Leak Detection in Thornton, CO

The bill from Thornton Water came in at twice the usual number, and there was no sprinkler running and no dripping faucet. Then you noticed the laminate in the hallway of your slab-on-grade house north of 136th Avenue had a soft spot, and the floor there felt warm in bare feet. Somewhere under the concrete a hot water line has been leaking for weeks. This site puts you through by phone to an independent local provider who does leak detection in Thornton and across Adams County.

Narrowing a hidden leak to one spot before the saw comes out

The point of leak detection is to open one place instead of five. The provider starts at the meter with everything in the house shut off to confirm water is moving. Then they isolate: hot side versus cold side at the water heater, one fixture branch at a time. With the leak narrowed to a run, they use acoustic listening equipment to hear the water escaping under pressure, a thermal camera to find the warm or cool track on the floor or wall, and a moisture meter to confirm where the material is wet. The result is a mark on the floor or wall the size of a dinner plate, and that is where the plumber opens.

Keep the meter running, but shut the fixtures

Do not shut the main before the provider arrives, because a leak that has stopped cannot be heard. Instead, turn off every fixture, the ice maker, and the sprinkler controller, and watch the small dial on the meter for a few minutes. If it moves, the leak is real. Photograph the wet or warm spot, the meter reading, and the bill. Move furniture and rugs off the area. If the leak is on the hot side, you can close the cold inlet to the water heater to slow it without losing cold water to the house. Then call and describe what you found.

What gets opened and what stays closed

A well-located slab leak means one section of concrete comes up, usually a two-foot square, or the line gets rerouted overhead and the slab stays closed. A leak inside a wall means one section of drywall comes off instead of the whole wall. Flooring over a slab leak is a different question: laminate and engineered wood that has soaked from below usually comes out; tile often stays if the grout and the thinset held. Once the plumber has the line fixed, the wet slab and framing get dried with air movers and dehumidifiers, and the rest of that work is on the structural drying page. If the leak turns out to be a pipe that let go all at once, the burst pipe water damage page covers what happens next.

Why Thornton slabs and old lines leak quietly

Thornton has two kinds of houses that hide leaks. The 1950s and 1960s ranches in Original Thornton carry original galvanized steel and early copper, and a pinhole behind a plaster wall can weep for a season before the paint bubbles. The slab-on-grade two-stories built north of 120th Avenue since 2000 run their supply lines under or through the concrete, and the expansive clay under that concrete moves with every wet spring and dry August. A copper line rubbing against the edge of a slab penetration wears through in a few years of that movement, and hot water lines go first because the copper expands and contracts with every use.

The city's water comes from the mountains through Thornton Water, and a leak on the house side of the meter is the homeowner's, which is why the bill is often the first sign. The utility's meter can also help: many Thornton meters log hourly use, and a flat overnight draw that never drops to zero is the signature of a leak.

Sudden pipe failures are often treated as covered losses under a homeowner policy, while a slow leak that ran for months, and the mold that can follow it, may be handled differently. Your agent can tell you which side of that line your policy falls on; this site cannot. Have the provider document the meter test, the location, and the readings before the floor is opened.

Calling about a leak you cannot see

Say what made you suspicious: a high bill, a warm floor, a soft spot, a damp wall, or a meter that keeps turning. Mention whether the house is on a slab or has a basement, and how old it is. Call (720) 735-3725.