AMERICAN LEAK DETECTION - SAN DIEGO (PLUMBING)

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The service did not go very well. The used a camera to look through the sewer and there was no way to tell where the leak was coming from without water flowing filling the pipe. I ended up blowing up a balloon to block the pipe to fill it up with water.  I felt the technician was asking me for my opinion on the issue when he should have been diagnosing it. We were semi - successful but found no leak.

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After returning one month later, the tech proceeded to break three of the jets in my spa. He promised to get the replacement parts and return. The next three months consisted of me calling the tech, and getting excuse after excuse as to why he couldn't find the parts. I finally had my pool guy fix the jets, which took one week. At the be of the day, I wasted nearly six months with this company, and came out of pocket several hundred dollars to fix their mistake. Even tried another branch, and was totally blown off. STAY away from this company!

We'd had a mysterious stream of water running down our driveway for months and asked all sorts of people what they thought the source might be. We'd ruled out the pool, replaced all the irrigation, installed drainage … Finally I called American Leak Detection, explained my problem to two different people, one of which I didn't think understood what I was talking about. After struggling to explain my situation to the guy making the appointment, I saved my details for the technician, thinking it would be easier to go through in person. I explained to the technician that all the irrigation was brand new and our water bill was normal, and that my neighbor had theorized it was the water draining from the washing machine. The technician quickly dismissed the washing machine idea and proceeded with a plumbing leak inspection. I'm sure the technician did a great job with that. And I trusted him when he told me that our plumbing had no leaks. Thinking we'd eliminated all causes but one, we went ahead with a final outdoor drainage solution and when we did that, it immediately became clear that that wasn't the problem either. Having the whole area dug up and dried out, it filled back up as soon as I ran the washing machine. I called American Leak Detection and explained my dissatisfaction with the inspection. At that time, Felix explained to me that they would have to do a drain inspection (rather than a plumbing inspection), and that would cost another $225. I asked him why no one had explained to me that there were different types of inspections available. Now that I'd been through all this I understand the difference, but at the time I thought drains were part of plumbing. I only knew there was water in my driveway, I didn't know why. And I certainly didn't expect to have to tell the experts what sort of inspection to do. When I told Felix and quot;I'm not an plumber, I didn't know how all of this works,and quot; he replied, and quot;Well I'm not a plumber either but I just used common sense.and quot; Thanks Felix. I will never use American Leak Detection again.

Our pool company recommended American Leak Detection. We made an appointment with them for 10am - noon, then called at 1:30pm when they still hadn't shown up or called to update us. The office person I spoke to was very dismissive. She was not surprised that he (Alfredo) did not show up, in fact, she said she heard from him earlier that he was still at his first call. I choked back the inclination to ask why they didn't call us to let us know. She said they could come a few days later, but we're going to be out of town, so I asked if they could come the next day. I was attempting to explain that bucket tests indicated we were losing possibly as much as 50 gallons per hour, and she interrupted me to tell me it wasn't a problem (apparently she meant for her, not for me or the drought), and that their summer customers had to wait up to 2 weeks for an appointment. I have to wonder if they honored those any better than the one they made with me. I sincerely hope we can find a company with more professionalism and maybe just a little more empathy for the problem, as well. I understand its hard to schedule people - but dismissing appointments without even a trace of apology for making me wait here all day is unacceptable!

He seemed to not understand what I was asking. I finally got him to tell me the charge. It took repeated asking because I wanted to know if he needed to come back would it cost me that extra charge. I wasn't happy with that. He may do a great job. It was like pulling teeth to get the information.

From the time American Leak Detection got on the case, I absolutely felt like I was in very good hands. They seem to be quite expert at what they do, and the quality of the work, and the care with which it was done were both impressive. I would not hesitate to call these guys again next time.

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Second time we had had a leak in this area, but it was in a slightly different spot this time. Tech quickly located the pinhole leak. At first it looked like he might have to either take out some of the cabinetry to get to the leak, or get at it from outside by opening up the wall from the outside. But he made a special effort and was able to get to the leak from inside, with only cutting an internal section of wood in the cabinetry not visible. I called on a Thursday or Friday, but the first available time was Tuesday as I was clear that this was NOT an emergency situation (we have used American Leak Detection in the past for an urgent situation and they came within two hours). American Leak Detection is our go to provider for leak detection (and in all cases, we have had them to the repair on the spot also).

Let me preface my comments by saying that I have used American Leak Detection in the past for regular plumbing leaks and this is what they are good at. They are not a pool company.

I noticed that the 30+ year old pool was leaking water after having a leaking pool fill valve replaced. The equipment was so old it was also leaking water above ground. I called American Leak Detection which is the only company listed here on Angie's list as explicitly being able to provide pool leak detection in the area with any recent reviews. I spoke to Felix.

Was told by Felix that the pool had to be clean, the equipment functioning properly and the water level at normal levels for them to check for leaks. The leak was so persistent that it had leaked to below the skimmer opening before I added water again. I told him this.

The equipment was leaking so much I could not get a good vacuum seal to be able to clean the pool well enough for the technician to dive in. Marco was the technician. I told him that the water had leaked two inches below the skimmer opening when he arrived. On 3/5/2014 He tested the spa jets, the pool return, the inlet line going back from the skimmer to the equipment and said that the lines were not leaking but that the skimmer was separating from the pool wall and leaking there. He said that although it could be fixed with epoxy, he wanted to dig up the entire section of the pool around the skimmer and replace the skimmer throat. He quoted me a price of $1770-$1870.

I also said I was going to get all the equipment replaced and a new gas line run in for the heater. He said he could do that and would go get an estimate but never got back to me. I called American Leak Detection again and spoke to Felix, letting him know that I was going to go a different direction for now and would call them again when I had everything broken above ground fixed.

In the interim, I hired another company who is the highest rated pool service company in the area on Angie's list and had all equipment replaced, new gas line run in, etc. The replacement equipment includes a state of the art pump. They did a fabulous job. I had the water return set to 50% spa, 50% pool. I noticed that when I set the return to 100% spa, the water level did not drop but if set to pool, it was losing about 1/4 inch -1/2inch or more per day. I ran the system for a week with no water loss with inlet set to pool skimmer and return set to 100% spa jets. I called American Leak Detection again and spoke to Felix. I told him that I was still chasing a pool leak and could they continue their investigation. I told him he could send a different technician and was told that Marco is the only one. Marco came back on Friday 4/4/2014. He retested all lines, could not find any leaks. He went into the pool and said he could not test the light fixure without breaking it. He said that the bottom drain should have a spring loaded check valve but it wasnt working. He recommended to replace it but did not say it was leaking. He mentioned the skimmer again, saying that the epoxy job was not smooth. I said as long it is not leaking I don't care if it is smooth or not.

When he left, the pump was on for its afternoon 3-5PM daily timer setting. I added some water to bring it to the tile line. The next morning I checked at 8AM, the pool and the spa had lost two inches of water. I contacted Marco. He said he would find out when he can come back. I shut off the equipment so it would not run over the weekend. So far, the pool has lost 6 inches of water. Whatever he did made the problem worse, because now it loses water no matter what. It is Monday, I have not heard from anyone at American Leak Detection.

Will provide an update when I see how this plays out.

Update 4/14/2014:
Because I was continuing to lose so much water so fast last week, I could not wait for any return visit by American Leak Detection. I hired a real pool contractor to make the repairs. The problem with the last visit by Marco is that he triggered the massive leak while trying to test the check valve in the bottom drain. He was down at the bottom of the pool a very short time holding his breath. Without either emptying the pool or using a scuba tank it is not likely he could have changed the check valve anyway. The spring on a check valve is on the top of the valve. The fact that there wasn't one meant that it had corroded away. Opening and closing the valve with all the debris down there made the problem worse.

I am neither impressed with nor satisfied with what was said and done by American Leak Detection in this case. Follow up was very untimely, the problem was clearly beyond the tech's knowledge. While there are certainly cases where a skimmer replacement might be called for, the mere fact that the original leaking problem had leaked well below the skimmer opening on day one but they want to focus on it feels like a bait/switch that would NOT have solved my problem which is why I did not let them do it after the first visit. Since the paper work clearly states that their service is guaranteed, I feel I should get a refund.

Final update 4/15/2014:

My leaks were all found and fixed by another company. The valve in the bottom main pool drain was a metal hydrostatic valve, not a check valve and was actually partially plastered over after it was originally installed. The main leak source prior to the hydrostatic valve leaking non-stop was a broken line between the main drain and the skimmer. This is most likely the source of the original leak. The spa drain also had some small leakage around the drain throat. All leaks have been repaired by my new contractor. The pool was drained, the light fixture was checked and reseated no problem, the hydrostatic valve was very difficult to remove (30+years stuck in place), the useless but leaking line between the main drain and the skimmer was capped off, everything is working and nothing is leaking now.

they were courteous, punctual and efficient.

Work still in progress, no leak found yet.

Great job by the company. Completed everything in a timely manner. Save money in the process, with outstanding service.

The person (whose name escapes me) came out and checked the spa for leaks using a pressure test system. He was certain there was no leak, that it was due to evaporation, He also pointed out some crevices in the overflow pool wall where water could be escaping. He acoustically checked the sprinkler valves and determined that one was not shutting off, leaving water running to a couple of heads that were indeed seeping water. The charge was for the minimum and it was exactly what I was told before they came out.
The serviceman was very helpful and gave me some tips regarding the sprinker system and spa water issues.

American Leak Detection was professional, was well timed and fair priced. I just haven't had the work done. I told him, he would do well with researching what people were saying about him. I called him on New Years Eve and he came over on the 2nd of January.

o questuiVery professional operators. Right in time, explaining all they will have to do, doing the work as programmed and very receptive to questions and explanations as to what they had to do. Had an initial estimate from another company for $ 16,000 dollars!!!
Of course, we ende up asking our insurance company that ebde up paying about $ 14,000 dollars to repair damage to wood flooring in master bedroom and redoing all the tile work in the bathroom.
Both companies, in the reconstruction we used GenerationContracting that also did a great job in doing what had to be done to repair all the damage from the plumbing problem.
In all, a big job costing altogether d about $ 15,000 dollars.
No question will use again these companies (Hope I don't have to) but the best experience of all: dealing with my insurance company USAA that is just plain outstanding.
An important do: always get a second opinion in expensive repairs like these.

Nate found the leak and we now have it repaired.

I would use them again in the future.

Our pool had a leak that we suspected was in a return line because of a wet spot. Kenan responded promptly to my phone calls and came out exactly when he said he would. He identified the leak location and provided helpful advice on other aspects of the pool. He provided an estimate for repair verbally followed up by a written estimate by email, which we accepted. The leak location was $225. The repair was $850. The repair was scheduled for the following Tuesday but they did not show; I contacted them by phone and they re-scheduled for the next day.

Alfredo did the repair, digging up the concrete and repairing the broken line. He tested to assure there were no other leaks. In addition, he sealed the skimmer throat with epoxy at no extra charge. His work was accurate and neat. He explained what he was doing at each step of the way, was very courteous, and cleaned up completely afterwards.

We are very satisfied by the service provided by this company's employees. Kenan and Alfredo were excellent and highly professional.

Many people tried to find this leak over the last few years so when I called to make the appointment I asked what happens if the leak is not found and I was assured they would exhaust all avenues until they found it. Well they did not find it and after two appointments and a recommendation to have someone dig up an area they could not piin point the problem. Turns out the leak was on the opposite side of the house not even close to where they told me to have someone start digging.

I am very pleasantly surprised. Brian came when he said he would and tried one fix which didn't work so he tried another fix which worked perfectly. I am pleased that they stand behind their warranties and were quick to fix our problem. I would definitely call them back in the future and recommend American Leak Detection to others.

We called because we noticed water pooling outside our kitchen window. Matt came within a day and performed a Doppler function to accurately pinpoint the leak. After we found the leak, Matt worked with our insurance company and also gave us an estimate to repair the plumbing. We ultimately went with a different company (because we chose to epoxy coat the pipes and American didn't offer this service) but had we chosen another repair option, we would have used American because they were very helpful, friendly and responsive. Even when they knew we were going to go a different way with repairs, they were still helpful and friendly.

IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT THEY TOLD ME HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO FIX THE LEAK. I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE SERVICE.