Why Capitol Hill & Madison Park leak repair calls look the way they do
Before you call about a leak in Capitol Hill & Madison Park, run the tape test: mark the waterline, cover on, wait 24 hours. A quarter inch is evaporation in our climate; more than that, or any wet spot, is a leak worth a visit.
Tubs here are often original to a 1990s or 2000s remodel — Hot Spring, Sundance, Jacuzzi — and now at the age where heaters, circ pumps and topsides come due one after another. Plumbing on tubs that age lets go one glued joint at a time; in Capitol Hill & Madison Park we open the foam only where the moisture meter points, and we re-foam what we open.
This is the oldest housing on our route — 1900s to 1930s homes on Capitol Hill and Madrona, lakefront houses in Madison Park, Denny-Blaine and Leschi — with tubs on terraced lots, behind hedges, and at the bottom of a flight of stairs more often than not. We work Capitol Hill, Madison Park, Madison Valley, Madrona, Leschi and the rest of Capitol Hill & Madison Park (98112, 98122, 98102).
What Capitol Hill & Madison Park owners describe on the phone
Leaks only when the jets run
Pressure-side plumbing: a jet gasket, a diverter or a cracked manifold. The tub holds water at rest and loses it under pressure.
Level drops an inch or more a week
Past evaporation. We tape the level, confirm the loss, then isolate: pump off versus pump on tells us suction side or pressure side.
Wet floor inside the equipment door
Pump shaft seal, union o-ring or heater manifold gasket — all same-visit repairs with parts off the van.
Soaked foam, no obvious source
A jet body or a glued joint inside the insulation. Moisture meter and dye find it; we cut only what is needed.
Capitol Hill & Madison Park note. Terraced lots mean we carry parts down steps; tell us how many flights and whether there is a gate, and we bring the right cart.
How the visit runs
- A call half an hour before we arrive — about 8 minutes east of downtown via Madison St
- Diagnosis with a meter, then one written price you approve
- Calcium and alkalinity checked for Seattle Public Utilities water
- Special-order parts arrive the next business day in most cases
- If the tub is not worth fixing, we say so
Scope, plainly: the spa and what lives inside its skirt. New circuits, supply plumbing and setting new tubs go to an electrician or a dealer.