Water behind a wall or under a floor after a storm or a plumbing failure, traced with meters before any drying is planned.
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Hidden leak detection finds water that is moving inside a wall, under a floor or above a ceiling, using moisture readings and a check of the building's lines. Water behind a wall after a storm can keep spreading for days before a stain appears. Kenner Water Damage Restoration runs these checks in Kenner and across Jefferson Parish at any hour, before the drying plan is set.
Water that is hidden inside a building does not stay where it entered. It runs down the inside of a wall, along a joist, under a subfloor and into the cavity behind a cabinet, and it can keep moving for a long time after the surface looks dry. A stain is the last sign of water, not the first, and by the time it shows, the wet area may be several times larger than the mark on the paint.
In Kenner, where rain can come from the ground as well as the sky, a homeowner may find damp walls or a soft floor after a storm without any obvious leak. A leak check comes before the drying plan, because drying the wrong area wastes time and leaves the source running. Call (833) 490-5225 and say where the damp is, whether it is getting larger and whether the water is still running anywhere in the house.
Do not open a wall, a ceiling or a floor to look for water without the crew, especially near electrical wiring. Do not touch wires or outlets in a damp wall. If the damp is near an outlet or a panel, leave that area alone and tell the phone team. Turn off the water main if the meter is moving and you cannot find the source.
A supply line inside a wall can leak slowly for a long time. The water runs down the cavity and wets the wall base and the floor below. The crew reads the wall from the outside, then opens a small area to find the line and close it off from the source.
A drain or a line under the floor can release water into the subfloor and the joist space. The damp is found in the floor and the wall base rather than on the ceiling. The crew reads the floor from above and, where the joist space can be reached safely, from below.
Storm water can enter at the foundation or the wall base and then move inside the wall, away from the entry point. The crew reads the outside grade and the wall base as well as the plumbing, because the source may be outside the house.
A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you approve the estimate before any work starts.
Water moves down a wall cavity by gravity and sideways along the framing and insulation. It can wet the drywall from behind without reaching the surface, and it can stay in the cavity for a long time. The paint shows the damage only once the moisture has reached the face of the wall.
Drywall takes up water from behind and holds it in the gypsum core. The paper facing can look dry while the core is wet. A stain appears only where the water breaks through to the paint, which is usually below the highest point the water reached.
Insulation in a cavity can soak up water and release it slowly, and the framing can hold moisture in the wood. The crew reads the cavity at several heights, because water can move upward through wicking and then drop back down.
No. Thermal imaging can show where a surface is cooler, which can suggest moisture, but it cannot confirm a leak alone. The crew uses imaging to narrow the area and then confirms each spot with a moisture meter. The leak itself is found by opening a small area, not by the image.
A thermal image shows surface temperature, and several things can change that temperature without a leak. A meter shows moisture content in the material, which is the measure the drying depends on. Using both together reduces the number of openings the crew has to make.
The homeowner can ask to see the imaging and the meter readings side by side. Each finding should have a reading behind it, and the crew explains what each reading means.
A wall is opened when the readings are high and stay high, when the source has not been found by other means, or when the water meter shows that water is still moving in the building. The opening is kept as small as possible, and it is explained before it is made.
Opening a wall without readings can cause unnecessary damage and can leave the source untouched. The crew starts with the least invasive checks and opens only when the readings give a reason. The first opening is often small, a hand-sized hole in a low part of the wall.
Once the leak is found, the crew shows the homeowner the pipe, the fitting or the joint, and records the location on the sketch. The plumber can then repair it without searching the wall.
The first step is to check that the source is closed. The homeowner closes the main supply if the water meter is still turning with every fixture off. The crew then starts the detection from a known state, so that a reading is not confused with water that is still coming in.
Moisture meters are used across the walls, the floor and the ceiling in the area of concern. The readings are marked on a sketch of the room, and the highest readings show where the water is most concentrated. Readings taken at several heights show how the water is moving.
Thermal imaging can show cooler areas where moisture is holding heat differently from dry material. It is used to narrow the area, not as proof on its own, and the crew confirms each area with a meter before it opens anything.
Where the readings and the imaging point to a cavity or a floor section, the crew opens the smallest area it needs to find the source. The opening is explained before it is made, and it is made to look at the pipe, the fitting or the joint that is leaking.
Once the source is identified and closed, the drying plan is set from the readings. The homeowner receives the sketch, the readings and the source found, so that the plumber or roofer can repair the source and the crew can dry the area it affected.
Hidden leaks in Kenner can come from the ground as well as from the plumbing. The town sits on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain beside the airport, and rain or floodwater can wet a wall base or a slab edge from outside. A detection check in Kenner therefore reads the outside grade and the wall base as well as the lines in the building.
After the September 2024 storm, when parish officials reported that three of four drainage pumps in Kenner stopped working, many houses had damp walls that did not clear. Damp that does not clear can come from flood water, from a line or from the ground outside, and the crew separates those sources before it decides the plan.
A leak check in Kenner is booked by the same line as any water call, and the phone team asks whether the meter is moving and where the damp is. That answer shapes the first visit and decides which meters and equipment the crew brings.
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A burst supply line in a Kenner home, stopped, extracted and dried from readings, at any hour.
A leaking water heater in a Kenner utility space, with the floor and the wall behind it read and dried.
A leaking washer, dishwasher or refrigerator line in a Kenner kitchen or laundry, dried from readings.
A ceiling stain or drip after storm rain in Kenner, traced to its source and dried before the ceiling is closed up.
A burst pipe releases a sudden, pressurized flow of water that leaves a clear source and a fresh wet area.
Before a water damage company starts work in Louisiana, ask who will do the work, what credentials apply to the job, how the readings will be taken, and what the written scope will include.
Often the crew can narrow the area with meters and imaging. Some leaks need a small opening to be found, and the crew explains why before it opens anything.
The crew finds and closes the source where it can. The repair of the pipe, the roof or the fitting is done by a trade the homeowner chooses, and the crew shares its findings with that trade.
The water meter, the pattern of the readings and the location of the damp give clues. The crew checks both the plumbing and the outside grade before it decides.
Not always. It is used where it helps narrow the area. The meter readings are the evidence the crew relies on.
A crew is sent as soon as one is free, and calls are answered at any hour. No arrival time is promised. If the meter is moving, close the main while you wait.
The scope and the price are explained after the walkthrough and confirmed in writing before the work begins. No price is quoted over the phone.