Know The Warning Signs
Hidden leaks rarely announce themselves loudly. If you're noticing any of these, it's worth having the source located before it spreads further.
When you call about a suspected hidden leak, we'll ask what you've noticed: a sound, a warm spot, a bill spike, or a smell. That helps us bring the right detection equipment for the situation. You'll get a clear arrival window.
We use acoustic and thermal equipment to narrow down the leak's location before opening anything up. Once we've pinpointed the spot, we walk you through repair versus reroute options and the cost before doing any work.
We pressure-test the repair, confirm the leak is actually resolved, and restore the access area as close to its original condition as we can. We'll tell you if there's anything else worth monitoring.
Detection Before Demolition
Cutting into a wall or slab without knowing exactly where the leak is means more damage and more cost than necessary. We locate the leak with acoustic and thermal equipment first, then open only what needs to be opened.
We locate the leak with equipment before making any access point, so we're not guessing where to cut. If the leak isn't fully resolved after we leave, call us and we'll come back.
You'll see itemized pricing before any work starts, and we keep you posted if the scope changes. The number you approve is the number on your invoice.
A leak inside a wall or under a slab doesn't announce itself the way a burst pipe does. Instead, it shows up as a warm patch of tile, a slightly higher water bill, or a faint sound you only notice at night when the house is quiet. Left alone, that same leak can soften a subfloor, feed mold growth inside a wall cavity, or, in slab foundations, contribute to shifting over time.
The earlier a hidden leak gets found, the smaller the eventual repair tends to be. That's the whole reason detection equipment exists: to catch the problem while it's still a contained leak instead of a section of damaged flooring or drywall.
Acoustic equipment picks up the specific sound of pressurized water escaping through a crack or joint, even through concrete or drywall. Thermal imaging shows temperature differences in a slab or wall caused by water migrating through the material. Used together, they narrow a search area down from an entire room to a much smaller, specific spot.
Before recommending any repair, we typically check:
Did you know that approximately 9-13% of our service calls are to come out to fix other companies' mistakes?
From Downtown to the Suburbs
Slab leaks are especially common in San Antonio's slab-foundation homes, and hidden pipe leaks show up in both older and newer construction. PlumbSmart brings detection equipment to every call across the city and surrounding suburbs.
Diane Mcelroy
Recent Google review
I am having a weird issue with intermittent dampness in my garage. Roger spent about 1.5 hours trying to locate the problem. He assured me it was not a plumbing problem and told me not to worry about the service call.
Andrew Schaffrinna
Recent Google review
Joey was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Excellent service, excellent advice, went above and beyond by providing me with recommendations on how to prevent future issues. Highly recommend.
Kristi Lopez
Recent Google review
So happy with our new system! The team was absolutely fantastic! Thank you!
Svetla McPhie
Recent Google review
PlumbSmart was the only plumbing company that responded the same day to fix a leak. Excellent work and coordination. All over great team.
Plumbing disasters don't wait for business hours. Our expert team is ready to roll at any moment's notice, day or night, to handle your emergencies.
A slab leak is a leak in a water line running underneath your home's concrete foundation. It's a specific problem in slab-built homes, common across San Antonio, and it can be tricky to catch early because the water often travels before it surfaces somewhere visible.
We use acoustic listening equipment to pick up the sound of water escaping under pressure, and thermal imaging to spot temperature differences in the slab caused by the leak. Between the two, we can usually narrow the location down to a small area before making any access point.
Because we locate the leak precisely first, the access point is usually limited to a section of flooring or a small area of slab rather than the whole room. The exact repair size depends on where the leak is and how it's easiest to reach.
For a single, isolated leak in an otherwise sound line, a direct repair is usually the simplest option. If the pipe is old and showing multiple failure points, rerouting the line above the slab avoids repeating the same repair later. We'll explain both based on what we find.
It's less urgent than a burst pipe, but it's not something to leave alone either. A slab leak that goes unaddressed can lead to foundation movement, mold growth, and higher water bills the longer it runs. Getting it found and fixed sooner keeps the repair smaller.
Did you know that approximately 9-13% of our service calls are to come out to fix other companies' mistakes?
From the Blog
Practical tips and local insights from the PlumbSmart team.
1233 Safari St, San Antonio, TX 78216
(210) 810-0810You can call us for assistance 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Most hidden leak calls start the same way: someone noticed a warm spot on the tile, or their water bill jumped without a clear reason. By the time either of those shows up, the leak has usually been running for a while, quietly, under the slab or behind a wall where nobody could see it.
We bring acoustic and thermal equipment to every leak detection call specifically to avoid guessing. Instead of opening a section of wall or floor and hoping we land on the leak, we narrow the search down first, then open only the smallest area that gets us to the actual pipe.
Once we've confirmed the location and repaired the leak, we'll tell you whether the surrounding pipe looked healthy or whether a longer-term reroute is worth considering, especially in homes with older copper or galvanized lines under the slab.