Do I have to fix a leaking faucet or anything else that is broken

[Lilyat108x]

My foreclosure sale will be in less that two weeks. My kitchen faucet sprung a pin hole leak and also it looks like water has leaked down the slope of the faucet and behind it and down into the cabinet. Do I need to fix this because I cant really afford to.

[justbroke]

No, you don't need to fix that. The only real issue is whether your home will actually be foreclosed upon (the sale proceeding and the property "sold" at the auction). Many foreclosure sales are postponed. In any event, should it be postponed, can you live with the leaky faucet until you are officially out of there?

To be nice, you may want to turn off the water (either at the main or at the sink) once you actually do reach the foreclosure sale and need to vacate the home.

[tobee43]

i would most surely turn that water off! we were spoiled before moving to florida and had a well. our first water bill in florida was for the month before we moved in and they must have filled the pool!! we were charged with over 30 thousand gallons of water even though i brought the town in our lease! it showed we didn't even live there the month before. what a mess. and remember if you are on town water and sewer it will make the bill for the sewer to go cost to go up. this is just if the water bill is still in your name. if it is and you are still in the house i would fix it, ONLY if that is the case.

[LadyInTheRed]

My answer was going to be the same as JB's. But toobee43 makes a good point about the water bill. Not fixing it could cost more than fixing it.

Why not try fixing it yourself? Faucet repair is usually pretty simple. Depending on the type of faucet, you probably just need to replace a washer or a cartridge. Both are very inexpensive parts. Google "one handle faucet repair" or "two handle faucet repair". You will find articles and videos showing you how to repair a leaking faucet. Based on what you learn, you can take the faucet apart and take the part that needs to be replaced to a hardware store or pluming supply store and find the replacement part. I've done it many times. I think our high water pressure is hard on faucets.

[Pjmax]

Or, you could just reach under the sink and turn it off there each time you've used it. It would be a PIA long-term, but for a short while, I'd do it.

[justbroke]

I like the fix it option. That makes so much sense to me!

[Lilyat108x]

I should have explained that the pin hole is in the metal portion on the side of and kind of under the long portion faucet itself. I tried regular epoxy on it but I think I made it worse.

[LadyInTheRed]

In that case, I think Pjmax has your best solution unless you want to install a new, cheap, faucet.

[tobee43]

yes, i would turn it off! we even do that when we leave for a few days including all the water in the bathrooms. our first bill here in florida was of $500! the town didn't care about it. it was a vacate place and we guess it must have been the owner of the place having the pool filled. but the town said you don't pay it then you get no water. it was not a friendly welcome for certain. we unplug our electronics and shut all water for anytime we leave after that terrible lesson, which was not even ours to learn.
i think water is more expensive here in florida than even in california!

[mijd]

Ah, Florida and pinhole leaks. I've owned 3 homes in Florida, one built in '73, '94 and the last where I'm at now in 1988. All have had the pinhole leaks in the copper pipes! All have been under slab leaks, the last one flooded a bedroom. Also this house has had 3 in the last 2 years. Repiping costs well into 4k or more and homeowners doesn't cover it.

You're correct Tobee, water is Florida is more expensive and I've learned the hard way more than twice. First time while on vacation the ball cock broke in one of my toliets and the water ran constantly for over 2 weeks. Water bill was in the $400 range. 2nd time my garden hose sprung a leak with the faucet on full force( my error). Luckily a neighbor spotted it after a day and a half. Sometimes the water co may have a little sympathy and give you a break but not if it's county owned. Also too while the water itself maybe billed a little over $2.50 per 1,000 gallons, the sewer comes in over $7....and it make NO difference if the water actually goes down your drain! Plus the service fees for both, you pay over $30 even if you don't use 1 drop. The county here even charges $2 to send the bill!

Be careful about using the water valve under the sink to turn the water on and off when you use it. From personal experience, unlike faucets, I've found, they can't take the constant use especially if they're old and the valves themselves can start leaking.

[Lilyat108x]

Mijid, curious why pin hoes in copper pipes? Ours happens to be in the middle of the faucet and leaks when the faucet is on. I've had a pipe burst under the slab in my master bath in the middle of the night once just after I moved in here. That was the builder's/plumber contractors fault that did the construction of the house.

[AngelinaCat]

During the late 1980s it appears that thin wall brittle copper piping in new and replacement construction was routinely approved throughout the state, by the Codes that builder have to go by in order to get the permit approved.

This was in spite of the fact that much of Florida has sulfur water, coming through the Floridan Aquifer. No matter how much the water is treated in the water/sewer systems of municipalities or counties, or if you are living out in the woods, and have your own well, with water softener/treatments systems, there still is going to be a little bit of the gases getting through.

Sulfur, salts, and some of the other gases are very corrosive. Watch your water faucets, fixtures, and hose couplings. Watch how quickly a new one will start developing black spots, which can't be cleaned off.

Mijd, who cautioned about being careful when turning off and on the feed faucet under the sink is very correct. These fixtures can and do corrode to the point that the parts fuse together. If you try to force a frozen faucet, the whole assembly can break off in your hand, and you will have a much bigger problem than you do now.

Now we are seeing these thin walled copper systems breaking down. Fortunately, we re-plumbed our house with CPVC (which are now current codes) before this happened to us.

Here is a good article on the Floridan Aquifer from Wikipedia, followed by a page of links to other article on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floridan_aquifer

http://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&nord=1&site=webhp&source=hp&q=floridan+aquifer&oq=floridan+a&gs_l=hp.1.0.0j0i10j0l5j0i10l3.1649.10207.0.13177.10.6.0.4.4.0.1811.2560.1j3j1j8-1.6.0....0...1c.1.37.hp..1.9.800.gw0mhj5pF3w

You might want to contact your local Public Works person, or the Water Management District in which you live, for more information.

[Lilyat108x]

Wow! I never heard about these pin holes in copper piping. Good to know. Thanks!

[bcohen]

Be careful about using the water valve under the sink to turn the water on and off when you use it. From personal experience, unlike faucets, I've found, they can't take the constant use especially if they're old and the valves themselves can start leaking.

You're right about that. Unless used on a regular basis and kept lubricated, the shutoff valve (technically called an angle stop) will require a lot of force to operate, and probably leak when in the turned off (screwed-in all the way) position. I know that when I have had to replace faucets or toilet mechanisms, I have had to get a bunch of towels to put under the valve because they have always leaked for me. This has been so in my parents' house, in friends' houses, and in my current apartment.

When I moved into my apartment, it came with a low-profile faucet and no dishwasher. Since the clearance from the faucet to the sink was not large enough to wash pots and pans, I decided to replace the faucet with a high-arc model. Of course, the shutoff valve was hard to operate, and as I screwed it in, water began leaking out of the valve stem. The valve leaked a lot while I had it turned off, and even with putting a lot of towels in the cabinet under the sink while changing the faucet, it still made a big mess and warped the bottom of the cabinet. Fortunately, once I opened the valve all the way, it stopped leaking.

[tobee43]

we are lucky, our house is "newer" in florida and is all PVC pipes. but again, i really think you can either attempt to repair it yourself or get a handyman in or a reasonable plumber. it can get worse when you aren't even aware and as others pointed out shutting off and on the water has it's draw backs.