Signs You Have a Hidden Water Leak (and What to Do)
Higher bills, warm floor patches, a meter that ticks overnight, how leaks announce themselves.
The tells
A water bill that climbs without a reason. A hot spot on a solid floor. Low boiler pressure that needs topping up weekly. A meter that moves when every tap is off overnight. Damp or salts on a wall with no plumbing visibly near it. Any two of these together deserve investigation.
The meter test
Turn off every outlet, photograph the meter, wait two hours without using water, photograph it again. Movement means a leak on your side of the meter. This one free test settles most arguments with insurers and water companies.
Why detection beats exploration
Acoustic and thermal detection finds a buried leak within centimetres, so one floorboard comes up instead of six. It costs more than a speculative hole; it is far cheaper than three speculative holes. Insurers increasingly expect a detection report before they pay out trace-and-access claims.