Leak Detection in Los Angeles, CA

Dick Minium Construction provides leak detection in Los Angeles, CA for architecturally significant homes on the Westside, finding the real source of water intrusion and fixing it once. The work covers the full chain: locating the leak, stopping it, repairing the dry rot, and restoring the finishes the water damaged. One contractor, one call, and the house is dry when the work is done.

What Our Leak Detection Covers

Hillside houses, glass houses, and custom construction leak in ways standard methods miss. Our leak detection and elimination work covers:

• Water leakage from ceilings and walls. The stain is rarely under the leak. Water travels along framing, flashing, and conduit before it shows. We trace the path back to the actual entry point before anyone opens a wall.
• Slab leak detection. Supply and drain lines under a slab fail quietly. We locate the break without tearing up more floor than the repair requires, then protect or match the finish above it.
• Window leak repair and window restoration. Custom glazing, steel frames, and large glass walls depend on correct flashing and seals. We find where the assembly fails, repair it, and restore the window rather than replace what the architect specified.
• Underground and exterior water leaks. Finding a water leak underground means tracing irrigation, supply, and drainage lines through hardscape and planting. We locate the break with minimal disturbance to the landscape and rebuild what we open.
• Roof, deck, and waterproofing failures. Flat roofs, planted decks, and parapet details common to modern Westside architecture need careful diagnosis. We test assemblies in sequence until the source is confirmed, not guessed.
• Dry rot repair. Water that ran for months leaves damaged framing behind. We open the affected area, replace the rot, and rebuild to the drawings so the structure and the finish are both correct.

How the Work Runs

1. Walk the house and read the water

We start at the evidence: the stain, the warped floor, the musty cabinet. Then we trace backward. Water follows gravity and the path of least resistance, and in a custom house that path runs through details a production builder never sees. We map where water could enter and where it could travel.

2. Isolate and confirm the source

We test one assembly at a time, controlled water testing on windows and roof details, pressure testing on supply lines, acoustic leak detection where a pipe runs under slab or behind finished walls. The goal is a confirmed source, not a probable one. Opening the wrong wall in a fine home is expensive and avoidable.

3. Eliminate the leak

With the source confirmed, we repair it: reflash the window, rebuild the roof detail, reroute or repair the line under the slab. We handle the plumbing and electrical work this requires in-house, and we build the repair to the architect's intent, not around it.

4. Repair the damage and restore the finishes

Leak detection ends when the house looks right again. We replace dry rot, restore windows, patch and refinish plaster, and match the materials the water damaged. Because we are a general contractor, the water leakage repair and the finish restoration are one scope under one roof.

What Shapes the Investment

The scope of leak detection in Los Angeles, CA depends on a few concrete factors:

• How far the water traveled. A fresh window leak caught early is a contained repair. A slab leak that ran for a season may involve flooring, cabinetry, and framing.
• Access. Hillside foundations, finished ceilings, and lines under stone or hardscape take more care to open and more care to close.
• The assembly involved. A single pipe fitting is a different scope than a failed waterproofing membrane under a planted deck.
• The finishes at stake. Matching custom plaster, rare stone, or restored steel windows requires the right trades and the right materials.
• Dry rot and structural repair. What the water damaged behind the wall often defines the scope more than the leak itself.

Every house is specific, so every number should be too. Call 310.392.6622 and we will look at the problem and give you a concrete scope and quote.

Why Owners and Architects Call Us

Dick Minium Construction is a Westside Los Angeles general contractor for architecturally significant homes and the art inside them. For more than thirty years the firm has worked with owners, their architects, and collectors on homes where the detailing matters and the repair has to disappear into the original work.

Leak detection sits inside that practice. The same workshop that builds renovations, residential additions, and custom kitchens and baths to the architect's drawings also finds the water, stops it, and rebuilds what it touched. The firm serves Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, and West Hollywood along with Los Angeles itself.

The job gets explained plainly: what we found, what we tested, what failed, what the repair involves, and what it will cost. One call covers diagnosis through finish restoration, so you are not coordinating a water leak detection company, a plumber, a framer, and a painter on your own.

Leak Detection Questions, Answered

How do you find a water leak without opening walls?

We confirm the source before we open anything, using controlled water testing, supply-line pressure testing, and acoustic leak detection for pipes behind finished surfaces. Water rarely shows up where it enters, so we trace the path first. Demolition happens only where the repair requires it.

What are the signs of a slab leak?

Warm spots on the floor, the sound of running water with every fixture off, a water meter that moves overnight, and lifting or cupping in wood flooring. In hillside houses, water can also migrate along the slab edge and show up at a wall base rooms away. Any of these is worth a confirmed diagnosis before the damage spreads.

Why is water leaking from my ceiling when it has not rained?

Water leakage from a ceiling in dry weather usually points to a supply line, a drain, a shower pan, or an appliance above, not the roof. The stain location tells you where the water exits, not where it starts. We trace the line back to the actual failure before repairing the ceiling.

Do you repair the damage, or only find the leak?

Both, as one scope. Leak detection and elimination here includes the plumbing or flashing repair, dry rot replacement, window restoration, and the plaster, paint, and finish work needed to make the room right again. The job ends when the house looks the way the architect intended.

Can you fix leaks in steel or custom windows without replacing them?

Often, yes. Many window leaks come from failed flashing, glazing seals, or sill details rather than the frame itself. We repair the assembly and restore the window so the original work stays in place.

How urgent is a small leak?

A small leak deserves attention now, because water that runs quietly feeds dry rot, swells framing, and damages finishes long before it looks serious. The scope of the eventual repair tracks how long the water ran. Early diagnosis keeps the work contained.

Get Started

If you see a stain, hear water, or watch the meter move with everything off, call 310.392.6622. We will trace the leak to its source, explain what we found and what the repair involves, and give you a concrete quote. Water does not wait, and the repair is smaller the sooner the source is found.

Prefer to talk it through? Call (310) 392-6622 — a quick call is usually the fastest way to get a straight answer for your situation.