Narrow it down at the meter before anything gets cut
Gladewater is about 11 miles from our Kilgore shop. When water is going somewhere it should not, we use the meter and your shutoff valves to work out which part of the system is leaking. Then we open only the spot the readings point to.
Copper that sat against the dirt for decades
A lot of supply pipe under slabs is copper, and copper holds up well until it spends years pressed against damp soil. The outside of the pipe corrodes, turning green and pitted, and the wall grows thin at the worst spots. Meanwhile the clay under Gladewater swells with rain and shrinks through a dry summer, rubbing that pipe against the slab edge and the dirt around it.
The failure is usually a pinhole. It lets out a thin stream that can run quietly for months, soaking the ground under the house and sometimes warming a patch of floor above a hot line.
Signs that point under the floor
- A warm spot on tile or concrete with nothing heating it
- Running water you can hear with every tap closed
- A crack in the floor that stays damp
- The meter stops only when the house shutoff is closed
Before any concrete gets broken, the meter and the shutoff valves have to agree that the leak is under the slab. Then we narrow it to a single spot.
What a leak’s timing gives away
Water that leaks all day
Supply lines stay full and pressurized around the clock. A pinhole in one leaks whether anybody is home or not, and it is the only kind of leak that turns the meter. Under a slab it may show up as a floor that feels warm over a hot line, or the sound of running water in a quiet house.
Water that leaks when you use it
A drain only carries water while something is emptying, with no pressure behind it. A crack in one never registers at the meter. What it leaves is a stain, a musty smell, or a damp baseboard that gets worse after baths and laundry and fades in between.
If the meter holds still and the wall is still wet, we stop looking at supply pipe and start with whatever drain runs above the stain. Making that call early is most of what keeps us from cutting in the wrong place.
The meter and the shutoffs do the first search
Every drop that enters the house passes through the meter, which is why the real search starts there. With every faucet and water-using appliance off, the meter should sit dead still. If its small leak indicator creeps, water is escaping somewhere past it.
The shutoff valves turn that one reading into a map. Close the main valve at the house and the question becomes whether the leak is out in the yard line or somewhere inside. Close the supply to the water heater and you have ruled one more branch in or out.
Splitting the house in half
- Meter creeps with the house shutoff open: water is leaving somewhere
- Meter stops once the house shutoff is closed: the leak is inside
- Meter keeps creeping with that valve closed: the leak is on the yard line
- Closing the water heater supply stops it: start on the hot side
Bring those notes when you write to us or call (903) 570-3051. They often cut the search in half before we arrive.
Polybutylene and galvanized, the two we ask about
Houses built through the 1980s and 1990s may carry polybutylene supply line, a gray plastic that was common at the time. It tends to give out suddenly, often at a fitting, and insurance carriers have opinions about it when a claim comes in or a policy gets written.
Gladewater’s older houses, the ones from the 1930s and 1940s oil boom, often still run galvanized supply pipe. Galvanized rusts from the inside, and the rust closes the pipe down a little at a time. Pressure at the faucets fades for years. Then the thinned wall starts to pinhole, and one leak gets followed by another a few feet away.
Finding the leak in either kind of pipe answers only part of the question. The rest is whether a patch makes sense in a system that is wearing out all over, and you will get an honest read on that from us.
One opening, where the reading says
Guessing is expensive inside a house. Cut a wall in the wrong place and you are left with a second repair and a leak that is still running. So the search ends at one marked location, and that is the only place we open.
What narrows it down
- Meter readings taken with different valves closed
- Where the moisture, warmth, or sound is strongest
- Which lines actually run through that part of the house
After the repair is tested under pressure, the opening gets closed back up. Before any cutting starts, we tell you which finish work is ours and which belongs to whoever handles your flooring or drywall.
What you hear from us before the search starts
Some leaks turn out to be a running toilet. Some are a line under the concrete. Nobody can tell which from a phone call, so we look before we quote, and you hear a real price before any work begins. If opening a wall or floor turns up a surprise, the work stops and we talk it over with you.
Stephen Crutchfield leads the work. He is a licensed Master Plumber, Responsible Master Plumber M-45845, and a certified Water Protection Specialist, and Odyssey is veteran-owned and family-run out of Kilgore. When the right answer turns out to be new pipe, our repiping work is the next conversation.
See finished work in photos, read our leak detection approach, or go back to everything we do in Gladewater.
Also on our list in Gladewater
Emergency Plumbing
When the hidden leak turns into water on the floor.
Drain Cleaning
Stopped lines cleared from the right opening, cause explained.
Sewer Line Repair
Rusted cast iron and open joints under the yard.
Water Heater Repair
A tank weeping at the base or a relief valve that drips.
Repiping
New supply lines once the old ones start failing one pinhole at a time.
Gregg County
The other towns we cover around Gladewater.
Leak questions people ask us first
How do I tell whether the leak is inside or in the yard?
Watch the meter with every fixture off. Then close the main shutoff at the house and watch it again. If the meter stops, the leak is inside. If it keeps moving with that valve closed, the leak is on the line between the meter and the house.
Why would a copper line under the slab start leaking?
Copper that sits against damp soil corrodes on the outside over the years, and the wall thins at the worst spots. The clay here swells and shrinks with the weather, which rubs the pipe against concrete and dirt. Pinholes tend to start where both of those happen.
My water pressure has dropped for years. Is that a leak?
Not always. In older houses with galvanized supply pipe, falling pressure often comes from rust narrowing the inside of the pipe. That same pipe tends to start pinholing as the wall thins, so it is worth having the supply lines looked at before the first leak shows up.
How do I know if I have polybutylene pipe?
If the house was built in the 1980s or 1990s, it may. It is usually a gray plastic line, sometimes visible near the water heater or under a sink. It tends to fail suddenly, and insurance carriers ask about it, so it is worth having someone confirm what you have.
Will you have to cut open my floor or walls?
Only in one place, and only after the readings point to it. We narrow the location using the meter, the shutoff valves, and where the moisture shows, then open that spot. If the leak turns out to be somewhere easy to reach, nothing gets cut at all.
How soon can someone come out to Gladewater?
When you call, we give you an honest arrival window instead of a time that only sounds good. For an urgent leak in Gladewater, about 11 miles from Kilgore, that is usually the same day. If water is actively spreading, close the main shutoff while you wait.
Watching the dial creep?
Tell Stephen what the meter did with the house shutoff open and then closed. Knowing that ahead of time saves part of the search, and the rest gets confirmed at the house.
Call (903) 570-3051Easier by message?
Photos of the meter and any pipe you can see near the water heater help a lot. Write in and we will chart the job ahead of the visit.
Odyssey Plumbing Co is regulated by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE), 7915 Cameron Rd., Austin, TX 78754, (512) 936-5200, tsbpe.texas.gov. Stephen Crutchfield, Responsible Master Plumber License M-45845.