LEAK DETECTION · NORTH SHORE
Leak Detection North Shore
Find it first, open the wall second.
Damp carpet, a warm patch on a concrete floor, a water bill that has climbed with no explanation. Locating a leak precisely costs far less than opening walls until something turns up.
Leak detection
Finding a leak without demolishing the house
A hidden leak announces itself indirectly. Carpet that never quite dries, a skirting board that has started to lift, a patch of concrete floor that is warm underfoot, or a water bill that has doubled while nothing about the household changed.
The expensive way to handle that is to start opening things up and looking. The sensible way is to narrow it down first, using the meter, isolation testing and the evidence the building is already giving you, and then open one spot rather than five.
We work on supply side leaks, the pressurised pipework carrying water into and around the house. If it turns out the water is coming from a waste or a drain outside the building line, that is drainage, and the same business handles it from the other side.
Why it is worth chasing
A slow supply leak does not stay slow. Water tracks along joists and under linings, and by the time it is visible it has usually been wetting framing for months. On the Shore, where a lot of housing is timber framed on a slab or piles, that is the difference between a repair and a structural conversation.
Signs
What usually points to a hidden leak
Any one of these on its own is worth a phone call. Two together usually means there is definitely something.
The meter moves with everything off
Turn off every tap and appliance, then watch the meter. If the dial is still creeping, water is going somewhere it should not. It is the single most useful test you can run yourself before ringing anyone.
A warm patch on the floor
On a slab, a hot water line running underneath that has failed will warm the concrete above it. People often notice it barefoot in the morning long before anything looks wet.
Damp that comes back
Carpet or a skirting that dries out and then returns, particularly in the same spot after rain has stopped. Rain would be a roof or drainage problem. Damp with no rain is usually supply.
Pressure that has dropped on one outlet
If one shower or tap has weakened while the rest of the house is normal, there is often a failure in the run feeding it rather than a problem with the fitting itself.
On water bills. Watercare will sometimes flag unusual consumption before you notice anything at all. If you have had that letter, it is worth acting on it rather than waiting to see something, because by then the water has already been going somewhere for a while.
Why Asset
How we approach a leak
Narrow before cutting
Isolation testing and meter work first. Opening a wall is a last step, not a diagnostic method.
Both sides of the building line
If the water turns out to be drainage rather than supply, the same two people handle it. No second trade, no second call-out.
Old pipework is familiar ground
Galvanised supply and aged copper are the usual culprits on older Shore housing. We know where they fail and why.
Told what we found
You get an explanation of where the leak was and what caused it, not just an invoice and a patched wall.
Repair scoped honestly
Sometimes one joint. Sometimes the run has reached the end of its life and patching it buys you a year. We will tell you which.
Made good properly
Where we open something up, it gets closed up in a state the next trade can work with.
Coverage
Leak detection across the North Shore
We chase leaks throughout the Shore and up the Hibiscus Coast.
Questions
Leak detection questions
How do you find a leak without breaking anything?
A combination of isolation testing, meter readings and reading what the building is telling us. By shutting off sections of the system and watching what happens at the meter, you can narrow a leak down to a run rather than a house. Add the physical evidence, damp patterns, warm spots, where the pipework was likely laid, and you usually end up opening one area rather than exploring.
Can you detect a leak under a concrete slab?
Often yes, and slab leaks are a real thing on newer Shore housing. Hot water lines under a slab will usually give themselves away by warming the floor above, and isolation testing can confirm whether the loss is on the hot or cold side. What varies is the repair, because getting to a slab leak is a bigger job than getting to a leak under a timber floor, and sometimes rerouting the line is cheaper than chasing it.
My water bill jumped but I cannot see anything wet. Is that a leak?
Quite possibly. The leaks that show up on a bill before they show up visually are usually underground on the supply line between the toby and the house, where the water simply soaks away. Run the meter test with everything off. If the meter is moving, something is leaking regardless of whether you can see it.
Is a dripping tap worth calling about?
On its own, a dripping tap is a washer or a cartridge and it is a small job. It is worth doing because a steady drip wastes a surprising volume over a year, but it is not urgent. What is worth calling about promptly is anything wet that you cannot explain, because that is the category where waiting makes the repair bigger.
Does a leak mean I need the whole house replumbed?
Usually not. One failed joint or one damaged section is common and gets repaired as a repair. Where it becomes a bigger conversation is when the pipework is old galvanised that has corroded from the inside, because in that case the leak you found is a symptom rather than the problem, and more will follow. We will tell you honestly which situation you are in.
Something wet you cannot explain?
Describe what you are seeing and where, and whether the meter moves with everything off. That is usually enough for us to tell you what it sounds like before we arrive.
Or call the team09 213 9815