During the summer and early fall, Los Angeles, as well as California in general, receives higher than normal levels of humidity. This, combined with the intense heat that can linger well through September (especially these days), can lead a little bit of water to do a lot of damage. What’s more, the geologically active terrain of California, along with the ground subsidence that results from aquifer and reservoir depletion, means that foundations and the pipes, wires, and lines that they house are constantly shifting. Leaks in LA are all too common. But the damage that results from them need not be. As California shuts its eye on summer this September, every homeowner will do well to look into the ins and outs of leak detection in Los Angeles.
How It Works
Now, the notion of leak detection may seem a bit redundant at first: after all, once you see the evidence of a leak, it’s already been detected, so to speak. But electronic leak detection has the tremendous benefit of detecting not only the precise source location of a leak already run rampant, but also the beginnings of a leak that has yet to cause serious, if any, damage. Accordingly, we say that electronic leak detection is both a preventative, or preemptive, measure, as well as a reactive, or corrective, one. If you were to use an electronic leak detection service in Los Angeles, this is essentially how it would work:
• The water in your pipes makes a sound as it courses through your home; if there is a leak somewhere along the line, then this, too, will produce a sound—though one distinct from regular flow.
• Since the water pressure drops once a leak has developed, the acoustics produced by the water will be noticeably different, and the source of the aberrant acoustic can be pinpointed.
Say, however, that the leak in your home is not the result of a burst pipe. Perhaps your roof was recently compromised by a storm or a new window in your home was poorly installed. In the latter instance, water will tend to pool in and percolate through the blocking around the window where it can seep into the walls. Here, too, an electronic leak detection specialist in Los Angeles can be of service, even if the person who installed your window clearly wasn’t.
Not the End of the World
In the Californian climate in particular, in-home leaks are a positive feedback loop; this means that the more leaking there is, the more will develop. This is on account of leaks causing mold, rot, and otherwise softening the key structural components in your home. Once the integrity of components, such as drywall, window casings, and pipes is compromised, it becomes all the more likely that the component will leak. And so on. Here in LA, we are not alarmists, even though we are used to dealing with what the rest of the country at times refuses to recognize as a crisis. Likewise, of course, a domestic leak isn’t the end of the world: it can, however, be the end of your vacation plans, the end of certain heirlooms, and the end of peace of mind. Use leak detection in Los Angeles to prevent this from being the case for you and your home.