How often should you check for water leaks under sinks and appliances?

Hidden slow leaks cause mould and rot long before you see them.

A slow leak under a sink or behind a washing machine soaks the cabinet base, the subfloor and eventually the structure. Mould establishes within 24 to 48 hours of sustained damp. Insurers frequently exclude damage from gradual leaks precisely because they are considered preventable by inspection.

1. Read the meter with everything off. Turn off every tap and appliance, note the meter reading, wait two hours with no water used, and read it again. Any movement means a leak somewhere.
2. Check under every sink. Empty the cabinet and feel the base with your hand. Look for staining, swelling of the chipboard, or a white crust of dried mineral deposit around fittings.
3. Inspect appliance hoses. Washing machine and dishwasher hoses perish and are a classic sudden failure. Look for bulges, corrosion at the crimps and any dampness. Braided stainless hoses are worth fitting.
4. Look at the water heater. Check the base of the tank, the relief valve discharge pipe, and the connections. Rust on the tank body is terminal.
5. Check toilets and the base of pans. Feel for damp around the base and look for movement when the pan is rocked gently.
6. Look at ceilings below bathrooms. Yellow or brown staining on a ceiling is water that has been arriving for a while.
7. Check outside taps and any irrigation. Outdoor leaks disappear into the ground and can run for months unnoticed.

• A water bill higher than usual with no change in habits
• The meter creeping with everything switched off
• Musty smells in a cupboard, particularly under a sink
• Staining, bubbling paint or swollen chipboard
• Warm patches on a floor, which can indicate a hot water leak beneath a slab
• Reduced water pressure with no other explanation

• Only looking where you can already see, rather than emptying cabinets and feeling with your hand
• Ignoring a small drip because it seems trivial: a slow drip into a cabinet base does more cumulative damage than a fast one onto a tiled floor you notice immediately
• Not checking appliance hoses, which are among the most common causes of significant water damage
• Dismissing an unexplained bill increase

• Check before leaving the house empty for an extended period, and consider turning the water off entirely
• Homes with a water softener, filtration or irrigation have more fittings and more failure points
• Older properties with mixed pipe materials, particularly where copper meets galvanised steel, corrode at the junctions
• Leak detection devices that shut off the supply automatically are increasingly affordable and worth considering

If the meter shows a leak but you cannot find it, it may be underground or beneath the slab. That needs acoustic or thermal detection rather than more searching.