Leak Detection & Repair
Where leaks hide
The leak you can see is a 5-minute fix. The leaks we get called about are the ones nobody can find:
- Slab leaks — supply lines run under concrete slab in many post-1970 Abbeville and Greenwood homes; a pinhole leak can flood under the floor for weeks before water finds its way up.
- Wall leaks — supply lines inside walls or running up to second-floor bathrooms drip behind drywall, damaging studs and insulation invisibly.
- Underground supply-line leaks — between the meter and the house, often in old galvanized or polybutylene; a 1/16th-inch hole leaks 200+ gallons a day.
- Drain leaks — sometimes inside the floor between stories; you only notice when ceiling stains appear below the upstairs bathroom.
- Pinhole copper leaks — common in 30+ year old copper plumbing; usually pre-corroded, often appearing in clusters.
How we find them without tearing your house apart
The traditional method ("cut drywall until we find it") wastes time and damages your home. We use three modern techniques:
- Acoustic leak listening — a high-sensitivity microphone amplifies the sound of escaping water; we trace it to within inches of the leak before cutting anything
- Thermal imaging — infrared cameras read surface temperature; warm water leaks show up as bright spots, cold leaks as dark
- Line pressure testing — we isolate sections of plumbing and measure pressure loss to confirm where (not just whether) a leak exists
- Moisture mapping — for wall or ceiling leaks where the leak point may be several feet from where you see the stain
What you'll see on a typical visit
We arrive, you show us the symptom (water bill spike, wet spot, stained ceiling, sound of running water). We start with a meter check — if your shut-off valves are all closed and the meter still spins, there is definitely a leak between the meter and your shut-offs. Then we locate it acoustically, mark the spot, and quote the repair. Total diagnostic time is usually 30 to 60 minutes; you'll know what's wrong and what it costs before we open a single wall.
Repair after detection
Once located, a typical wall leak repair runs $149 to $399. A slab leak repair (where we can re-route through accessible space) is $399 to $999. A full re-route or pipe replacement varies depending on length and access. We always quote the repair in writing before starting and explain the trade-off between a spot fix and a longer-term re-route.