Most expensive water damage is not dramatic - it is a $6 supply line dripping for three months. Once a month, spend fifteen minutes: look under every sink, behind the toilets, at the water heater base, and at the washer hoses. Feel for dampness; look for mineral crust and rust blooms that mark slow weeps.
Add two Carlsbad checks: feel for warm floor spots on the slab monthly, especially near bathrooms and the water heater, and look up, not down, after any upstairs water use: the first sign of the pinhole pattern is a ceiling that sags or stains before it ever drips.
Meter trick: note your water meter reading last thing at night with everything off, then check it first thing in the morning. A changed reading with no use means water is going somewhere it should not.
Replace rubber washer hoses on a schedule, not after a failure - braided stainless lines are cheap insurance. And know where your main shutoff is before you need it at 3 a.m.; finding it is a daylight job.
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