Water leak detection for homes and commercial buildings
Water leak detection finds a hidden leak — under a slab, inside a wall, in a riser or a buried line — without opening the building to search for it. We work in houses, apartments, co-ops, condos and commercial buildings across the five boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk. A thermal camera narrows the search; moisture metering, acoustic listening, correlation and tracer gas confirm the exact spot before anything is opened. We locate and document the leak, and we never bid the repair.
Certified Infrared ThermographerInfraspection Institute · FLIR E96 & T865
Why infrared alone is not enough
A thermal camera measures surface temperature. It does not see through walls and it does not detect water directly — it detects the effect water has on temperature. A warm patch can equally be a heating pipe, a flue, or a sunlit wall on the other side.
That is why an anomaly is a lead rather than a conclusion. A moisture meter establishes whether the area is genuinely wet. Acoustic equipment listens for the sound of a pressurised line escaping. Correlation times that sound at two points and calculates the distance. Tracer gas finds what makes no sound at all.
- Infrared imaging
- Moisture metering
- Acoustic listening
- Acoustic correlation
- Tracer gas
- Pressure and isolation testing
Where hidden leaks are found
Under floors and slabs, inside walls and chases, along building risers, in domestic water and hydronic heating lines, in underground service piping, in mechanical rooms, and through common areas of commercial and multifamily buildings.
In each case the goal is the same: locate accurately enough that a repair opens one small area instead of a search across several.
What a located leak saves
The repair is rarely the expensive part. The expensive part is the exploratory work in front of it — hours billed while a contractor opens finishes looking for something, and the restoration of everything opened along the way.
A documented location, with depth where applicable and photographs, turns that into a single opening and a single restoration.
How thermal imaging water leak detection works
Thermal imaging water leak detection uses a calibrated infrared camera to find the temperature difference that escaping water creates inside a building assembly. Water changes how a material stores and releases heat, so a leak behind a wall, under a slab or inside a riser reads as an anomaly on the surface. Infrared is the first of five steps — it narrows the search, and moisture metering, acoustic listening, correlation and tracer gas confirm the exact point before anything is opened.
The aim is a location precise enough that the repair opens one small area instead of a search across several.
Leak detection for homes and commercial buildings
Houses and apartments. A ceiling stain under a bathroom, a warm spot on a slab floor, a damp finished basement, a radiant-heat system losing pressure, or a water bill that keeps climbing. In a co-op or condo the first question is often whose leak it is — the unit above, the unit itself, or the building's riser — and an independent finding answers it without a contractor's interest attached.
Commercial and multifamily buildings. Risers that carry water several floors before it surfaces, mechanical rooms, sprinkler and hydronic piping, buried service lines and multi-tenant spaces. Reports are written for the managing agent, the board, the contractor and the insurance carrier at once.
- Slab and under-floor leaks
- Leaks inside walls and ceilings
- Radiant and hydronic heating leaks
- Riser and stack leaks
- Buried water service lines
- Shower pans and bathroom leaks
- Sprinkler and fire lines
Water leak detection near you
We are based in Hewlett, on the Nassau–Queens border, and cover all five boroughs of New York City and all of Long Island. Pick your area for local details:
- Manhattan
- Brooklyn
- Queens
- The Bronx
- Staten Island
- Nassau County
- Suffolk County & Long Island
- Infrared leak detection NYC
Active leak? Call (516) 234-5012 and we will prioritise it.
Common questions
Water leak detection — answered.
Is there a water leak detection service near me?
If your property is in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau County or Suffolk County, yes. We are based in Hewlett, NY and travel to the property. Call (516) 234-5012 or send a request with your ZIP code.
Do you do leak detection in houses and apartments, or only commercial buildings?
Both. We find leaks in houses, apartments, co-ops and condos as well as commercial and multifamily buildings. The method is the same; the scope changes with the building.
What are the signs of a hidden water leak?
A water bill that rises without explanation, the sound of running water when everything is off, a warm or damp patch on a floor, stains or bubbling paint on a ceiling or wall, a musty smell, mould along baseboards, or a boiler or radiant system that keeps losing pressure.
How much does water leak detection cost?
It is quoted flat, per property, after a short conversation about what you are seeing — not hourly. Hourly billing rewards a slow search; a flat price rewards finding it.
Can thermal imaging detect a leak inside a wall?
It can detect the temperature anomaly that a leak inside a wall produces, provided a temperature difference exists at the time of the scan. It cannot see through the wall itself. The anomaly is then confirmed with a moisture meter before any conclusion is drawn.
What if the leak is cold water rather than hot?
Cold-water leaks are usually detectable too, because evaporation cools the affected material below the temperature of the material around it. In marginal conditions acoustic methods and tracer gas do the work instead.
How is a leak located in a buried line?
By acoustic correlation. Two sensors are attached to the same line, the leak sound is timed as it reaches each one, and the difference is converted into a distance — which typically narrows a long buried run to a few feet.
Do you carry out the repair?
No. We locate and document only, and we accept no referral fee from plumbers. The report goes to whichever contractor you choose.
How do you find a water leak without opening the wall?
By measuring the effects a leak produces rather than looking for the leak itself. A thermal camera detects the temperature difference escaping water creates on the wall surface, a moisture meter confirms whether that area is genuinely wet, and acoustic equipment listens for the sound a pressurised line makes as water escapes. On a longer run, correlation times that sound at two sensors and calculates the distance between them. Nothing is cut until several methods agree on the same spot, which is what keeps the repair opening to a single small area.
Can infrared cameras detect water leaks?
Indirectly, and this distinction matters. An infrared camera measures surface temperature, not moisture. It cannot see through a wall and it does not detect water itself. What it detects is the temperature difference water creates: escaping water either warms an area, if it is a hot line, or cools it through evaporation. That difference shows on the surface as an anomaly. The anomaly is a lead, not a conclusion, which is why every thermal finding is confirmed with a moisture meter or acoustic equipment before it appears in a report.
Can thermal imaging find a leak behind a wall?
It can find the thermal signature a leak behind a wall produces, provided a temperature difference exists between the wet area and the material around it at the time of the scan. Water travels down inside a stud bay, so the anomaly often appears well below the actual break. A moisture meter then confirms the area is wet, and acoustic listening pinpoints a pressurised line. Where no temperature difference exists, infrared will not find it and we say so rather than guessing.
Can thermal imaging detect water behind walls?
It detects the temperature difference water creates on the wall surface, not the water itself.
A thermal camera measures surface temperature and cannot see through a wall. What it reads is the effect: water either warms an area, if the leak is on a hot line, or cools it through evaporation. Because water travels down inside a stud bay before it collects, the anomaly frequently appears well below the actual break. A moisture meter then establishes whether the area is genuinely wet, and acoustic listening pinpoints a pressurised line. Where no temperature difference exists at the time of the scan, infrared will not find it, and we say so rather than guessing.
Non destructive water leak detection
Non destructive water leak detection means locating the leak without cutting, coring or removing building material to search for it. Every method in the sequence — thermal imaging, moisture metering, acoustic listening, correlation and tracer gas — works from the surface or from an existing access point.
The only material removed is at the repair itself, and by then the location is known to within inches. That is the difference between one opening and a search.
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.