Leak Detection and Repair

March 06, 2020

If you have a leak somewhere, finding it and repairing it as soon as possible is key to preventing major damage to your home.

Leaks can happen for many different reasons, most of which are out of your control. Sometimes leaks occur due to home builder error. They may have used faulty plumbing materials. Or, an animal may have chewed through a pipe from the outside of your home.

There are some leaks that are so small, you don’t even realize they are there until other, more serious signs appear.

Signs of a Water Leak

There are some obvious signs of a water leak, like a brown stain on your ceiling or walls. Wet spots in areas where there should not be wet spots, a higher meter reading or higher utility bill are a few other signs, as well as a musty smell in your home.

Those are the ones you can see and detect. That doesn’t mean these are the only ways to tell if you have a leak, however. In fact, many leaks go unnoticed early on because they need specialized equipment and expertise that most homeowners don’t have and shouldn’t have.

That’s what the professional plumbers are for, to help your home function at its best by detecting and resolving pictures before they become major, costly issues.

Below are some of the detection methods Whitton Plumbing can provide.

Video Inspection

Your local plumber now can crawl into your pipes through opening like the toilet, roof vents, cleanouts or drains. While in your pipes they can inspect every inch, taking note of any cracks, large or small.

No, they don’t climb in there. That would be gross, and impossible. With the use of a tiny infrared video camera, your plumber can know where to make repairs. Finding smaller cracks early can save you big bucks later.

Pressure Tests

Many homes have plumbing that can’t be seen. It was installed underground. That doesn’t protect it from leaks, though. Luckily, professional plumbers can perform hydrostatic pressure tests to see if you have any leaks in your plumbing.

Believe it or not, they clog your lines to perform this test. With an inflatable test ball blocking your line, they can observe what the water does to determine if there is a leak.

Listening for Leaks

While plumbing technicians do not have superpowers, they can be superheroes when finding and repairing a leak. Some technicians listen for leaks. They have electronic listening devices that help them locate the area of the leak, even if it’s far into your system.

Plumbers are so skilled at using listening devices that they can hear a leak even through concrete.

Once the leak area is determined, they send an electric shock to locate the exact spot. Sounds like a superpower after all.

Digital Amplifier

You may want to hug your plumber when they tell you digging up your property is not necessary. They can tell you this because they have new technology to find leaks that involves amplifying the sound of a leak.

This new technology is so advanced, it can work in even the most complex systems. It allows your plumbing technician to find and repair a leak without disturbing anything around it.

You may be wondering if other sounds, like your footsteps pacing back and forth, can interfere with the amplifier. No. The device has a noise filter to block out everything except the sound of a leak.

Heat Scanners

There may be the occasional time when finding a leak by listening is too difficult. Maybe near a subway, airport, or that noisy neighbor who loves heavy metal music. When this happens, technicians, like the ones at Whitton Plumbing, use heat scanners.

Water changes temperature when it is leaking. These changes in temperature will show up on the scanner, telling the technician the area to repair.

Repair Methods

Professional plumbers should be the only ones working on repairs. They are skilled and there is no guessing involved.

Depending on the type of leak, the location of the leak, and the cause of the leak, repairs can vary.

Adding flashing, repairing vents and sealing small holes can fix some simpler leaks.  Other leaks may need repair, replacement or installation of valves to direct flow.

No matter what the repair, professional mesa plumbers have a process that allows them to complete the job safely and effectively. From shutting off the water supply to draining, cleaning, sealing and testing, repair is a job for the pros.

The best type of repair is the one you don’t have to do at all because you hired a local plumber to provide service maintenance annually on your home. Prevention is always better than intervention. Call Whitton Plumbing today and schedule your leak inspection.