Leak Detection FAQ — DeKalb, Illinois

Shut off every water-using fixture and appliance, including the ice maker and irrigation controller, then check your water meter's low-flow indicator. Movement means water is escaping. Note the reading, wait thirty minutes without using water, and read again. Any change confirms it.

Close the main shutoff valve where the service line enters the building and repeat the meter test. If the meter still moves, the leak is in the buried service line between the curb stop and the house. If it stops, the leak is inside.

Yes. Acoustic listening, tracer gas, thermal imaging, line tracing and pressure isolation are all non-invasive. We only open an access point once two independent methods agree on a location.

On a pressurized line under a basement slab we generally mark within about a foot. Accuracy varies with depth, pipe material, leak size and background noise, and we tell you the confidence level before you commit to cutting.

One to three hours for most residential jobs. Buried service lines, large multi-unit buildings and very slow leaks in plastic pipe take longer and occasionally need a second visit at night when ambient noise is lower.

We quote on the call, before anyone is dispatched. The number depends on the size of the property, how much of the system needs isolating and which instruments the job calls for. Nothing gets added afterward, and the detection fee comes off the repair when we do the work.

Yes, in full, on repairs we carry out.

The leak line is answered 24 hours a day, every day. There's an after-hours premium and we quote it before dispatch.

Shut the main valve, open the lowest faucets to drain the system, cut power to the affected area at the breaker if water is near electrical, and call. Photograph everything before you clean up.

In most DeKalb homes with basements it's on the wall closest to the street, near where the service line enters, usually beside the meter. In slab-on-grade homes it may be in a utility closet or near the water heater. There's also a curb stop in the parkway that only the city should operate.

Leave the building immediately without flipping switches, unplugging anything or using a phone indoors. From outside, call 911 and Nicor Gas at 888-642-6748. They respond 24 hours at no charge. Call us afterward for testing and repair of the house piping.

Water that appears regardless of weather, or a wet patch that feels warm, suggests plumbing. Water that follows rain and snowmelt, especially at the wall-floor joint, suggests groundwater. The meter test settles it in fifteen minutes. More in our wet basement guide.

Something is feeding the drain tile. Usually a leaking under-slab supply line, a sump discharge terminating too close to the house and recirculating, a high water table, or a downspout tied into the tile.

Generally the city maintains the main and up to the curb stop or b-box; the property owner is responsible from there into the building. If a leak lands near that boundary we document the position so you can take it up with the Utility Division at 815-748-2050.

Extensively, particularly near the NIU campus. We coordinate tenant access, report to owners and management companies, and run pre-winter inspections before break empties buildings.

Illinois policies commonly cover sudden and accidental water discharge and exclude gradual seepage. Documentation of the failure mechanism matters enormously. Our insurance guide covers it properly, and we provide claim-ready reports.

Significant alterations generally require one. Illinois requires licensed plumbers for this work, and the City of DeKalb's Community Development Department at 164 East Lincoln Highway handles permitting and inspection. We pull permits as part of the job.

Roots rarely break sound pipe — they find an existing opening like an offset clay joint or a hairline crack, because moisture leaks out and roots grow toward it. Once inside, the root mass widens the opening. That's why root problems recur until the entry point itself is sealed or replaced.

Every two to three years if you have clay tile pipe or mature trees over the run, and after any backup. For PVC laterals in newer subdivisions with no history of problems, at purchase and then only if symptoms appear.

Yes. Repairs carry a workmanship warranty and manufacturer warranties apply to parts and equipment. Terms are stated on your invoice — ask when we quote if you want the specifics up front.