Portland's older housing stock — Craftsmans in Richmond, bungalows in Montavilla, postwar ranches out in Beaverton and Gresham — is where most of our leak calls come from. Galvanized supply lines rust from the inside, old copper pitting-fails at joints, and slab-on-grade additions from the 60s and 70s hide a slow drip until the floor is soft. We find the leak first, with the least demolition possible, then fix the actual pipe — not just the wet spot.
How do you find a leak without cutting open my walls?
We start with what the house is telling us: the water meter test (shut everything off, watch if the meter still spins), moisture readings, and where the water is actually showing up versus where the pipe runs. For pressure lines we use acoustic listening equipment that picks up the sound of water escaping under pressure, even through concrete or behind tile. For drain and sewer lines, a sewer camera inspection shows cracks, offset joints, and root intrusion directly on screen. Most leaks get pinpointed to a specific section of pipe before we open anything — usually a foot or two of wall or floor, not a whole room.
When do you actually need leak detection versus just calling a plumber?
If you can see or hear the leak — water under the sink, a pipe burst, no hot water and a puddle by the tank — that's a straight repair call, and if it's active and spreading you want emergency plumbing, not detection. Leak detection is for the cases where something's wrong but nothing is obviously broken: a water bill that jumped for no reason, a warm spot on a slab floor, a musty smell in a crawlspace, a meter that keeps spinning with everything off, or a wall that stays damp no matter how much you air it out. Portland's wet falls and winters make this worse — a slow leak into a crawlspace or wall cavity in a house with poor drainage can run for months before it's visible, and by then there's often rot or mold to deal with on top of the pipe.
What happens during the visit
We start by asking what you've noticed — when it started, whether it's tied to water use, any recent work on the house. Then the meter test and a walk-through with the detection equipment to narrow the location. Once we've got a section identified, we talk through the fix before opening anything: a spot repair, a longer section of repipe if the pipe material is failing generally (common in houses still running original galvanized), or camera work if it's on the drain or sewer side. We patch access openings reasonably but we're not a drywall or flooring crew — for anything beyond a basic patch we'll tell you that upfront so you can plan around it.
What affects the price
Access matters most — a leak behind an open crawlspace wall costs less to reach than one inside a finished slab or a second-story bathroom wall. What we find changes the job too: a single fitting failure is a different repair than a pipe run showing failure at multiple points, which points toward repiping rather than a series of spot repairs. Material matters — galvanized and old polybutylene are more likely to need broader replacement than copper or PEX. And whether it's a pressure-side leak or a drain/sewer leak changes the equipment and approach entirely; sewer line issues sometimes call for hydro jetting or sewer line repair rather than a simple patch.
What's specific to Portland houses and water
A lot of this metro was built before 1970, and pipe materials from that era — galvanized steel, some early copper, cast iron drain lines — are well past the point where a leak is a one-off event rather than a sign of general wear. Our clay and silty native soils hold water and shift seasonally, which puts steady pressure on buried supply and sewer lines and is a common cause of joint separation and root intrusion in older clay sewer pipe. Add the amount of rain we get from November through April and a leak that would just dampen the ground in a drier climate here tracks water straight into a crawlspace or foundation. Basements and slab additions are less common than crawlspaces in most Portland-area homes, which usually works in our favor for access — but it means leaks often show up as damp insulation or musty crawlspace air well before anyone notices a wet spot inside.
Why call Sheltons Construction
We're licensed to work as a plumbing contractor in Oregon and we work this side of the river — Portland and the metro, not a Vancouver crew driving over for the day. We'd rather find the actual failure and fix the pipe than chase the same leak twice, and we'll tell you plainly if what you're dealing with is a spot repair or a sign the whole line needs to come out. If the leak turns out to be tied to an aging water heater, we handle water heater repair and installation and tankless water heaters too, so it doesn't turn into a second call.
What to do now
If water is actively running and you don't know where it's coming from, shut off the main and call. If it's a slow leak, a high water bill, or a damp spot you can't explain, contact us and describe what you're seeing — we'll tell you whether it sounds like detection work, a straight repair, or something on the drain and sewer side that needs a sewer camera inspection. Check our FAQ for more on how we handle access and repairs, or get in touch to set up a visit.
We work leak detection and pipe repair across Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, Tigard, Tualatin, and Lake Oswego.