San Antonio, Texas
Hidden water is expensive on a slab
Most San Antonio houses sit on a concrete slab. Supply lines run in the slab or under it. When one weeps, water can travel twenty feet along a beam pocket and show up as a soft baseboard in another room. Cutting the first wet spot is how people ruin the wrong tile.
Detection starts with the meter and the isolation valves. If the meter moves with the house off and the irrigation off, we still have a pressurized leak. If it stops when the house valve closes, the leak is on the house side. That single test saves a day of accusations about the sprinkler contractor.
Acoustic listening, thermal cameras, and pressure holds each answer a different question. None of them are magic. A good tech will say “likely here” with a confidence level, not “guaranteed X marks the spot” for a review screenshot.
What we listen for
Hissing at a slab, dripping in a wall bay, a toilet flapper that refills every four minutes, or a water heater drain pan that is wet while the tank looks dry. We also look at irrigation clocks, ice makers, and the little valves behind refrigerators that nobody remembers.
Condensation on a cold line in August is not a leak. San Antonio humidity fools people. We wipe, wait, and test before we open a wall. The opposite error is ignoring a warm floor in winter because “the heater is in the attic.” Warm slab paths are a classic hot-side underground leak.
Houses near The Alamo and the River Walk may be on older copper or mixed repairs. North-side homes may have PEX with a bad crimp in a padded wall. The method changes; the discipline does not.
- Photograph the meter with all water off.
- List every fixture you already replaced this year.
- Mention any recent foundation work or new floors.
From finding to fixing
Detection is not the repair. Once we know the zone, the repair might be a reroute in the attic, a section of copper in a trench, or a slab leak program. We keep those conversations separate so you are not paying for demolition during the find.
If the leak is under the slab, continue on the slab leak page. If it is a fixture, toilet repair or a simple stop valve may end it. If water is actively flooding, start with the emergency plumber page and detect after the house is dry enough to hear.
Bills, insurance, and what we will not say
We can describe what we found. We cannot promise how an insurer will treat a slab leak. We will not write a fake license, a fake street shop, or a star rating to make a claim look official. For permits on larger openings, use Development Services.
Official city information lives at sanantonio.gov. If you want to confirm a plumbing license for any contractor, use TDLR.
A quieter house tells the truth
Night is when detection works. The air conditioner is off, the street is quieter, and a hiss has less competition. If you can only be home at 6 p.m. in August with every HVAC system roaring, say so. We can still test a meter. We may not hear a pinhole until later.
Finish work hides evidence. New LVP over a slab, a just-painted baseboard, a rug that was “always a little damp.” Tell us what changed in the last year. A leak that started after a floor install is a different conversation from a leak that started after a cold snap.
Bring the last water bill if you have it. A step-change is more useful than a feeling that “we have been using more.” We still isolate. The bill is a clue, not a verdict. If water is crossing a room while you read this, stop reading and shut the valve.
What detection is not
Detection is not a guarantee that we never open a wall. It is a promise that we will not open the first pretty tile because it felt warm in August. A small confirmation opening after a listen is still a better day than a trench through the wrong room.
Detection is not sewer work. A smell at a floor drain and a spinning potable meter are different physics. If both are happening, say both. We can still start with the meter because pressurized water is the one that keeps adding gallons while you talk.
Detection is not an insurance letter. We can describe what we found and when. We cannot write coverage. Save dated meter photos. They do more for a later conversation than a paragraph about how long you “kind of noticed.”
If the only clue is a warm hallway and a quiet house, you are in the right place. If the only clue is sewage, you are not. Keep pressurized water and waste lines on different pages so the first tool is not a guess.