Key takeaways
- Supply leaks are constant; they don't depend on rain or on which fixture was used.
- Stains and soft spots are rarely directly under the break; water travels along framing.
- A warm floor or a water heater that runs with nothing on points to a hot-side leak.
- The meter test with the house isolated confirms an interior leak before any wall is opened.
What a supply leak looks like
- A ceiling stain or bubbling paint with no bathroom or roof directly above
- A soft or discolored patch at the base of an interior wall
- A warm area on a floor, especially on a slab home
- A water heater that fires with nothing running
- The sound of water in a wall when everything is off
- Damp crawlspace soil under a supply line, in any weather
- Pressure that has dropped on one branch of the house
- A musty smell in a closet, cabinet or room with no obvious source
- The meter moving with every fixture closed and the house main open
What it probably isn't
A stain that appears with rain is roof, flashing or a window. A stain that appears after a shower or a flush is a drain, an overflow or a seal, which is a plumber's job on the drain side and not a pressurized leak. Condensation on a cold pipe or duct in humid weather is low-volume and stops in dry weather. Supply leaks are the constant ones, and the meter test separates them from everything else in minutes.
Why the stain isn't over the leak
Water from a pinhole or a cracked fitting runs along the pipe, drips onto a joist or a top plate, follows the framing downhill and drips through at the lowest point it reaches. In a two-story house that can be a room away. In a crawlspace home it can be a wet patch of soil ten feet from the break. Opening the ceiling at the stain usually finds wet drywall and no pipe. Locating with instruments finds the pipe.
The Kitsap housing pattern
Bremerton's 1940s homes: galvanized trunks and branches that rust through at threads, often first at the water heater connections or the first fitting inside the foundation. 1960s and 70s ranches across Tracyton, Enetai, East Port Orchard and Silverdale: copper pinholes at nail plates, slab contacts and hangers. 1980s and early 90s subdivisions in Silverdale, Port Orchard and Kingston: polybutylene cracking at acetal crimp fittings, often behind a washing machine or under a sink. Each has a usual place to look first.
Before you open anything
Do the meter test. Isolate the house. Isolate hot from cold at the water heater. Feel the stain for warmth. Then call for a locate. One opening at the mark, repaired by licensed plumbers and patched, is the whole job done right.
Written by the crew at 360 Leak Finders
We locate, excavate and repair buried water lines and exterior drains across Kitsap County, 24 hours a day. If this guide raised a question about your property, call (206) 354-9906.