gutters, and make sure downspouts carry water away from the wall.
• Inspect visible pipes for corrosion or condensation.
• Test the shower pan: block the drain, fill with an inch of water, mark the line and check it after 8 hours.
• Check window and door seals on the sides that take wind-driven rain.
• Have a plumber inspect the water heater's anode rod at least every two years.

If the water level in the pan test drops, call a plumber before anyone uses that shower again.

Replace-by dates worth writing down

Some parts should go on a schedule, not on a symptom. Write the install date on each part with a marker, because guessing its age later is hard.

The IBHS guide found that three-quarters of water heaters failed before 12 years. It also found that homes 30 years old were three times as likely to have a plumbing supply or drainage problem, so older houses deserve the full list.

Your Northeast Florida leak calendar

Local weather sets better dates than the four seasons do. Pin the checks above to these dates, so each one lands just before the water that tests it.

Check your watering day before any irrigation test. The county lists a Phase III water shortage schedule beginning May 11, 2026, which limits landscape watering to one day a week, so its page has the current rule. The National Hurricane Center also says most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October, so finish any plumbing or window work before mid-August.

Our rules for salt air and humidity

Coastal homes need a few extra checks, because salt and damp air work on fittings from the outside. On a barrier island like Vilano Beach, we would add these steps to any list:

• Check outdoor spigots and exposed fittings for pitting each season, and replace them before they weep.
• Look at air handler drain lines more often in summer. The EPA advises keeping drip pans clean and drain lines flowing.
• Keep indoor humidity below 60 percent, which is the EPA's figure, and treat sweating pipes or windows as a warning.
• Do not close off rooms or shut down the air conditioning for long stretches in humid months.
• Check the wall behind anything that hides a pipe, such as a vanity or a washer.

Which jobs should you hand off?

Most of this list takes a flashlight and no tools. A few jobs carry their own leak risk, so split them before you start.

An old valve is the real trade-off here. Turning one that has sat for years can start a drip at the stem. We would still test it, because the other way to find out is during a burst. Do it on a weekday morning, never the night before a trip.

A checklist also has a limit. A pinhole in a slab line or a failing shower pan can pass every visual check, which is why the meter test stays on the list. Our guide to signs of hidden water behind walls picks up where this one stops.

Put the dates down, and call when a check finds water

Do the shutoffs this week, set the calendar dates on your phone and write the install dates on your hoses. That is the whole system. Most of it costs nothing but an hour here and there.

Prevention lowers the odds, but it does not remove them. If a check turns up wet drywall or a soft floor, our water mitigation work starts with finding out how far the moisture has gone, and a burst pipe calls for the shutoff first and the phone second. Call us with what you found, and we will come out, assess it and give you an estimate at no charge.