The 15-minute meter test you can run yourself
Before you call anyone, do this: turn off every fixture and water-using appliance in the house, then find your water meter at the street and look at the low-flow indicator — the small triangle or dial that spins on tiny amounts of flow. Note the reading, wait 15 minutes without using water, and read it again. Any movement means water is leaving the system somewhere.
If the meter moves, isolate the house. Close the main shutoff at the house side and repeat the test. Still moving means the leak is between the meter and the house — a service line leak, often showing as a green patch or soft ground. Stopped means the leak is inside, under the slab, or in the irrigation system downstream of the house valve.
That five-minute distinction changes the whole job. It tells us what equipment to bring, roughly what the repair will cost, and whether this is an emergency or something we can schedule for tomorrow morning.
How we pinpoint a leak without demolition
Electronic acoustic equipment picks up the sound signature of pressurized water escaping a pipe, transmitted through the slab or wall. On a quiet house we can usually narrow a slab leak to within a foot or two. Thermal imaging finds hot-water slab leaks by the heat plume they push through concrete, and moisture meters map how far water has traveled through flooring and drywall.
Pressure isolation is the confirming step. We separate hot from cold, cap sections, and re-pressurize to prove which line is losing — because an accurate diagnosis of which pipe failed determines whether a spot repair, a reroute, or a repipe is the right fix.
Only then do we open anything, and only at the marked spot. Homeowners who have watched someone chase a leak by cutting exploratory holes across a room understand why this matters: locating well costs less than repairing badly.
Spot repair, reroute, or repipe
A spot repair is right when the rest of the system is healthy and the failure has an identifiable mechanical cause. It is the fastest and cheapest option, and for a single-event leak it is usually the correct one.
A reroute abandons the failed under-slab section and runs new pipe overhead through the attic or along walls. It costs more than a spot repair but avoids repeatedly opening the slab, which is the right answer when a house has already had one or two slab failures.
A full repipe is the call when leaks are clustering — soft copper from the 1970s and 80s and old galvanized both fail in waves, not one at a time. We give you the honest number for all three options at the same visit, including what each one leaves you exposed to, and we document location, cause, and moisture readings with photos your insurance adjuster can use.
