LANGLEY WATER LEAK DETECTION
Water Leak Detection Langley,BC
10% seniors discount, 60+
Licensed & insured
Open 24 hours, every day
No call-out fee
Local to Langley
Most hidden leaks announce themselves for weeks before anyone notices. Call us if you have any of these.
A water bill or metered utility statement that jumped with no change in how you use water
The sound of running water when every tap and appliance in the house is off
Damp or discoloured drywall, a soft spot in a ceiling, or paint bubbling in a line
Musty or earthy smell in one room, a closet, or the crawlspace, with no visible water
Floor that has gone soft, springy, or warped, or baseboards swelling away from the wall
Warm patch on a concrete floor, which can mean a hot water line under the slab
Water pressure that has dropped off across the whole house
A patch of lawn or driveway edge that stays green or wet through a dry stretch
Mould returning in the same corner after you clean it
Any one of these is worth a look. Two or more together usually means water has been moving for a while.
01
STEP ONE
02
STEP TWO
03
STEP THREE
Shut off the fixture. Every toilet and most sinks have their own shutoff valve underneath. Turn it clockwise until it stops.
If that does not stop it, shut off the house. Your main shutoff is usually where the water line enters the house: in the garage, a mechanical room, a crawlspace hatch, or on the wall behind the hot water tank. Turn the handle clockwise, or a quarter turn if it is a lever.
If you cannot find or turn the main valve, call us. Do not force a seized valve — old gate valves snap, and then you have a leak you cannot stop.
04
STEP FOUR
05
STEP FIVE
06
STEP SIX
Kill power to the area at the breaker if water is anywhere near outlets, a panel, or light fixtures.
Photograph everything before you move or dry anything. If you end up making an insurance claim, those photos and their timestamps matter.
Then call. We answer 24 hours a day at (236) 233-9696.
Find your main shutoff valve today, before you need it. Take thirty seconds now and label it. It is the single most useful thing a homeowner can do about a leak they have not had yet.
Two tests you can run before you call.
Both are free.
The meter test (metered properties)
If your property has a water meter, this catches almost any supply-side leak.
Turn off every tap, appliance, and ice maker. Nobody uses water for the
duration of the test.
Find your meter. In the Township of Langley it sits in an underground chamber near the property line.
Note the reading, including the low-flow indicator — the small dial or triangle that spins on any flow at all.
Wait thirty minutes with no water use, then read it again.
If the numbers moved, water is going somewhere. If the low-flow indicator is turning at all with the house shut down, you have a leak.
To narrow it down: shut the main valve at the house and repeat.
If the meter still moves with the house isolated, the leak is in the buried line between the property line and the house. If it stops, the leak is inside.
The toilet dye test
On a flat rate, not a meter?
A flat-rate account gives you no bill signal at all. A leak can run for a year and your statement will look identical. On those properties, the physical signs above are the only warning you get — which is why a damp smell or a soft floorboard deserves a call rather than a wait-and-see.
Worth knowing: the Township of Langley now requires a meter on any new water service, and on any service replaced, reused, or upsized after 31 December 2025. Metering also runs as a voluntary program for existing homes, installed at no cost by the Township. Once a property goes metered it stays metered.
Copper pinholes and pressure
Older copper develops pinholes from corrosion, and high incoming pressure accelerates it. If the pressure reducing valve on your service has failed, you can be running well above what fixtures and pipe are rated for, which shortens the life of everything from the hot water tank to the toilet fill valves. We check static pressure as part of the visit.
Diagnosis first, then one deliberate access point.
This is the part most homeowners find out the hard way.
The buried line to your house is yours.
Under the Langley Waterworks Regulation Bylaw, the private service - the pipe and fittings that distribute water on your property - remains the property owner's, and the owner is responsible for its installation, repair, and maintenance.
That responsibility applies even to the portion running under the road allowance. The Township owns the water main and the curb stop at the property line. Everything downstream is yours.
You are required to keep it leak-free.
The bylaw requires every owner to maintain their plumbing, fittings, valves, fixtures, and private service piping in proper working order and free from leakage or waste, and to complete repairs in a timely fashion.
The Township can send you a notice.
If the Township suspects or confirms a leak on private property, the Engineer notifies the owner, and the owner has to investigate and make the repairs within the period the notice specifies.
If that does not happen, the Township can shut the water off at the curb stop, do the work themselves and bill you for it, or issue fines.
You may be able to get the water bill adjusted
If you are on a metered account and the leak was genuinely hidden, the Waterworks Bylaw provides for a leak adjustment. In broad terms:
It applies to underground or concealed leaks that could not reasonably have been spotted through normal daily use
The eligible location is the private service between the property line connection and where it enters the building, or an underground leak on the property that could not reasonably have been identified
You have to repair it first, then apply with a Leak Adjustment Request Form and proof of the repair
The credit amount is at the Engineer's discretion, calculated against the property's average consumption over the previous twelve months
It is a one-time adjustment per property, and the current owner has to have been the owner for the period being adjusted
Two things follow from this.
First, get the leak repaired promptly - the bylaw ties the adjustment to a timely repair.
Second, keep the paperwork.
We will give you a detailed invoice describing what the leak was, where it was, and what we did about it, which is the documentation the application needs.
Also worth knowing: on a metered account, sewer volume is billed as a percentage of the water supplied to the property. A hidden supply leak therefore inflates both halves of the statement, not just the water side.
The City of Langley is a separate water utility from the Township of Langley with its own waterworks bylaw, so the process differs depending on which side of the line you are on. Confirm current requirements with your municipality before applying - bylaws change.
Our advanced non-destructive diagnostic protocols identify concealed pipe breaches beneath concrete floor slabs and within interior wall cavities across Langley properties without requiring invasive structural demolition.
By capturing exact acoustic vibrations produced by pressurized water line fractures, our certified technicians can track sub-surface pipe anomalies to their precise spatial location with millimeter accuracy.
Complementary thermal imaging scans reveal subtle surface temperature variations caused by escaping hot or cold water, highlighting moisture migration pathways through flooring, drywall, and foundational insulation.
Following our non-invasive scan, you receive an immediate, transparent diagnostic assessment outlining the exact source of the leak alongside targeted options for long-lasting structural pipe repair.
Addressing hidden leaks early protects your property from costly mold remediation, foundational weakening, and inflated municipal water bills while preserving your home's structural integrity.
We are plumbers, not insurance advisors, and every policy is different. But the pattern we see is consistent enough to be worth stating plainly.
Most BC homeowner policies treat sudden and accidental water escape differently from damage that built up gradually over months. A pipe that bursts is usually a different conversation with an adjuster than a slow leak that has been quietly rotting a subfloor since last winter. That is one more reason not to wait on a damp smell.
If you think you may claim:
Photograph the damage before anything is moved, dried, or repaired
Call your insurer or broker early, before repairs, and ask what they need
Keep the plumbing invoice — the date, the cause, and the description of the repair are what the adjuster reads
Note when you first noticed it, honestly
Plumblink stops the leak and repairs the plumbing. We do not do drying or restoration work, so for water damage to floors, drywall, and contents you will want a restoration company — your insurer will usually have one they work with.
Homeowners with Poly-B should also know that some insurers ask about it at renewal. See Poly-B and home insurance in Langley.
Plumblink finds the source, explains the repair in plain language, and fixes it. Licensed, insured, and local to Langley.
Open 24 hours. No call-out fee.
Licensed, insured, and local. Langley is where we work, not one pin on a map of the Lower Mainland.
Open 24 hours, every day. An active leak does not wait for business hours.
See our business hours.
We find it before we cut it. Diagnosis first, then one deliberate access point.
Plain language. You will know what failed and why, not just what it costs.
No call-out fee, and honest advice about repair versus replacement.
How do I know if I have a hidden water leak?
The common signs are a water bill that jumped without a change in use, the sound of running water with everything off, damp or stained drywall, a musty smell in one area, soft or warped flooring, a drop in water pressure, or a patch of lawn that stays wet. If your property is metered, shut off every fixture and watch the meter for thirty minutes - if it moves, water is going somewhere.
Can you find a leak without cutting open my walls?
Usually we can narrow it down a long way first. Isolating sections of the system, checking pressure and meter behaviour, and working through likely sources in order typically takes the search from "somewhere in the house" to a specific area. Some leaks do eventually need an access point, but the aim is one small opening in the right place rather than several in the wrong ones.
How much does leak detection cost in Langley?
It depends on how long the leak takes to find and what the repair involves, so we do not quote it sight unseen. There is no call-out fee. We bill hourly with a one-hour minimum and thirty-minute increments after that, and you will know what the repair costs before we start it.
My water bill jumped. Can I get any of that back?
Possibly. The Township of Langley's waterworks bylaw provides a one-time leak adjustment for metered properties where an underground or concealed leak could not reasonably have been noticed. You have to repair the leak, then apply with a Leak Adjustment Request Form and proof of the repair. The credit is calculated against your average consumption and is at the Engineer's discretion. Keep your plumbing invoice - it is the documentation the application needs. If you are in the City of Langley rather than the Township, it is a separate utility with its own rules.
Who is responsible for the water line between the road and my house?
You are. The Township owns the water main and the curb stop at your property line. The private service running from there to your house is the property owner's to repair and maintain, including the buried portion under the road allowance.
Do you handle leaks under a concrete slab?
Come and see it. A warm spot on a concrete floor, unexplained moisture at the edge of a slab, or a meter that keeps moving after the house is isolated can all point under the slab. We will assess it and tell you what your options are, including whether rerouting the line makes more sense than breaking concrete.
Is a slow drip really worth fixing right away?
Yes. A slow leak inside a wall, ceiling, or crawlspace does its damage to framing, insulation, and subfloor long before it looks dramatic. It also matters for insurance, since gradual damage is generally treated differently from a sudden burst, and on a metered account it is costing you on both the water and sewer sides of the statement.
Does Poly-B pipe leak more than other pipe?
Poly-B fails from the inside and tends to go with a pinhole leak and no warning, often at a fitting. A lot of Langley housing from the late 1970s through the mid 1990s has it. One pinhole is usually a sign of the system's condition rather than a one-off, so it is worth knowing what is behind your walls before the next one.
Will my insurance cover the water damage?
That is between you and your insurer, and policies differ. Generally, sudden and accidental escape of water is treated differently from damage that developed gradually. Photograph everything before repairs, call your insurer early, and keep the plumbing invoice with its date and description of the cause.
How do I shut the water off to my house?
Look for the main shutoff where the water line enters — commonly a garage, mechanical room, crawlspace, or the wall near the hot water tank. Turn it clockwise, or a quarter turn if it is a lever. If it is seized, do not force it. Old valves snap. Find yours and label it now, while nothing is wrong.
Do you work on acreage properties and wells?
Yes. Long private runs from a well or pump house to the buildings are common around Aldergrove, Fort Langley, and Campbell Valley, and a leak on one can run for months underground. A pump that short-cycles or never quite shuts off is often the first clue.
How fast can you get there?
We are open 24 hours a day, every day. For an active leak, call (236) 233-9696 and shut off the water at the fixture or the main while you wait.
