If you live in an older home, hidden leaks are inevitable. You may not see where the leak is, but your water bill will undoubtedly tell you that something’s wrong. As difficult as it may be to find them, professional plumbers have some tricks to detect hidden leaks.
How do plumbers find hidden leaks?
Signs You May Have a Hidden Leak
Before we dive into how plumbers find hidden leaks, let’s quickly see how you can tell there’s a hidden leak in your home. A few tips include:
- Monitor your water meter. If it’s still running after turning off all appliances, you probably have a leak.
- Check your water bills for sudden increases.
- There’s a reduction in your water pressure.
By carefully observing these and other signs, you’ll be able to quickly notice when you have a hidden leak in your plumbing system. While some indicators will help you locate the source of the leak, others won’t. Finding the leak will require professional knowledge, experience, and expertise.
Common Types of Plumbing Leaks
There are many different types of plumbing leaks you may encounter in your home. Each results in different signs and causes various types of water damage. Here are the most common ones you must look out for:
- Pipe leaks under sinks or behind drywall
- Slab leaks (also called foundational leaks)
- Toilet leaks
- Water heater leaks
Many of these leaks, especially slab leaks, can be pretty difficult to detect, and that’s why you must enlist the help of professionals before the water damage becomes extensive.
How Do Plumbers Find Hidden Leaks?
Now that you’ve ascertained that there’s a plumbing leak in your house, it’s time to find it. Here are some tips plumbers use to find hidden leaks:
A Thorough Inspection
While it may seem like a basic method, the first step to detecting hidden leaks is to conduct a thorough inspection of the plumbing system and the fixtures and appliances attached to it.
The Green Grass Test
One of the easiest ways to detect a hidden leak is to check for patches of grass that are greener than the rest of your lawn. These sometimes appear in conjunction with small puddles of water in the same place. Digging in that area will help reveal where the hidden leak is.
Discolored Walls
Another tell-tale sign of a hidden leak is a discolored wall or ceiling, peeling paint, or bulging wallpaper. These are signs that there’s water leaking in or near the walls. An expert plumber will be able to use these signs to trace the leak.
The Sound Test
If you don’t find any surface or fixture leaks, one method that can help you find hidden leaks is the sound test. You can either listen for a hissing sound or the sound of dripping water. Because this can sometimes be difficult to do, plumbers use sound detection equipment to pinpoint the source of a leak accurately.
Water Leak Detector
At KC’s 23 1/2 Hour Plumbing, we use state-of-the-art water leak detection equipment to pinpoint exactly where your pipes need attention. This minimizes the excavation required to repair the pipes.
Reasons to Trust the Experts at KC’s 23 1/2 Hour Plumbing
Why should you trust us to detect and fix your leaking plumbing? One reason is that we’ve been in the business for over 50 years and understand plumbing better than most in the industry.
Besides plumbing, our over 50 years of experience has also taught us that each customer is different. Because of that, we have developed a customer-centric and collaborative approach to plumbing that has resulted in very high customer satisfaction rates.
If you suspect a leak in your plumbing but can’t detect it, we’d be more than happy to help. Simply give us a call at 760-327-8718—any time.