Why West Seattle leak repair calls look the way they do
Before you call about a leak in West Seattle, 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 on Alki, Beach Drive and the Fauntleroy bluff get salt wind straight off Puget Sound — covers lift, heater run-time climbs, and anything steel in the cabinet corrodes faster than anywhere else in the city. A cabinet that is always damp in West Seattle hides a slow leak for months; we pull the panels on every side and dry the bay before trusting what we see.
West Seattle is a peninsula of view lots: Alki and Beach Drive at sea level, Admiral and Gatewood on the ridge, Fauntleroy and Arbor Heights sloping to the Sound, and Delridge and High Point in the valley behind. We work Alki, Admiral, Fauntleroy, Arbor Heights, Gatewood and the rest of West Seattle (98116, 98126, 98136, 98106).
What West Seattle owners describe on the phone
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.
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.
West Seattle note. On a bluff or beach lot we weigh the cover and check the wind straps first; a saturated cover on Alki costs more in heat than a failing element does.
How the visit runs
- A call half an hour before we arrive — about 15 minutes southwest of downtown over the West Seattle Bridge
- 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.