Plumbing in Richmond is old pipe in brick houses, clay that moves, and a river city between the coast and the foothills. Galvanized lines and cast-iron stacks still serve plenty of kitchens. Pressure can drop on the upper floor of a tall house. A wet ceiling is often the bath above and sometimes the roof. Low blocks take water that hill blocks send downhill. Say what is wet and which floor.
Find the shutoff before you need it. Valves in old basements stick. Hose bibs freeze on a sharper night than people expect this far from the mountains. Water coming up a floor drain in a bottom-land storm is not a burst supply line. Say which you have. A crawl space on clay can hide a leak at a fitting that has been dripping into the dirt all year.
Water heaters sit in basements, closets, and odd corners under stairs. Say gas or electric, leaked or cold. Several fixtures gurgling at once point toward the lateral, and clay-cracked sewers are a Richmond specialty. One slow sink is a branch until proven otherwise. Roots from the street trees join that story. You do not have to know the material of every joint.
A bath added in a basement on the low side may need a pump because the street sewer is above it. Hill houses can have the opposite issue, a long run down to the main. Mention the slope. Rock is not the problem here the way clay is. Describe the symptom and whether you can shut the water off. Shared-wall noise from a neighbor faucet is not your leak.
Say what is wet. Plumbing in Richmond is old stacks, red clay, and basements that feel the James on one block and a hillside on the next. Call the number on this page.