Meter moves with everything off
The cleanest test there is. Shut every fixture and watch the meter; movement means water is leaving the system somewhere.
Family-owned · Gaithersburg Local
Water Leak Detection in Gaithersburg, MD
Locate first, open second. The smaller the hole, the smaller the repair.
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Locating a Leak Before Opening the Wall
Water leak detection exists for one reason: cutting in the wrong place costs more than finding the right one. A hidden leak announces itself through a stain, a sound, a warm patch of floor, or a water bill that climbed for no reason, and none of those sit directly over the fault. Call [(301) 834-2944](tel:+13018342944) and describe the clue you've got.
The goal is a small opening in the right spot. Once the fault is located it's a [pipe repair](/services/pipe-leak-repair) like any other, and the difference between a tidy job and a wrecked ceiling is entirely in the finding.
The Clues, and What They Usually Mean
Water bill jumped, usage didn't
Classic underground or under-slab leak. Nothing visible because it's draining into soil.
Warm spot on a floor
A hot supply line failing under a slab. You can sometimes feel it barefoot before anything shows.
Sound of running water
Audible with the house quiet and nothing on. Often inside a wall or under a floor.
Stain that keeps growing
Slow and continuous rather than a one-off overflow. Growth is the tell.
Leak detection detail in a Maryland home
Do This Before You Call
Read your meter, wait an hour with nobody using water, then read it again. If the numbers moved, you have a leak and that's genuinely useful information for us. If they didn't, whatever you're seeing may be condensation or a one-time spill, and you've saved yourself a service call.
While you're at it, check the obvious offender: a toilet flapper that leaks into the bowl runs silently and constantly, and it's the single most common cause of a mystery bill. Put a few drops of food colouring in the tank, wait twenty minutes without flushing, and look in the bowl. Colour in the bowl means a flapper, not a hidden pipe.
That test costs nothing and it resolves a real share of the calls we get. Reach (301) 834-2944 once you know which situation you're in.
Completed leak detection in a Maryland home
Slab and Underground Leaks
Homes built on slabs hide their supply lines in concrete, and a leak there gives you very little to work with: a warm floor, a bill, sometimes a faint sound. Locating it precisely is the whole job, because the alternative is breaking concrete on a hunch.
Outside the house, a leak in the service line between the meter and the wall shows up as a wet patch, unusually green grass, or nothing at all in dry weather. Those get located and then dug, which is water line repair rather than a fixture job.
On a private well, the same symptom has an extra suspect: a pump that cycles on with no water running means pressure is dropping somewhere, and that somewhere might be the well line rather than the house.
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Know Where It Is Before You Open Anything
Tell us the clue: bill, sound, stain, or warm floor. Call [(301) 834-2944](tel:+13018342944), or request a free estimate through the [contact form](/contact-us).
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FAQ Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers below
How do I know if I have a hidden leak? +
Turn off every fixture and appliance that uses water, then watch your meter. If it's still moving, water is leaving the system. A water bill that rose without a change in usage points the same way, and both are worth checking before anything gets opened.
Can you find a leak under a concrete slab? +
Yes, and locating it precisely is the point. A warm patch of floor on a hot line is often the first sign. Pinpointing the spot means breaking a small, specific area of concrete instead of guessing across a room.
Is a running toilet worth ruling out first? +
Absolutely, and it costs nothing. Put food colouring in the tank, wait twenty minutes without flushing, then look in the bowl. Colour in the bowl means the flapper is passing water continuously, which explains a surprising number of the mystery-bill calls we take.
Will you need to cut into my walls? +
Only where the leak actually is, and that's the whole argument for locating it first. Finding the fault before opening keeps the access panel small, which is the difference between a patch and a drywall job.