Four Tools to Help You Find a Leak in Your Home
Your home is constantly at risk from the elements, especially water. From roof leaks to burst pipes, water damage is the second most common claim in insurance policies, just behind wind and hail. In fact, water damage is far more damaging than fire.
The most alarming aspect of water damage is how silent it can be. A leak can go unnoticed for a long time before the damage becomes severe enough to be noticeable. And even if you know there’s a water leak, detecting it is often difficult, as water can travel a long distance from the source before making itself known. That’s why you need these five types of leak detectors, so you know when a dangerous leak is about to occur and can quickly detect it to minimize damage.
Humidity alarms
The first step is to install water sensors with alarms throughout your home in areas prone to leaks. These sensors typically connect to Wi-Fi and simply detect excess moisture, sound an alarm, and send a message to your devices alerting you to a leak. Installing these sensors in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, basements, attics, and anywhere else your home comes into contact with water means leaks will be detected immediately, rather than slowly deteriorating your property over weeks, months, or even years.
These alarm systems can often be combined with network shut-off valves, which automatically shut off the water supply when a leak is detected. This way, even if you’re not home, damage from a leak will be minimized.
Humidity meter
Leak alarms, no matter how useful, can only detect the leak at the location and only indicate the presence of water, not its source . Of course, sometimes the source is obvious: if an alarm installed near the toilet goes off, there’s a good chance the leak is coming from there. But if the leak originates in a pipe in the wall, a tiny spot on a large roof, or underground, you’ll need help locating it.
A moisture meter is an indispensable tool for leak detection. This simple device measures the amount of moisture accumulated in a material, such as drywall or flooring. By taking multiple readings across the entire area, you can pinpoint the exact location of the water accumulation before beginning repairs, saving time and money.
Endoscopes
Sometimes you need to look inside the spaces and voids of your home to find a water leak. For example, if you suspect a pipe is leaking in the wall and are getting inconsistent readings from your moisture meter, it might be time to reach for one of the most useful tools you’ll ever own: a borescope camera (also known as a borescope). This is a small, flexible camera that can be inserted into a small space and examined, allowing you to see what’s behind a wall, under a floor, or inside a ceiling in your home without dismantling anything. If there’s no obvious way to install the camera, you can usually drill a small access hole that can be easily repaired later. A video feed will allow you to inspect all those pipes and see where the water is coming from.
Pipe locator
A pipe locator is exactly what you see in the picture: it locates hidden pipes that bring water into and out of your home, often located inside walls, under floors, or buried underground. If you’re trying to pinpoint a leaky pipe, this tool can be invaluable, especially if other options have failed.
They’re not cheap —this Rigid tool is one of the most affordable, costing around $1,800 at the time of writing. But you can easily spend $1,000 or more if you have a plumber come out to find and fix a leaky pipe. So, if you’re willing to fix the leak yourself, this tool will pay for itself over time, as you can isolate the leak, shut off the water to just that spot, and complete the repair.