Infrared leak detection in NYC
Infrared leak detection in New York City means finding a hidden water leak in an apartment, brownstone or commercial building without opening walls and ceilings to search for it. A thermal camera shows where escaping water has changed the temperature of the finish, moisture metering confirms it, and acoustic or tracer-gas equipment pinpoints the pipe. In tall buildings risers carry water floors away from its source, so we isolate by zone first. We cover all five boroughs, locate and document every leak, and never perform the repair.
Certified Infrared ThermographerInfraspection Institute · FLIR E96 & T865
Hidden water leak detection in tall buildings
The defining problem in a New York building is distance between cause and symptom. A pinhole on an upper-floor riser drains down a pipe chase and exits several floors below, which is why the unit reporting a ceiling stain is so often not the unit with the leak.
Exploratory demolition in an occupied building is the expensive path: it means opening finished ceilings across several apartments, restoring each one, and doing it again if the first guess was wrong. Locating first keeps the opening to one.
- Domestic water risers and stacks
- Hydronic and steam heating lines
- Fire and sprinkler piping
- Slab and corridor distribution
- Mechanical rooms and plant
- Buried service and site piping
Working around residents and operations
Surveys are non-contact and non-destructive, so work proceeds with the building occupied. Access to individual units is coordinated with the super or managing agent, and we keep the number of apartments entered to the minimum the investigation requires.
Findings are documented so a managing agent, a board, a contractor or an insurance carrier can act on them without further interpretation.
Apartments, brownstones and houses
Not every New York leak is in a high-rise. In a brownstone or row house the usual suspects are a bathroom over a kitchen, a radiator or baseboard line, a shower pan, or a buried service line under the stoop. In an apartment the question is often whose leak it is — your unit, the one above, or the building's riser.
We locate the source, document it with thermal and moisture readings, and give you a report you can hand to your plumber, your managing agent or your insurer. Commercial water leak detection follows the same method at building scale.
- Ceiling leaks from the unit above
- Bathroom and shower pan leaks
- Radiator and heating line leaks
- Slab and floor leaks
- Buried service lines
- Riser and stack leaks
Common questions
Infrared leak detection in NYC — answered.
Do you find leaks in individual apartments and houses?
Yes. We work for apartment, co-op and condo owners and homeowners as well as managing agents and building owners, in all five boroughs.
How do I know whether the leak is from my unit or the one above?
That is exactly what an independent investigation establishes. We trace the water from where it appears back to its source with thermal imaging, moisture readings and, where needed, acoustic equipment, and document the path. Because we do not do the repair, the finding is treated as evidence rather than as a bid.
Do you cover all five boroughs?
Yes — Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, as well as Nassau and Suffolk on Long Island.
Can you find a leak without entering every apartment?
Usually. Isolation testing and riser work narrow the search before anyone knocks on a door, which is what keeps unit entries to a handful rather than a floor.
Who is this service for?
Managing agents, co-op and condo boards, building owners, facility engineers, and insurance adjusters. We handle multi-building scheduling directly.
How does an independent finding help in a dispute between owners?
Because we do not stand to win the repair, the finding is treated as evidence rather than as a bid. When the question is which unit or which party is responsible, that distinction carries real weight.
Hidden water leak detection, NYC
Hidden water leak detection is the defining problem in a tall building: the distance between cause and symptom. A pinhole on an upper-floor riser drains down a pipe chase and exits several floors below, which is why the unit reporting a ceiling stain is so often not the unit with the leak.
Isolation testing and riser work narrow the search before anyone knocks on a door, which keeps unit entries to a handful rather than a floor.
Water intrusion & leak detection
More in this service area
Hidden leaks inside slabs, walls and risers, and water entering through the building envelope from outside.
Why us and not a plumber
We write the report. We never bid the repair.
A plumber who finds your leak also sells you the repair. A roofer who inspects your roof also quotes the replacement. That isn't dishonesty — it's structure, and it quietly shapes every finding. We are an independent diagnostic company: we do not perform repairs, we do not sell materials, and we take no referral fee from any contractor. The report is the entire product, so there is nothing for us to gain by finding more than is there.
We can't profit from the work we recommend, because we don't do the work. If your roof is 8% wet, the report says 8% — not "replace the field."
We accept nothing from contractors for sending work their way. Take our findings to your own plumber, roofer, or electrician, or put them out to bid.
Boards, managing agents, and insurance carriers treat an independent finding differently than an estimate from the company that wants the job.
Sometimes the answer is condensation, or a warm duct, or a neighbor's roof. We're paid the same either way, so we say so.
Request an inspection in your building
Tell us what you're dealing with.
Send the details and we'll come back with a scope, a time window, and a price — including what the survey covers and what it doesn't.
Direct line
(516) 234-5012Request received.
We'll review the details and follow up within one business day.