Customer Referrals

Tia N., Lake Oswego, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: I used American Leak Detection - Oregon to determine the cause of a leak.

Member Comments: They were fine. They did what they were supposed to do. They came in and tried to determine the cause of the leak, eliminate other reasons and narrow it down to a specific reason. The guy who came out to do the leak detection testing suggested that he could easily prove to me about where the leak was coming from under the garage. He suggested that he could drill a hole into the back of the wall behind the house. Then his drill broke and he left it at that with a little hold in the wall. It was not anything detrimental. They recommended me to a foundation expert. They gave me a thorough report on the leak detection testing and what their conclusion was. They gave me the name of a company that i ended up calling. That company came out and did something to address the leak issue. I would definitely recommend them for people who were about to spend a lot of money to resolve a leak issue.

Dear Matthew,

We cannot thank you and your great crew enough for the work you have done.  We were very impressed with not only the level of skill and professionalism that you each demonstrated but your never-ending kindness and care you each expressed.

Our girls are enjoying their new pool and they too are thankful for all of your hard work.  We would be pleased to offer our recommendation to anyone who may request one. 

T. Slominski, Milwaukie, OR

What some of our customers are saying:

Service worth every penny. Dan was great.  I appreciate his determination.  G. Castillo, Salem

Excellent…Above & beyond my expectations.  Technician was very helpful!  B. Decker, Springfield

Exceptional, courteous service!  Very prompt response – problem taken care of the same day I called for appt.  L. Werner, Gresham

Outstanding!  Excellent detection in a difficult situation.  P. Robinson, Lake Oswego

Excellent Service!  Eric was “right on” where the leak was located.  Thanks!  R. Strutz, Yacolt, WA

Great Service!  Both in the office & the tech on site.  J. Boetz, Canby

John, the Leak Specialist was as good as it gets!  Very knowledgeable and explained everything.  Thanks!  McClellan Homes, Sherwood

Chris J., Happy Valley, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: In ground water leak detection.

Member Comments: Prompt and very professional. If I had to I would call again.

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Paul A., Beaverton, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: Finding a water leak in our main water service line to the house. Excavating and exposing the leaking pipe.

Member Comments: I discovered we had a leak in the main water service line from the meter at the curb to the house from a large water bill. Tony came the next day after scheduling. He used electronic cable tracing of the main, sensitive microphones, and nitrogen gas injection to locate the leak to within a foot or two. Fortunately, the leak was not under the driveway but under a rose garden. He then dug down four feet to expose and confirm that the leak was in fact there. I was then able to schedule a plumber to do the repair. The service is not cheap but it includes the use of a variety of instruments and their skillful application. The plumbing bill was modest because they knew exactly where the leak was (it was already partly excavated at that point). All in all a good experience and worth the money. Was able to get $190 credit from the city water department upon repair.

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Steve S, PORTLAND, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: ALD checked the meter to determine if there were any leaks and had to pump out the meter vault and the sprinkler vault. John (ALD) detected a leak on the city side. And notified the city of their leak and marked it with a blue flag. Also checked the toilets for possible leaks which he found in two of the three. Made adjustments. Wrote report and explained it to me. Good Job, John!!!

Member Comments: We were notified by the city that they believed we had a leak on our side of the meter as our water/sewer bill was very high. I called ALD and made an appointment for the following Monday at 1:00pm. I was told that if they were running late that they would call. John, the ALD representative/worker, arrived 10 minutes early (which was great by me). John, immediately proceeded to work. I had told him that the city felt the problem was by the meter. After a short period of time John came to the door and asked if he could check the toilets for leaks. I invited him in and he took off his wet boots and jacket ( we were in the middle of a major rain storm). John discovered we had some leaks in two of the three toilets and made some adjustments (thank you John). John thoroughly explained the situation (TG the city had a leak on their side of the meter) and called the city which came out that afternoon to fix. I received a written report.
I am please with the ALD and especially John. I would definitely recommend ALD and would use them again but hopefully I won't have too (no offence ALD).

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Travis F, GASTON, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: Located a 1/2 gallon per minute leak in a 400 foot long, 3-inch underground water main.

Member Comments: During the original construction of my house (six years ago), the underground water main had frozen and leaked 35,000 gallons of water, turning the entire area into a small lake. Consequently, the repairs had to be done at below freezing temperatures in standing water. So it is not surprising that the PVC cement did not get applied correctly. Six years later (recently), one of the repaired fittings finally started leaking at the joint.
The leak was averaging about 1/2 gallon per minute. This is roughly equivalent to a single bathroom faucet turned almost all the way on. That adds up fast...the monthly water bill with >20,000 gallons of usage was rather expensive. But since the leak was right next to the foundation of the house, with lots of underground gravel in the area, the drainage was good enough to hide all of this water below the surface, making it very hard to locate the leak.
I have a 400 foot long water main, which passes under a concrete sidewalk for about 20 feet, and later under my driveway concrete for another 20 feet. It is in the same trench as all my other utilities (power, cable, phone). So needless to say, not knowing where the leak was, or how we would safely dig it up for repair, was enough to keep me worried like crazy about the total time/cost that could be required.
After calling several plumbers and asking for advice, it became clear that I really needed to hire a leak detection service first. American Leak Detection was recommended both by one of the plumbers I talked to, and by other Angie's List reviews. So I decided to give them a call.
Eric was able to come out very same day, which was impressive and very nice given my predicament. He spent almost 3 hours using ultrasound, nitrogen, and helium, but unfortunately still marked the wrong location. It turns out he was only hearing an echo of the leak as it bounced off the side of a 45-degree elbow fitting about 25 feet away from the leak location. Having the wrong location after spending so much time and money was very frustrating, especially since I did all my digging by hand, only to find dry soil surrounding the pipe.
Fortunately American Leak Detection has a guarantee which made the second visit free. Before the second visit, I used a thin metal rod (5 feet long), to test the soil along the pipe. I identified a suspiciously soft spot near the house, and partially dug it up. I only exposed the top of the pipe, thinking that would be enough to make it obvious. Little did I know, I was only inches away from the leak, which was on the very bottom of the pipe fitting. During the second visit, the pressurized nitrogen/helium eventually blasted up through the soil near the leak, and the hissing sound through the leak was then very obvious. We dug the pipe up further to fully expose the leak, and turned the water back on, and finally confirmed the leak by watching the water pouring out. It was a huge relief to finally confirm the location, especially since it was not underneath my sidewalk or driveway.
Eric was professional, courteous, and hard working. He used appropriate care to keep the inside of my house clean, and was even friendly with my very curious toddlers tagging along. He came prepared with the tools to get the job done, and did as good as could be expected... leak detection requires a bit of "magic" and cannot be expected to be perfect every time, especially in more difficult situations like mine. This is why their guarantee is so very important...without that, I think no leak detection service would be worth the money and time. But with it, I feel that I definitely got my money's worth for the amount of work done and materials used (helium is getting more and more expensive!).
In hindsight, I might have been able to avoid this cost entirely (next time I'll try the metal-rod method and more digging first), but overall I am still happy with the service provided, even despite it requiring two visits.
If only one visit had been required, I probably would have scored with straight A's. But the extra delays due to the second visit caused me considerable additional trouble/stress, so in order to remain honest I had to bump a few categories down to B's.

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Phyllis M, TILLAMOOK, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: They will come down and they find hidden leaks in your lawn and fix them.

Member Comments: I like everything. I have no complaints at all.

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ANESTIS P., PORTLAND, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: They found a water leak.

Member Comments: They have done fine work. I then called another plumber to fix the leak.

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Tamairah and Erich B., PORTLAND, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: They checked for leaks in our pool. We have a very unusual pool. They checked twice; the first time was about 4 years ago, the most recent was about 4 months ago.

Member Comments: The work turned out pretty well. They brought a technician in with a diving suit to go into the pool to find the leaks. Their price was reasonable. The patch they put on four years ago is still holding. We’ve had troubles with other companies in the past since our pool is so unusual, but American Leak did a good job.

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LEAH W., OREGON CITY, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: They did a good job. They are expensive, but they did a good job. They do not do the repairs, but they did definitely find the leak for us.

Member Comments: It was not easy to find, but they did very a really thorough job. They are professional, courteous, and they kept at the job till they found the leak. They have several types of detection processes and when the normal type detection processes did not work they ended dup pumping helium gas through my water line. They had a device that could detect helium coming through the ground, which is how they found the leak.

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Mary M., Springfield, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: Had massive leak somewhere in system. First plumber said it might be main water line coming into house and about $3,000 to fix. Called American Leak Detection and they found the leak pronto. Was leaking from secondary line hooked up to main line. They recommended someone to call, and even told me what to tell them on how to fix this massive leak. Needed to cap off secondary line only, as this line was going to unused hookup way out in backyard. I would highly recommend them as they saved me thousands of dollars, found and diagnosed the problem very quickly. Extremely professional and friendly, willing to take the time to find the problem and go the extra mile. Well worth the price.

Member Comments: EXCELLENT from start to finish.

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Bryan W., Medford, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: Find a water leak that was running upwards of 30,000 gallons per month.

Member Comments: American Leak Detection (ALD) came to my home to find a water leak that was running upwards of 30,000 gallons per month. The serviceman arrived promptly and was courteous. He took time to explain the technologies that were utilized (I tend to be curious about those things). The leak was found and a marker was placed at the site of the leak for the plumber. The fee is fixed, which means that those like myself with quick, easy-to-find leaks will find it pricey while others with more complicated leak situations may find it a relative bargain. ALD is the only leak-detection service in the region, so unfortunately there is not much choice. Nevertheless, I would not hesitate to use them again should another leak come my way.

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Susan L., GRESHAM, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: We called yesterday and they scheduled an appointment for the following day at 9am. The tech. arrived 10 minutes early. He discussed with us the issue we were having and began work promptly. We were losing app. 1 1/2" to 2" of water out of our in-ground pool per day. He performed testing on several things and quickly found the problem. A broken pipe under the stairs. We just finished with a remodel of our pool and apparently a pipe was broken when the new stairs were installed.

Member Comments: The experience went wonderful, we would definitely hire them again. I was worried after hearing how much the hourly charge was but in the end there was no need to worry with this company. The tech. was very efficient with his time

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Peter B., PORTLAND, OR

Review Source: AngiesList.com

Description of Work: The company came to determine why my pool was loosing so much water. The website gives good examples of test you can perform yourself and when you call the company they make sure you have performed the tests and they want to know the results to help them determine the problem.

The service person came and asked about the test we have done and then asked me lots of questions to determine the best way to approach the problem. Based on what I said he did a pressure test on our return pipes and when that did not return a significant result he dove in to check all around the pool.

He found holes behind the ladder and showed me what he found. He also went around and checked all the patches in our pool for leaks. He determined the problem was behind our ladder. He fixed the problem and our pool has lost no water since.

Member Comments: The experience was great from talking to the person on the phone to setting up the appointment. the service person called and and said he could be there earlier than we scheduled. He was on time, very professional from start to finish

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