Prescott, AZ · Licensed & Local
Leak Detection in Prescott, AZ
An unexplained water bill spike, a running meter with everything off, or a mystery damp spot usually means a hidden leak. We find it without guessing.
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Call Now (928) 852-1990A hidden leak often shows up as circumstantial evidence long before it's visible: a water bill that doesn't match your usage, a meter that keeps spinning with every fixture in the house off, or a damp patch with no obvious source. We find the actual leak before recommending any repair.
Signs of a Hidden Leak
- 1Your water meter keeps moving when every fixture and appliance is off. This is the single most reliable sign of a leak somewhere in the system.
- 2An unexplained increase in your water bill with no change in household usage.
- 3A damp spot, mildew smell, or soft flooring with no obvious cause nearby.
- 4Reduced water pressure at one or more fixtures.
How We Find a Hidden Leak
We start with a meter test: shutting off water use throughout the house and watching whether the meter still moves. That confirms a leak exists and roughly how significant it is. From there, acoustic listening equipment helps pinpoint the location by detecting the sound of water escaping under pressure, whether that's under a slab, inside a wall, or along an underground supply line.
What to Do Before We Arrive
If you can see standing water or hear it actively running, shut off the main water valve first and note the time. If the only evidence is a moving meter or a high bill, you don't need to shut anything off. Either way, avoid digging or opening a wall yourself before we've tested, since that can disturb the one piece of evidence that tells us where to look.
Where Leaks Actually Show Up
A supply line leak under the slab is one possibility, covered in more depth on our slab leak page. Leaks also show up inside walls, in a crawlspace or under-house area, along the buried line between the meter and the house, at fitting connections, and at fixtures themselves. Each location needs a different detection approach, which is why we don't assume the cause before we've actually tested for it. This applies the same way on a single-family home, a rental, or a multi-unit property like a duplex or fourplex, where a hidden leak on one unit's line can sometimes be mistaken for another unit's problem.
It's common for us to get called after another plumber already tried and couldn't pin it down. That's usually a sign the first visit relied on a meter test alone without the acoustic or pressure-testing follow-up needed to actually localize the sound. We start fresh rather than assuming the earlier diagnosis was on the right track.
After the Leak Is Found
Once we've located the leak, we explain exactly what we found and what fixing it involves. That might be a straightforward fitting repair, a section of pipe needing replacement, or a larger issue like the ones covered on our slab leak or water line pages. Detection and repair are quoted as separate steps, so you know the full picture before committing to either.
Documenting a Leak for Insurance
If a leak has caused visible damage, we can document what we found, the location, likely cause, and extent, which is often useful if you're filing a claim with your homeowner's insurance. We're not adjusters and can't guarantee coverage, but having a clear, professional record of the leak's cause tends to make that conversation easier on your end.
What Affects the Price
What actually changes the cost of leak detection:
- 1How difficult the leak is to isolate, based on its location
- 2Whether the leak is in an accessible line or under a slab or inside a wall
- 3Equipment needed: acoustic listening, pressure testing, or both
- 4Repair cost once the leak is actually located, which is quoted separately
Want your real number? Call (928) 852-1990.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on how difficult the leak is to isolate. We give you a real number before starting, and the detection cost is separate from whatever repair the leak turns out to need.
Acoustic listening equipment picks up the sound of water escaping under pressure, and a meter or pressure test narrows the general area first. That combination lets us target a much smaller area than guessing would require.
Yes, and it's actually one of the most common ways a hidden leak first gets noticed. A leak under a slab or inside a wall isn't visible from inside the house, which is exactly the situation leak detection equipment is built for.
A running toilet is a real, visible leak, just not a hidden one. If your meter is moving and you've already ruled out every toilet and fixture in the house, that's when hidden leak detection becomes the next step.
Reasonably promptly, since a hidden leak rarely fixes itself and often worsens gradually. It's not usually a same-hour emergency unless water is actively visible, but waiting months on a confirmed meter reading can turn a moderate leak into significant damage.
Yes, and it's a common reason people call us. A meter test alone only confirms a leak exists, not where it is. If that's as far as the first visit went, acoustic and pressure testing is usually the missing step.
Yes. We mark the location before any digging or wall opening begins, so you're not paying to open up a wider area than necessary and you can see exactly what we're basing the repair on.
We do both. Detection and repair are quoted as two separate steps so you always know the full cost before committing, but you don't need to find a second company once the leak is located.
We can test through concrete and, once the leak is pinpointed, cut a small, targeted section rather than opening the whole driveway or floor. Access through concrete generally adds to the job, which we'll walk through before starting.
Not the detection process itself, but a duplex, triplex, or fourplex often has shared or adjacent lines, so we check that a leak attributed to one unit isn't actually coming from a line that serves more than one.