Summer in Metro Atlanta means longer showers after yard work, extra loads of laundry, a houseful of guests, and those afternoon storms that roll in out of nowhere. All of that leans hard on your plumbing, and the small stuff you’ve been ignoring tends to pick the worst possible moment to blow up. So what plumbing maintenance should homeowners do in the summer? The short version: check your outdoor hose bibs, ease the load on your water heater, test your sump pump, inspect your irrigation lines, clear your drains, hunt for hidden leaks, and find your main shutoff valve. Knock those seven out, and you’ll head into July feeling ready instead of bailing water out of the basement.
Here’s a simple summer plumbing checklist you can finish in a weekend. No special tools, no plumbing degree required.
Why Summer Is Tougher on Your Pipes Than You’d Expect
Georgia summers are a workout for a home’s plumbing. The humidity hides slow drips, the heavy rain can overwhelm a tired sump pump, and peak watering season quietly runs up your bill if an irrigation line is leaking underground. Add in more people using more water (kids home from school, weekend cookouts, out-of-town family), and your water heater and drains are doing double duty. A little summer plumbing maintenance now keeps a slow drain from turning into a backed-up sink the same week you’re hosting twenty people in the backyard.
Your Summer Plumbing Checklist: 7 Tasks for One Easy Weekend
Work through these in order. Most take a few minutes, and you’ll know pretty quickly which ones need a closer look.
1. Check Your Outdoor Hose Bibs for Drips and Sputters
Turn on each outdoor spigot and watch it for a full minute. You’re looking for a steady stream, no dripping when it’s off, and no water bubbling up around the handle or the wall behind it. A spigot that sputters or won’t fully shut off usually means a worn washer or a small crack from a past cold snap. Left alone, that slow drip can waste gallons a day and rot the siding it’s running down. A new washer is a cheap fix. A leak coming from inside the wall is not, so catch it now.
2. Give Your Water Heater a Break Before the Guests Arrive
Drain a couple gallons from the bottom of your water heater tank to flush out sediment, and check the area around the base for any moisture or rust. Summer is when your water heater works overtime, between back-to-back showers and extra laundry, and sediment buildup makes it run harder and recover slower. If you hear popping or rumbling, that’s sediment cooking at the bottom. A water heater that’s more than ten years old, leaking, or struggling to keep up should be inspected by a plumber before it quits on you mid-July. Tankless water heaters should also be serviced by a professional to help prevent buildup, performance issues, and unexpected breakdowns.
3. Test Your Sump Pump Before the Next Georgia Storm
Pour a five-gallon bucket of water slowly into the sump pit and watch the pump kick on, push the water out, and shut itself off. That’s it. If it doesn’t turn on, hums without pumping, or runs forever, you’ve got a problem worth solving on a dry day instead of during a downpour. Our summer storms can dump inches of rain in an hour, and a dead sump pump is how a finished basement becomes a swimming pool. If a storm ever does get ahead of you, fast water removal and cleanup make the difference between drying out and tearing out drywall.
4. Walk Your Irrigation Lines and Watch That Water Bill
Run each sprinkler zone and walk the yard while it’s going. Look for heads that won’t pop up, spots that stay soggy long after the cycle ends, or geysers shooting sideways instead of misting the lawn. A cracked underground line can leak the whole time the system runs and never show up as a puddle, just a mysteriously high summer water bill. If your bill jumped and you can’t explain it, your irrigation is a good first suspect during peak watering season.
5. Prep Your Drains for Cookout Season
Before the entertainment ramps up, run hot water down your kitchen and bathroom drains and notice how fast they clear. A sink that gurgles or drains slowly now will absolutely back up once you’re rinsing plates for a crowd. Skip the grease down the drain (bacon grease is a kitchen-sink killer), keep a strainer over the basin, and never treat your disposal like a trash can. If a drain is already sluggish, deal with it before the first big gathering, not during it.
6. Hunt for Hidden Leaks Under Sinks and Around Toilets
Open the cabinets under every sink and run your hand along the pipes and the cabinet floor, feeling for dampness, warped wood, or that musty smell. Then check around the base of each toilet for any rocking or water seeping out. A toilet that runs nonstop or a slow under-sink drip can waste hundreds of gallons a month, and in our humidity, that constant moisture is an open invitation for mold. Easy test for a silent toilet leak: a few drops of food coloring in the tank, and if color shows up in the bowl within ten minutes without flushing, you’ve found your leak.
7. Find Your Main Water Shutoff and Make Sure It Works
Locate your main shutoff valve (usually where the water line enters the house, often in the basement, garage, crawl space, or a box near the street) and turn it off and back on to confirm it actually moves. This is the one task nobody thinks about until they need it. When a pipe lets go and water’s spreading across the floor, knowing exactly where that valve is and that it still turns can save you thousands in damage from a burst pipe. Show everyone in the house where it is while you’re at it.
When to Handle It Yourself and When to Call a Pro
Most of this checklist is true DIY: looking, listening, running water, and swapping a washer. Call a professional when you find something that points to a bigger issue, like a water heater leaking from the tank, a sump pump that won’t run, an irrigation line cracked underground, or any drain that backs up no matter what you try. Standing water, sewage smells, or a leak you can’t locate are also a “call now” situation, not a weekend project. A local team like Busted Pipes Plumbing handles the emergency plumbing and the parts that take special tools, so you’re not guessing your way through a flooded laundry room.
Get Ahead of Summer Instead of Chasing It
Running this checklist once at the start of summer is one of those small efforts that pays off all season. You’ll catch the dripping spigot, the tired water heater, and the sluggish drain while they’re still cheap, easy fixes, and you’ll know your sump pump and shutoff valve are ready before the first big storm tests them.
If you work through the list and something looks off, or you’d rather have a professional handle the inspection, Busted Pipes Plumbing serves homeowners across Roswell, Alpharetta, Marietta, and Milton, and the wider Metro Atlanta area. Reach out to Busted Pipes Plumbing and head into summer with one less thing on your mind.
Summer Plumbing Questions Atlanta Homeowners Ask Us
How often should I do summer plumbing maintenance?
Once at the start of the season, it covers most of it. Run through the full checklist in early summer, then do a quick mid-season recheck of your outdoor spigots and any drain that was borderline. Homes with older plumbing or a basement that’s flooded before are worth a second look after any heavy storm stretch.
What temperature should I set my water heater to in summer?
Around 120 degrees Fahrenheit is the sweet spot. It’s hot enough to be safe and comfortable, low enough to save energy and reduce the risk of scalding, and it eases the strain on a tank that’s already working hard with all the extra summer showers and laundry.
How do I know if my sump pump is actually working?
Pour about five gallons of water into the sump pit. A healthy pump turns on automatically, pushes the water out, and shuts off on its own. If nothing happens, it hums without moving water, or it keeps running after the pit is empty, it needs service before storm season really gets going.
Why is my water bill so high in the summer?
The usual suspects are a leaking irrigation line, a running toilet, or a dripping outdoor spigot, all of which waste water quietly without an obvious puddle. Peak watering season magnifies any irrigation leak, so if your bill spiked, start by walking each sprinkler zone and checking your toilets for silent leaks.
Should I be worried about clogged drains before summer storms?
Yes, a little. Slow drains and storm season are a bad combination because heavy rain can stress your whole system at once. Clearing sluggish drains early means your sinks, tubs, and floor drains can keep up when everything’s working hardest. If a clog won’t budge, it’s better to clear it before a storm than during one.