Q: How do you repair leaks under the sink?

A: For leaks under sinks, you have a variety of different issues. Obviously, the most serious ones are when you have a leaking water line, whether it’s hot or cold, because these lines are always under pressure. When they leak, they continually leak and only get worse.

A lot of times when there’s a leak (in the drain system), it’s just a loose nut on a drain and sometimes those can be tightened up and dried up with a rag and then the leak has gone away. The best way to test (to see if it’s fixed) is to put the stopper in the sink, fill the sink up and drain it. If it’s not leaking now, it’s not going to leak again for some time because that’s the most pressure you are going to put on the drain with the sink filled to the top.

If (homeowners) go in there and are too heavy-handed, they can break something and do more damage.

Nowadays, hot and cold water lines in a lot of Florida homes are made with C-PVC piping, which gets brittle over time. I’ve seen homeowners go to turn pipes off and the pipes break in the wall.

— Chuck Detari, Chuck’s Plumbing, www.chucksplumbing.com