Some leaks announce themselves. The expensive ones do not. A hidden leak can run for weeks or months — under a slab, inside a wall, in a line out in the yard — quietly adding to a water bill and, worse, soaking materials that were never meant to stay wet. Leak detection exists to find the leak before the search itself does damage.
Signs You May Have a Hidden Leak
- A water bill that jumps with no change in how your household uses water
- The sound of water running when every fixture in the house is off
- A water meter that keeps moving when nothing is using water — the simplest home test, and worth doing before you call
- Warm spots on a floor (a hot-water line leaking below), soft or discolored flooring, or bubbling paint low on a wall
- A musty smell that does not clear, or a yard area that stays wet and green over a supply or sewer line’s path
- Low water pressure that developed gradually, in one area or across the house
How Detection Works
A proper leak detection visit starts with confirming there is a leak — meter and pressure checks that separate a real loss from a billing surprise — then narrows the search with listening equipment, moisture detection, and, for drain and sewer lines, camera inspection. The point of the technology is precision: locating the leak to a specific section of pipe or area of floor or wall, so the repair opens only what it must. “We will have to start cutting and see” is an approach of last resort, not a first step — if that is the plan you are offered before any detection work, ask what detection steps come first.
What Happens After It Is Found
Finding the leak and fixing it are two steps, and you should get a clear explanation of both, with the repair quoted before work begins. Depending on location and pipe condition, the fix can be a spot repair at the leak, replacing the affected section, or — when the pipe itself is failing in multiple places — a conversation about repiping that section or the home, which our Repiping page covers honestly. Slab leaks deserve a specific question: whether repairing at the leak or rerouting the line overhead is the better long-term answer for your house. Good companies explain both.
If you have done the meter test, tell us the result. We will connect you with an independent local plumbing company licensed by the NC State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors to find the leak and explain your options. And if the leak is not hidden at all — if water is actively flowing — say so first: “Do you have active leaking/flooding right now?” is the triage question that routes you as an emergency.
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Tell us what’s leaking, clogged, or cold — we’ll line up a licensed local plumber.
Onslow Plumbing Pros — Jacksonville and Onslow County, NC
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Onslow Plumbing Pros is an information and referral service owned by Branch and Vine Capital, LLC. We connect homeowners with independent local plumbing companies, and those companies perform all diagnosis, quoting, and plumbing work under their own licenses and insurance.