Water damage risk in Tacoma depends mostly on three things: how old the house is, how steep the lot is, and how close it sits to salt water. Older homes near the Stadium District tend to have plumbing and drain problems, hillside lots deal with runoff, and shoreline homes face wind-driven rain.

Tacoma is a city of hills, gulches and shoreline wrapped around Commencement Bay, so two houses a mile apart can have very different water problems. A 1905 house in the North Slope and a waterfront home in Browns Point both get the same storms, but the water finds different ways in.

This guide walks through four areas where the facts about age, slope and shoreline are well documented. If your neighborhood is not named, the same three questions still apply to your house.

Why does water damage risk change from one Tacoma neighborhood to the next?

It changes because the houses and the ground change. Water damage starts in one of two places: inside the house (pipes, water heaters, appliances, drains) or outside it (rain, runoff, groundwater).

The age of a house tells you a lot about the inside risks. Older homes often still have some original supply lines, drain lines and side sewers, and those materials wear out over decades.

The slope of the lot and what sits uphill tell you about the outside risks. Water runs downhill until something stops it, and sometimes that something is a foundation wall or a basement door.

How much rain does Tacoma get, and when?

Tacoma averages roughly 40 inches of precipitation a year, and most of it arrives in the cool months. November, December and January are the wettest, each averaging more than 6 inches.

That pattern matters more than the yearly total. Summers here are dry, so small roof and gutter problems can sit unnoticed for months. Then the fall rains arrive and keep coming, and the ground, the gutters and the drains get very little time to dry out between storms.

A worn hose or a clogged gutter that caused no trouble in August can turn into a wet ceiling in November. That is why October is a good month to look your house over.

What should Stadium District and North Slope homeowners watch for?

Watch the plumbing, the side sewer and the basement first. These are two of the oldest residential areas in the city, and age is the main factor.

Buildings in the Stadium-Seminary Historic District went up between 1888 and 1930. Next door, the North Slope Historic District was built in waves from 1888 through 1929, and nearly 80 percent of its homes were finished before 1930. The neighborhood takes its name from the slope it sits on.

In houses of that age, a few trouble spots come up again and again:

• Original or early supply pipes. Old galvanized steel lines corrode from the inside and tend to fail at joints and fittings.
• Side sewers. Older clay or concrete sewer lines can crack, shift or fill with tree roots, which leads to backups at the lowest drain in the house.
• Basements. Many older foundations were built without modern waterproofing or footing drains, so water under pressure finds its way through.
• Layered roofs and built-in gutters. Complicated rooflines on Queen Anne and Craftsman homes have more valleys and flashing points where leaks start.

None of this means an old house is a bad house. It means the parts you cannot see deserve a look every few years, ideally before the wet season.

Does living on the hill in Hilltop protect a house from water damage?

It protects you from rising water, but not from runoff or from plumbing failures. Hilltop sits on a high bluff overlooking Commencement Bay and the Port of Tacoma, so a river or tide is not going to reach your front door.

The slope brings its own issue. During a long, steady rain, water moves across yards, alleys and driveways toward the downhill side. If a downspout empties next to the foundation or a yard tilts toward the house, that water ends up in a crawl space or basement.

Hilltop also has some of the city's oldest houses. Victorian Row on South J Street, for example, dates to 1889 and 1890. So the plumbing and sewer points listed above for the Stadium District apply here too.

What is different about Browns Point and other shoreline homes?

Exposure is the difference. Browns Point is a small peninsula in Pierce County that borders Tacoma on one side and Puget Sound on the others, and it sits at a low elevation of about 85 feet.

A home near open water takes more wind during a storm, and wind pushes rain sideways. That means water gets in through places that stay dry in a calm rain: window and door trim, siding laps, vents, chimney flashing and the edges of a roof.

Salt air is also hard on metal. Flashing, fasteners and exterior fixtures tend to corrode faster near salt water, and a rusted piece of flashing is often where a slow leak begins. Slow leaks are the ones that show up later as stained ceilings and soft drywall.

How do the main risk types compare side by side?

Here is the short version, sorted by the kind of property instead of by address. Most Tacoma homes fit one of these, and some fit two.

• Older home on a slope (Stadium District, North Slope). Most likely source: aging pipes, sewer backups and basement seepage. Where to look: the basement floor drain, the pipes you can see near the water heater, and the base of foundation walls.
• Bluff-top or hillside home (Hilltop). Most likely source: surface runoff and downspout water collecting at the foundation, plus the plumbing issues that come with age. Where to look: the uphill side of the house during a heavy rain.
• Shoreline or peninsula home (Browns Point). Most likely source: wind-driven rain and corroded flashing. Where to look: the walls and windows that face the water, and the attic after a windy storm.

Takeaway: old houses usually leak from the inside, hillside houses from the uphill side, and shoreline houses from the windward side.

What can any Tacoma homeowner do before the heavy rain?

A one-hour walk around the house catches most problems. You do not need special tools, only a flashlight and a dry day.

1. Clean the gutters and make sure each downspout carries water several feet away from the foundation.
2. Look at the ground along the house. Soil and mulch should tilt away from the walls.
3. Check the roof from the ground for missing shingles, moss buildup and lifted flashing.
4. Find your main water shutoff and make sure it turns. Show everyone in the house where it is.
5. Look at supply hoses on the washing machine, dishwasher and toilets, and replace any that are bulging or rusty at the ends.
6. If you have a basement or crawl space, look for white mineral lines, dark stains or damp spots on the walls.

If your home is older and you have never had the side sewer inspected with a camera, ask a plumber about it. A backup is one of the messiest kinds of water damage, and a camera inspection can find roots or cracks early.

What should you do first if water gets into your house?

Stop the source if you can do it without risk, then start documenting. The first hour matters because water keeps spreading into flooring, drywall and framing for as long as it sits.

1. Shut off the water at the main valve if the leak is from plumbing.
2. Stay out of any room where water is near outlets or cords until the power to that area is off.
3. Take photos and video of every wet room before you move anything.
4. Move rugs, furniture and boxes to a dry area, and put foil or plastic under furniture legs.
5. Call your insurance company to report the loss, and check your policy for how it treats the type of water involved.

If the water came from a sewer or drain backup, leave the cleanup alone. Flooring and drywall that soaked up contaminated water generally have to come out, and that work calls for the right equipment.

When does a leak need a restoration company?

Call one when water has soaked into something you cannot dry with towels and a fan. That includes carpet pad, drywall, insulation, subfloor and the space under cabinets.

A restoration crew uses moisture meters to find how far the water traveled, since wet framing often looks dry on the surface. They pull out water, set drying equipment, and take readings each day until the materials are back to a normal moisture level. That record is also useful paperwork for your claim.

If you live anywhere in Tacoma and you are dealing with a leak, a backup or storm water in the house, contact ServiceMaster of Tacoma. The team is available 24/7 and can explain the next steps for your home.