Leaks are an unfortunate inevitability which may occur at any time depending on the age and quality of your plumbing installation. Today’s topic is of great interest to a lot of our readers, with questions arising from one of our previous blog posts – Water Damage – 8 Sights you Could Spot Easily (https://home-blogger.com/water-damage-8-signs-you-could-spot-easily/), on how plumbers are able to detect leaks, specifically behind bathroom walls.
Clever techniques professionals use to detect leaks inside walls
There are many forms of leaks and water damage sources in a property. One of the hardest to handle are the ones which occur outside of your range of view, and particularly the ones behind walls.
Depending on the type of construction, it can be easier to get behind the walls, with timber-framed homes being some of the easiest. The timber frames of the wall are covered in plywood and gyp board which are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace, however, a professional plumber wouldn’t resort to removing walls unless it’s necessary.
The luminescence technique
What this technique uses is luminous fluids which reach and shine like grow sticks when in contact with photons. There are special luminous fluids specifically used for this, however, one of the cheapest ways is by using a highlight marker’s filter and squeezing it into the water source.
While it is toxic, all of the contents of the luminous fluid will dissipate within 15 minutes of injection into the water source. This makes leakage detection behind walls extremely easy as it will show exactly where and how much water is leaking.
This technique is most often used in sewage pipes as it is forbidden to put harmful chemicals into a water supply, whether that would be private or public. Since sewage pipes are meant for dirty water, which often becomes toxic and unfit for human contact, there are no issues of using that particular technique.
Moisture meters and infrared cameras
Measuring the moisture contents of a wall where plumbing is running is a very quick and easy method to detect any leaks that might be seeping through the wall. This is an early detection technique, most commonly used in residential areas, where the square footage of a wall or a plumbing installation is quite small.
In larger locations, professional plumbers use infra-red cameras which accurately detect the deviation in surface temperatures. They have real-time imaging which shows the differences in temperatures on all surfaces.
Moist or wet locations are colder than dry ones simply because water is a great heat conductor and it will draw out any ambient heat in that particular location. This method is used for larger locations where there’s a lot of ground to cover and there are no specific suspected locations.
Why trusting a plumber is a good idea
While good plumbers will charge more than non-professional help, the benefit is obvious – professional help, experience and training will guarantee better results and more innovative solutions to problems. By choosing to book a more experienced plumber, you choose better results, less damage to your properly and less need for that professional’s help in the long turn.
