Locating a concealed supply or drain leak in a Colorado Springs building with moisture meters, a thermal camera and careful opening, before the damage spreads.
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A hidden leak is a water leak that cannot be seen from the room, because it runs inside a wall, under a floor or behind a cabinet. The water is often found by its effect rather than by its source: a warm patch, a wet baseboard, a rising meter or a musty smell. The detection work reads the building to find the leak, opens only what is needed and records the path so the repair can be targeted.
Most leaks announce themselves in a room, but some do not. A supply line in a wall can leak for weeks before the drywall stains. A drain under a slab can release water into the ground beneath the house. A pipe behind a cabinet can drip onto a shelf that is never looked at. In each case the homeowner sees a symptom, such as a higher water bill, a soft floor or a stain on a ceiling, and the source is somewhere else.
The tools used to find a hidden leak are moisture meters that read the surface and the cavity, a thermal camera that shows cold and warm patches in a wall or a floor, and a pressure check on the supply and drain lines. None of these gives an exact location on its own, and the crew uses them together. The work is careful, because each opening made to find the leak is a hole that has to be repaired afterward.
Do not open a wall or floor where an electrical line may run without turning off the circuit and checking the area with a detector. Water and wiring are a dangerous combination. Keep the cut pieces of wall board and any dust away from the household, and wear a mask.
The water meter is read with every fixture shut and again after an interval. A change in the reading confirms that water is leaving the system somewhere, which is the first step before any opening is made.
A thermal camera shows cold and warm patches on walls and floors. A supply leak is often cooler than the surrounding material, while a hot-water leak can show as a warm patch. The image is read as a guide, not as proof on its own.
A moisture meter is run over the suspected area to find the wet zone. The readings are mapped against the thermal image so the crew can see where the two agree.
A small opening is made at the point where the readings and the image agree. The opening is kept as small as possible, and the pipe or the fitting is checked for the leak. The opening is then repaired or left for the plumber to close.
The source, the path the water took and the repair needed are recorded with photographs. The record goes to the homeowner and to the plumber, so the repair is made to the actual leak and not to the symptom.
A slab leak is harder to reach. The plumber and the water-damage crew work together to find the line, and the choice of where to open the floor is made with the homeowner.
A line under a slab is covered by concrete, and the repair often means cutting an opening in the floor. The thermal image and the meter show the area most likely to hold the leak, but the exact point is confirmed with a pressure test or by opening the slab at the narrowest point.
The homeowner is shown the proposed opening before it is made, and the plumber gives the expected repair. The cut is made only where the readings and the test agree.
Usually, when the leak is found early. A hidden leak that runs for months can soak framing, flooring and the insulation, and the cost of the drying and rebuilding is far greater than the cost of finding the leak.
Finding a leak early limits the area that must be dried and the number of materials that must be replaced. The longer a leak runs, the more the wall and floor are damaged, and the repair grows with it. The homeowner can decide how far to go based on the findings.
The detection work does not give a price in advance, because the amount of opening needed depends on what is found. The crew explains the work before it starts, and the decisions are the homeowner's.
A licensed plumber repairs the supply or drain line. The water-damage crew records the leak and dries the area around it, and the two work from the same record.
The repair of the line is a plumbing job, and the plumber should give a written account of the repair and its location. The water-damage crew does not repair the line, and it does not decide how the plumbing is to be replaced.
The record of the leak, the readings, the photographs and the plumber's invoice are kept together. That file is what the insurer asks for if the leak is claimed.
A pressurized line that leaks inside a wall releases water steadily, and the wall board and the framing are wet below the leak. The opening is made where the readings are highest, and the pipe is repaired by a plumber.
A leak under a concrete slab or a floor can be hard to reach. The thermal camera and the meter show the warm or cool patch, and the plumber decides whether an opening in the floor is the least disruptive way to reach the line.
A drain that leaks behind a cabinet or in a crawl space can release water slowly. The moisture shows as a stain on the back of the cabinet or as damp soil below, and the source is found by checking the drain connections.
Hidden leaks in Colorado Springs homes are often found in finished basements, where a supply line runs inside a wall that has been finished over it, or under a floor that was laid over a slab.
Older houses in the city can have supply lines that run through old wall cavities, and a leak in those lines can travel along the framing before it appears on the surface.
A leak that shows as a stain on a ceiling below a bathroom in a multi-level home can come from the bathroom above, but a stain in a room far from any plumbing is more likely to come from a roof or a window, and the detection work checks both.
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
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Cleanup after a hose, a valve or a drain on a washing machine, dishwasher, icemaker or refrigerator leaks into a Colorado Springs home.
Water released by a leaking or failed water heater in a Colorado Springs home, and the cleanup of the floor, the wall and the storage beneath it.
Removing standing water, damp debris and soaked insulation from a crawl space, then drying the joists and subfloor above it in Colorado Springs and El Paso County.
Cutting out and drying water-stained ceiling board and wall board in Colorado Springs and El Paso County, so the repair can be closed over dry framing.
Pipes freeze and split when water inside them stops moving in a cold space.
A water damage company should be able to explain its method, its credentials, its insurance and its written estimate before any work begins.
Check the water meter with every fixture closed. If the reading changes, water is leaving the system. A sudden rise in the bill, a warm floor, a damp wall or a musty smell are the other signs.
Only the smallest opening that finds the leak. The homeowner is shown the area before any opening is made, and the openings are kept as small as possible.
Sometimes, by a change in the ground or the grass above a line. The thermal camera can show a wet patch outside, but the source is usually confirmed inside.
No. The detection finds the leak and records the path. The plumber repairs the line, and the two are scheduled around each other.