Can anyone recommend a plumber with a detector tool, to find a leak
 

The water portion of my amenity bill went up very high. I had meter reader out to check the meter. I was told the meter, showed water was running while l was outside talking with him. And it is showing usage. I told him nobody was in my house, so there is something wrong. He then said l have a leak. I checked inside my house and outside, no leak was found. Need recommendation please, for a plumber with a Detector to find a leak. I do not have grass, stones in front of my house. No trees. I need a good plumber, honest. not a rip off one. Thank you
Judy

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Close the water shut off valve inside your house. It may be inside a wall at the rear of your garage, or just outside the house. Then, if the meter is still running, the leak is located between the meter and your house. Otherwise, the leak is inside your house. If the leak is inside, close the toilet shut off valves and see if that stops the meter from running. Most leaks inside the house are caused by a leaking toilet. The red food coloring may work, but some toilet leaks are intermittent. If the leak is outside, check for wet areas in your yard.

Mike Scott Plumbing or any licensed plumber should be able to locate the leak.

Sleuth leak detection service 800 329 5325 not cheap but knows how to locate the leak

Good to know. But, for me, this would be a last resort. Any plumber worth his salt will find the leak in 5 minutes.

Actually let me tell you how we came to call Sleuth.

Had what we thought was a leak in our shower. Called Mike Scott who told me to call Sleuth so they would know exactly where to find the leak and not tear up more of our shower than necessary.

Turned out we did not exactly have a leak but learned that there was a little something I should be doing regarding our HVAC system. An expensive lesson was learned that day.

So guessing you want to withhold the “little something I should be doing regarding our HVAC system”

Did you not use vinegar down the pipe once a month on your system, or was it a something that everyone should need an expensive lesson learned, instead of sharing an easy fix

One of your toilets likely has a slow leak at the base of the flush valve. It may be an almost silent leak. Change out the yellow gasket, Kohler # GP1059291. Available at Ace Hardware in Wildwood for a few dollars. Consider swapping out this gasket on all your toilets at the same time, like changing smoke alarm batteries. Minimal skill required.

I had the same issue with a huge fresh water leak somewhere and a nice lady at our water service (CSU) told me about the likely leaky gasket. She was right on the money.

Hope this helps.

PS to my gasket reply. FYI Mike Scott Plumbing quoted $112.00 to fix my toilet leak. You can do it on your own.

Has you or your neighbor have any heavy equipment on the side of the houses. Could be the line between the meter and your house. That could be why your not seeing anything in your home. Let us know what you find

Myself being a retired master plumber would check all your toilets for water running into the bowl when not in use by pouring colored food dye into the tank when not in use and checking the bowl after a number of hours to see if the dye is in the bowl. For more info e-mail me at joelfmi@aol.com.

We were not putting vinegar down the pipe.

Actually Munns guy few weeks ago said not to put down vinegar but hot water is much better and will not damage the pipes.

Water leak detection
 

We used the Sleuth detection co. They found our leak behind the wall in our bathroom and under the slab below the stove- more than one.

Check your toilets. Jiggle the flush handle as water could be leaking through.
 

Check your toilets

This Kohler part is also available at Lowes in Wildwood for $7.88.