How to tell if a repaired pipe is still leaking
Lingering moisture makes it difficult to distinguish a failed repair from normal wall condensation or slow-drying ground. Even if pouring test water down the line shows no immediate leak, the pipe may still drip and the surrounding area can stay damp instead of swampy. This confusion stops people from knowing how long they should wait before calling the plumber back.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Turning off the water at the house and checking the water meter dial for movement
- 2Calling the water company to come out and check the meter
- 3Waiting another week or two for saturated soil to release moisture
- 4Pour a large volume of water down the pipe to test for active leaks
- 5Dry the pipe completely, then run the system and observe if water beads evenly (sweat) or drips from a joint (leak)
- 6Wrap the line with foam pipe insulation before closing the wall to prevent sweating
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“How long should I wait before getting concerned that the fix didn't take. The area isn't swampy like it was before, but it doesn't seem to be drying either.”source ↗
“Pipe feels very wet and is having some water drop off as you can see in the picture.”source ↗
“Is this just condensation from opening up the wall and now colder air meets the warm?”source ↗
“I poured a gallon of water down the drain line and didn’t see a leak”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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