Concealed leak detection
A leak you can see is a plumbing job. A leak you can't see is a diagnostic job — and cutting open the wrong wall costs more than the repair.
When to call us
A steady increase with no change in usage almost always means water is escaping somewhere before it reaches a tap.
Shut every tap and appliance. If the meter dial still moves, you have a leak on the property.
On a ceiling, a wall or a floor — often nowhere near where the leak actually is. Water tracks.
Classic sign of a hot water line leaking under a slab.
Pressure that has fallen away gradually can point to a failing service line.
Soft or green patches in a lawn or garden that never dry out, even without rain.
How we actually find it
There is no single piece of equipment that finds every leak. What works depends on the pipe material, what it is buried in, how much water is escaping and how much pressure is behind it. So we work through it methodically.
What we use
- Acoustic correlation and ground microphones — pressurised leaks make a sound. We listen for it through slabs, soil and paving.
- Thermal imaging — shows the temperature differential where water is tracking behind a wall or under a floor covering.
- Pressure and isolation testing — narrows the fault to a specific line rather than the whole property.
- Pipe location — traces where the line actually runs, which is frequently not where the plans say.
- Tracer gas, where required — for small leaks that will not make enough noise to find acoustically.
What you get
Especially relevant if you are dealing with a strata committee, a landlord, an insurer or a loss assessor.
A located fault
Marked on site, with the position and approximate depth identified — not a general area, an actual location.
A written report
What was found, how it was tested and what is required to repair it, written so someone who wasn't on site can follow it.
A real price
A repair quote against a defined scope, once we know what we are actually dealing with.
Leak detection questions
How do you find a leak without digging?
We use a combination of acoustic listening equipment, thermal imaging and pressure testing. Acoustic gear picks up the sound a pressurised leak makes through soil, concrete and tiling. Thermal imaging shows temperature differences where water is tracking behind a wall or under a floor. Pressure testing isolates which line has lost integrity. Between them we can usually mark the leak to within a small area before anything is opened up.
My water bill has jumped but I can't see any water. Is that a leak?
Very often, yes. A concealed leak under a slab or in a buried service line can run for months without surfacing. A quick test is to turn off every tap and appliance and watch the water meter — if the dial is still moving, water is going somewhere it shouldn't.
Do you repair the leak as well as find it?
Yes. We are a licensed plumbing business, not a detection-only service, so we locate the fault and carry out the repair. Where the repair needs excavation or a specialist trade, we will tell you that up front.
Can I get a report for my insurer or strata manager?
Yes, and this is a lot of what we do. You get a written description of what was found, where, how it was tested and what is required to fix it. It is written so a third party who was not on site can follow it.
What does leak detection cost?
There is a set inspection and diagnostic fee, which we tell you before we book the job. It covers our time on site, the equipment and the travel. Where the repair follows on, the fee is often credited toward the works. We do not quote a repair price before we have found the fault, because that would be a guess.
Got a leak nobody can find?
That is exactly the job we want. Call and describe what is happening — we will tell you honestly whether it is something we should look at.
0439 405 708