Once a year, catch the plumbing failures that flood a room while they're still cheap to fix: a $12 supply hose, a worn flapper, a tank quietly filling with sediment. None of it needs special tools, and the step most people skip is the most important: finding the main water shutoff before a pipe fails, not during.
Quick plumbing check-up checklist
- Locate and exercise the main water shutoff.
- Flush sediment from the water heater.
- Inspect the washing-machine supply hoses.
- Check every toilet for a silent leak.
- Check the water pressure with a gauge.
- Clear any slow drains before they back up.
- Test the sump pump with a bucket of water.
Test the main water shutoff
When a pipe lets go, the shutoff matters more than the bucket. Find the main valve, usually where the line enters the house or near the meter, and turn it fully off and back on so it doesn't seize. A valve you've never touched can fail the one time you need it.
Flush the water heater
Sediment settles in the tank, where it insulates the burner, drops efficiency, and makes a popping or rumbling sound. Draining a few gallons from the drain valve each year clears it. Follow your manual, and leave testing the temperature-and-pressure relief valve to a plumber during service.
Inspect the washing-machine hoses
Original rubber hoses commonly fail within five to ten years, and a burst one can pour hundreds of gallons an hour onto the floor. Look for bulges, cracks, rust at the fittings, and dampness, and replace rubber hoses with braided stainless-steel ones on a five-year schedule.
Check toilets for leaks
A worn flapper leaks silently and can waste 200 gallons a day. Put a few drops of food coloring or a dye tab in the tank, wait ten minutes without flushing, and if color shows up in the bowl the flapper needs replacing. The EPA's WaterSense program flags this as a top household leak.
Check the water pressure
Screw a $10 gauge onto an outside hose bib and open it. Household pressure should sit around 40 to 60 psi. Above 80 psi stresses valves, hoses, and the water heater and shortens their life; have a plumber install or adjust a pressure-reducing valve if it's high.
Clear slow drains
A drain that gurgles or empties slowly is on its way to a full clog. Clear it with a drain snake or by cleaning the trap before it backs up, and keep grease and food scraps out of the kitchen line.
Test the sump pump
Pour a bucket of water into the pit and confirm the float rises and the pump switches on and drains. If it hums but doesn't move water, the discharge line may be clogged or the impeller stuck.
Top up the water-softener salt and replace under-sink filters
Check the brine tank and refill the salt, and swap under-sink filter cartridges on the schedule in the manual so they don't restrict flow.
When to call a plumber
Call a plumber for anything you can't trace or fix quickly: a shutoff valve that leaks when you turn it, a water heater rusted at the base, pressure that won't come down even with a working PRV, or any active leak you can't stop. The yearly checkup is for catching the easy stuff; the hard stuff is cheaper to fix before it floods a room than after.
Good maintenance rhythm
The checklist gets you through the yearly checkup once. Keep things running smoothly all year round by following a regular maintenance schedule.
- Yearly: flush the water heater, inspect the washer hoses, and check every toilet for leaks.
- Yearly: exercise the main shutoff so it doesn't seize, and check the water pressure.
- Every five years: replace rubber washer hoses with braided stainless steel.
- As needed: clear slow drains before they fully clog.
- Before storm season: test the sump pump.
- Ongoing: top up the softener salt and replace under-sink filters on schedule.