Important Bathroom Water Damage Prevention Tips 

The bathroom is the most likely place for water damage to occur. 75% of all household water use occurs in the bathroom. Knowing ways to prevent water damage in your bathroom and regular inspection can help you keep structural maintenance costs at a minimum.  

Bathtub and Shower

• Check the tiles and replace if cracked.
• Make sure there is no missing grout between the tiles.
• Always dry your bathroom floors after use, to prevent floor damage.
• After taking a bath, drain your bathtub immediately. The longer you keep water in the tub, the more likely it is to leak if your drain is faulty. Also, it keeps the bathroom moist; something you should avoid to prevent water damage.
• Use an exhaust fan: When taking a shower or bath, turn on the exhaust fan if present. Install your exhaust fan so it blows air outside of the house, not into some other part of your home. The exhaust fan helps keep the bathroom ventilated and dry; an added protection against water damage.
• Inspect and replace cracked caulking at joints where the walls meet the floor or the bathtub.
• Clogged drains and pipes will prevent the bathtub from drying and may indicate serious problems beneath the bathtub.  Call a plumber.
• Pay attention to discolorations or soft areas around the bathtub walls.  This may be an indication of an internal leak.

• Leaky plumbing is often hard to detect because plumbing pipes are behind the walls and hidden from view.
• Pay special attention to flooring and walls.  If you feel moisture on the wall, the wall is stained, or you hear leaking or water movement, contact a plumber immediately.  If left untreated, the leak within your wall can cause extensive damage to your home.
• Check moisture problems in adjoining rooms as well.

 Sinks & Cabinets

• Both are exposed to moisture on a daily basis and often overlooked.
• Inspect regularly under the sink and on the countertop above it.
• Repair any drip in the trap.  This may indicate a drain problem.
• Slow draining pipes may indicate a blocked drain.
• Replace sink seals if they are cracked or loose.

 Toilets

• The toilet, with your aid, consumes a monstrous 40% of household water use. If you haven't installed one of those water-conserving toilets yet, you could be flushing down six gallons of water each time you use the toilet, or your toilet could potentially leak six gallons and more if it is damaged.
• Make sure the toilet tank doesn't have any cracks. Replace a cracked tank even if it hasn't fallen apart yet. Water slowly seeps through the cracks and contributes to the humidity in the air aiding water damage.
• Check the water lines and search for leaks around the toilet seat, in the hose, and under the water tank.
• The base of the toilet is sealed to the toilet floor using a special waterproof sealant. If the sealant doesn't work anymore (you see signs of water on the floor), dirty toilet water will leak from the base of the toilet and onto your floor-- or worse, onto your ceiling.
• Be aware – hanging toilet bowl deodorants increase the chances for a clog.