Water leak detection and repair
The drip you can hear but cannot find, the wall that is warm for no reason, the meter that will not stop moving. Finding it is most of the job.
Check your meter before you call anyone
This is free and takes ten minutes, and it tells you whether you have a leak at all.
- Turn off every fixture and appliance that uses water. Ice maker included.
- Find the water meter and note the reading, or watch the small sweep dial.
- Wait fifteen minutes without touching anything.
- Look again. If the number moved, water is going somewhere.
If the dial is turning with everything off, you have a leak on the property. That is worth knowing before you spend anything, and it is worth knowing quickly — a slab leak running for a month costs more in water than the repair does.
Signs of a slab leak
- A warm spot on the floor. Usually the hot line. Often the first sign.
- The sound of running water with everything shut off.
- Pressure that dropped and stayed down.
- Cracks appearing in floors or drywall that were not there last year.
- A water bill that jumped without the household changing.
Slab leaks do not resolve on their own and they undermine what they run under. If two or three of these are true, get it looked at this week rather than next month.
What we can repair, and what we cannot
Spot repairs, accessible pipe, fixture and supply line leaks, running toilets and failed valves are all straightforward work. Locating the leak is usually the larger part of the job and is quoted before we start.
A repipe, a main line replacement, or anything that runs past $1,000 or needs a permit is a licensed contractor's work. We will find the leak, show you exactly what is wrong, and tell you plainly if the repair is outside what we can take on. See the licensing note.
Stop it first. We cannot come out.
Shut it off at the house, not at the meter. Prescott houses are slab-on-grade, so there is no basement valve. City of Phoenix: “this valve is usually located at the front of the home, near a hose bib. Look for a pipe coming out of the ground and going into the house.” Not the meter — that “requires a special tool and you may be held responsible for any repairs.”
Then confirm it. City of Prescott puts the meter “near the curb or sidewalk at the front of the property in a concrete box.” Turn off everything that uses water, cooler and icemaker included. Read it. Wait twenty minutes. Read it again. “If gallons used is greater than zero, you have a leak.”
Then call a licensed plumber. Past the meter it is yours; Prescott says the property owner is responsible. A break in the street is Water Operations, 928-777-1118. CreekWell is not booking new work, so do not wait on us at 2am.
Rebranding, and adding licenses
Aqua Cat Plumbing & Water Treatment is now CreekWell Plumbing & Water Treatment. Same owner, same phone number.
We are adding Arizona contractor licenses, and we are not booking new work until that is done — a few weeks. Jobs already on the schedule are not affected.
For new work, hold a place in the first round or call or text 928-228-5770. Bookings go in the order they come in, at the prices published on this site. No deposit.
Questions we get asked
Can you come out right now?
Not for new work. We are rebranding and adding Arizona contractor licenses, and we are not booking new jobs for a few weeks. Jobs already on the schedule are not affected.
Leave your name on the list or call or text 928-228-5770. Bookings go in the order they come in, at the prices published on this site, with no deposit.
How do I know if I have a hidden leak?
Shut everything off and watch the water meter for fifteen minutes. If it moves, you have one.
That test costs nothing and is the single most useful thing you can do before calling a plumber. It also tells us the leak is real and on your side of the meter, which narrows the search considerably.
How much does leak detection cost?
It is quoted flat, before we start, once we have seen the situation.
There is no trip fee in Yavapai County and no hourly meter. Finding the leak and repairing it are priced separately because sometimes the repair turns out to be a licensed contractor's job.
Is a slab leak an emergency?
Not in the middle-of-the-night sense, but do not leave it a month.
It is running continuously under your house, it is on your water bill every day, and it is softening whatever it is running through. Same week is the right timeframe.
Not a licensed contractor
Work is performed under the Arizona handyman exemption, A.R.S. § 32-1121(A)(14): any single project is limited to less than $1,000 including labor and materials, and excludes work requiring a building permit and all natural gas and propane work. Neil Staiger has 32 years of Arizona plumbing experience and holds current manufacturer certifications from Moen, Kohler, Navien, Rinnai and Charger Water Treatment Products. More about that. Additional Arizona contractor licenses are in progress.
Hold a place in the first round of appointments
New work is not being booked for a few weeks while we rebrand and add contractor licenses. Jobs already scheduled are not affected.