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Ice maker leaks - what causes them and how to prevent it from happening in your Fullerton Maryland Home.
5/9/2017 (Permalink)
Ice maker leaks are common and often go unnoticed. These slow leaks damage both the wall, flooring, and lower levels of homes which can lead to decay. You may have an ice maker but no signs of leaks. Keep on reading, we’re going to give you some advice on how to detect leaks and how to prevent them from happening.
When an ice maker is added to an existing home, the installer will use an "ice maker valve," a small metal saddle secured to a cold water pipe near the refrigerator, with a small clear plastic pipe for the water to feed into the ice maker. The plastic tubing will most likely be the cause of an ice maker leak. Pinholes form in the tubing go unnoticed during installation and remain unnoticed for years, hidden behind the refrigerator. Over a long period of time, hundreds of gallons of water seeping from the tubing can lead to serious structural decay and damage to the wall and floor systems around the refrigerator. You can detect this if you have a water bill, by seeing if it suddenly increases without any reason why. Or by periodically checking behind the fridge…this is hard to do though depending on where your fridge is located.
Modern homes usually have a shut-off valve installed in a wall panel behind the refrigerator where soft copper tubing is used to connect the valve to the refrigerator. Pinhole leaks or fractures of copper tubing are possible, but not as likely as in the plastic tubing. If your home is not modern, use the copper tubing for connection and install a battery operated flood alarm. Doing this before a problem occurs will reduce your risk for a costly water damage in the future.
About SERVPRO of Perry Hall/ White Marsh
SERVPRO of Perry Hall/ White Marsh specializes in the cleanup and restoration of residential and commercial property after a fire, smoke or water damage event. Our staff is highly trained in property damage restoration. From initial and ongoing training at SERVPRO’s corporate training facility to regular IICRC-industry certification, rest assured our staff is equipped with the knowledge to restore your property.
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