Leak detection

What a hidden leak looks like

A leak inside a wall or under a slab rarely announces itself with a puddle. It shows up as a bill, and then as damage. These are the signs worth acting on:

• The bill jumped and nothing about the household changed
• A warm patch on a tiled or slab floor
• The sound of running water with every tap in the house off
• Paint bubbling, skirting lifting, or a musty smell in one room
• A tap or toilet that has started hammering or hissing

The meter test, before you call anyone

You can do this yourself in ten minutes. Turn off every tap and appliance that uses water, including the washing machine and the dishwasher, then go and look at the water meter at the front boundary. Note where the dial sits, wait fifteen minutes without using any water, and look again.

If it has moved, water is escaping somewhere between the meter and the house, and it is costing you continuously. If it has not moved, the loss is likely to be something intermittent — a toilet that runs occasionally, or an irrigation line. Either answer is useful, and it is worth telling us which one you got when you call.

Then we find it properly

Knowing there is a leak is not the same as knowing where it is, and the difference matters because the alternative to locating it is cutting into things. We narrow it down before anything gets opened up, repair it, and leave you with a bill that goes back to looking like it used to.