American Leak Detection

I noticed I was filling up my pool more than I usually did and also saw some moisture on the hillside below my pool which led me to suspect that something was wrong. My pool cleaner told me about American Leak Detection and Christian Macaulay. I went to their website where I read about performing a bucket test (
) which confirmed a leak.
My initial call with Alana was quick and painless. She explained all the various ways in which a pool can lose water and how they can test for it. In a few short days Christian himself showed up and meticulously checked for all possible places where a pool could leak. After about 2 hours he identified a leak in the main drain at the bottom of the pool. Apparently the plug in the main drain had shifted and was allowing water to slowly leak thorough which confirmed the wetness on the hillside below. Christian replaced the plug at no extra charge.
It has been over 6 months since Christian came out. I wanted to wait before writing this review to make sure he identified and fixed the problem. Given the significant reduction in my water bill, I can certainly say that he fixed the leak and that I am very happy with his service.

My experience with ALD was fantastic even from the first phone conversation with the office manager. I explained my situation to her and told her we had a very difficult outdoor leak to detect. I already had a plumber and a gardener come out and both were unsuccessful. I also had the water company come and to confirm there was a leak somewhere in our front area. SLD sent out Sean and I cannot say enough positive things about him. His investigation was very thorough and you could tell he had so much expertise and knowledge is finding leaks. He spent 2 hours and within that time, he found the leak… He was spot on! I was very worried because their was a chance that the leak was under our beautiful blue stoned patio. Luckily it wasn’t. He was 100% accurate in the location and where the pipe was coming from and going to. I cannot praise this company enough for their professional work. If you want to find a leak, do not look any further… call the San Rafael location of American Leak Detection. I have no connection with ALD… sometimes you find a company that does such good work, you want to make a recommendation… this is that company! I give them an A+

My experience was VERY positive. I was introduced to ALD via my insurance company.
San Rafael’s American Leak Detection’s staff was very professional and attentive to our predicament. Their investigation was very thorough, and their documentation (report) was detailed and yet easy to understand, even for a layman such as me. Sadly their report demonstrated that my leak (which ALD found, when another company couldn’t) ISN’T covered by my insurance company. I was in crisis. So, what did ALD do? ALD followed up with me and helped my find a simple, quick fix for my leak, came by to make sure it was done right, and then asked me to let them know, in time, if that fix worked, and if there was any other way they could help. One of the key things to good customer service is communication. This shop has that mastered, … messages get passed, calls get returned, appointments are confirmed, technicians show up on time, and follow-​up is conducted. (… by e-​mail and by phone, for me). TEAMWORK ! Thanks !

We called ALD on a Thursday, and they kindly sent someone to work on the leak Friday afternoon. The tech was well-​meaning and hard working, and correctly identified the location of the leak in a garden area, which was obvious. The problem was where the leaking line came off our house system. The tech suggested two possibilities, and began work on one that was not it. Then he was called to another job by the home office, leaving the situation worse, since he had capped a major part of the system. His second choice was wrong too, when it was checked by another contractor. Between the local technician and the home office, we wasted two days, living without water, and we still don’t know where the bad pipe comes off the house.

I had a horrible experience with these people. I have radiant heat and an obvious small leak in my living room floor. Although I was asked to and did prepay, the technician demanded payment again for services. He could not find the obvious leaks but then pressurized the system to a level way above what an old system can handle and that caused multiple leaks throughout my house. However he said he could not locate them because of a valve problem. In the process he also unplugged my freezer which is near the boiler and ruined all the contents. The manager of course denied everything. I would beware of these people.

Thank you for fixing my leak!!! They were in and out very fast and did an efficient job. Thank you Christian for being so professional and friendly. Would definitely recommend American Leak Detection to all!

I had an outstanding experience with this company in San Rafael.
I called a few times and I was given excellent advice over the phone from their dispatcher/​scheduler as well as from members of the team. They helped me narrow down my problem before ever charging me a dime to come out. Most companies I’ve dealt with don’t do this, and simply want to start their hourly clock.
Once we determined a visit was in order, they carefully outlined their fees, and worked with my schedule to quickly get somebody out. In fact, it happened to work out for the same day.
They showed up on time, and found my irrigation leak under cement in my backyard no time at all.
They also offered to repair the problem but I found their estimate to be a bit ridiculous. Granted, I’m not holding that against them, because who knows what could have been under the cement once they started digging.
Great company. Would definitely recommend for anyone trying to find where water is coming from.

I have just finished using the services of American Leak Detection of San Rafael, and I wholeheartedly give them the highest rating possible! Initially, they performed a leak detection on the pool at my rental home, far away from where I currently live. Paul walked my through the process, sending me a clearly stated contract outlining the responsibilities of both parties. The evaluation was promptly scheduled and performed by Mario Perez, and I received a written report with pictures marking the leak spot that afternoon!
Additionally, I was sent a proposal and contract for the leak repair, also clearly outlining all the details. After doing even more research, I again chose them to perform the leak repair. They did a REALLY great job! Arrived on time, quickly got to work, took pains to be careful with the pool coping, found the leak, took pictures before and after the leak repair, and patched the cement pool decking WAY better than I had hoped. They exceeded my expectations, and they were pleasant, courteous, responsive and clear about everything. Paul kept me posted as the repair was done, and I again had the pool repair report with photos by that afternoon. It does not get any better than this.
Before using their services, I checked with several pool companies, who also recommended them. I will use them again in a heartbeat! This was the most positive experience that I have had with any company in a long while. Two thumbs up to Paul and Mario!

Somewhat amusing to me to wax rhapsodically about American Leak Detection (ALD) located in San Rafael, CA. After all, when one has to call upon their service, it means there is a serious problem and there is nothing pleasurable about it. Be that as it may, ALD was very professional and thorough in locating the location of the leak. In fact, Christian went above and beyond the call of duty. He advised me of several relatively minor issues that were not related to the leak itself that needed attention. Although it is never a festive occasion to call upon ALD, Christian made it as pleasant as possible. He was courteous, spoke in layperson’s terms, and most of all, very knowledgeable. I hope I will not have to call upon ALD again anytime soon. But if I do need to, it is good to know that I can rely on ALD to do a superb job. BTW, Paul, who handled my phone calls, was also very courteous.

Fantastic service!!! From the receptionist to the work done at our house! We will be indebted to you forever! Thank you, Greg and Michael for coming to fix our leak so quickly and you were both so nice. Have already dropped your name to many friends. Thanks again.

I wouldn’t give any star, if I could. Very disappointed and very pricey! They don’t take responsibility for their mistakes! The guy came and checked and told that he found a big leak underground. He charged us for 2 hours price, but he actullay did his job for an hour. Morverover, once the plumber came and fix the leak, the plumber told us that the leak was really small which means this company lied to us! We tried to contact the guy to recheck, but he said he will charge us more. Ridiculous!

American Leak Detection was great! Our water bill was $ 477 in March and technician Greg Rogina had the leak identified in about 30 minutes. The process for setting up the appt. is smooth and professional, and the technician is very courteous, friendly and efficient. ALD does a thorough job and is very pleasant to work with.

Their technician Michael Rogina showed up 5 minutes early, found two leaks in under 30 minutes, and came in under budget. Very, very polite. I will use them again when needed.

Came quickly, was extremely competent and even thoughtful by temporarily caulking the problem area. Would use them again.

Very happy with their service. They were efficient, professional, kind, respectful (thank you Christian and Michael) and fixed the leak exactly as they had detected and diagnosed it. Problem solved!
Life back to normal quickly.
Thanks ALD.

ALD are great for finding leaks. I wouldn’t really look anywhere else– I wrote a review about the plumbing job earlier so this is a revision. I’m not going to go into long detail about it, but lets just say I was unsatisfied and Christian called me and explained the job to me: what they did and why and was also more then willing to fix the problem to where we were both happy. So many businesses now adays wouldn’t make the effort like that and it feels great as a customer to know that they care and want to make you satisfied. Thank you again, Gregg for the hard work and kindness and thank you Christian for the phone call and great customer service. I will be reccomending ALD in the future.

I’m very pleased at the leaks Erik (tech) found so quickly in the irrigation valves and laterals. He used several detection technologies to find them, plus the tried n true dig where-it’s-wet.
Erik’s personable, focused, and knowledgeable, plus ALD has him well equipped and we used it all.
Great experience. We definitely got our money’s worth.

I was informed by my water company that I had a leak. My water bill had tripled, and I was at a complete loss. I was referred by the city to American Leak Detection. When I called I was clueless. I just told them the water company had come and told me about a leak and that I really didn’t have any more information.
I spoke with Amy who was very helpful. She assured me that she could take care of the situation, and not to worry. I am not very mechanically inclined– but Amy took the time to explain things in simple terms so I wasn’t confused. We made an appointment for the next day. Sean came out to the property and performed the detection. I briefly showed him around the house and then left him to it. Before he left I knew exactly where the problem was, how much it took to fix it, and when they could be out to perform the repair. I really don’t think you can beat that. I was very happy and have since referred this company to a friend with a pool leak who was also pleased.

I would definitely avoid this company. They are more interested in looking for the most expensive way to get a job done instead of pulling out all the avoidable stops that could keep cost down and still get the job done!
My 89 year old mother had her main drain backup in her home. After she called her insurance AAA for some help they referred her to American Leak Detection to assist her. AAA was paying for that initial visit. After trying to snake the main drain ALD said there was a blockage in the sidewalk area of her home. They then said they needed to dig it up and replace the pipe in the sidewalk. That would cost $ 1,500 dollars. We scheduled an appointment, which was about a week and half out. We paid the freight on this because we just didn’t know any better at this time. I advised them to call me (her son) the day of the appointment if they ran into any issues. I received no calls, so I was thinking everything was clear. My mom then called me and said she was told not to use her water because there was another issue they discovered. I then called ALD and spoke to Amy (which by the way it appears that the office staff is the only folks you speak too because I wanted to talk to the field folks but was never given that opportunity). Amy advised me that they discovered another blockage 8 ft. away and according to what she was reading it was «blocked solid» and needed to be dug up and replaced. I did ask if they attempted to snake it and she skated around the question and kept saying it was «blocked solid». She said we need to dig it up to take care of it. She also said that if the take care of that blockage there is a chance that there could be others after that and it could increase the cost. I asked what that cost would be and she said about $ 6550 — $ 6950. I did ask why the tech didn’t call me when they discovered the second issue and was told that they showed my mom and advised her what was going on. Really, my 89 year old mom, I also asked if they took any pictures or camera shots of the blockage and she said no! I was totally blown away by the estimate and really the manner at which this was all coming down. The next thing I received was an invoice through e-​mail taking my original $ 1550 and asking for a credit card number for the $ 6550 — $ 6950 to do the other replacement if I was interested.
I then called another contractor that I know and they referred me to a plumber that does work for them. I called the new plumber on a Friday and they were able to meet me at my mom’s house on that following Monday morning. When they arrived I gave them my entire story and they came up with a plan of attack. They inserted a camera to see what the issue was which was difficult to see I halfway expected that, and they then attempted to clear it with a snake. They did clear some of it however, over time it would back up again. Be cautious that they didn’t want the snake to get stuck because they would have to dig it up to clear it «we» decided to stop trying to snake it. The plumber then advised me that I should call an expert in the field of sewers. He knew one that he had worked with in the past and he graciously called them to advise them of my issue. They showed up within an hour and they advised me that they would insert a camera to see what was going on and then they would try to Hydro Jet the line. I had no idea what Hydro jetting was, first time I ever heard of it. So, I agreed to proceed. As he inserted the camera he had me sit down next to him so I could see what he was seeing. He got out about 60 — 65 feet and noticed a lot of soft sewage. He said that on a lot of occasions a snake will work, however, when it doesn’t the next step should be to Hydro Jet it and that digging is a last resort. He then preceded to Hydro jet the main drain and after literally a few minutes it completely cleared that blockage. He then re-​inserted that camera and everything was cleared, he even looked at the condition of the pipe and said it looked in good condition. The total cost for both plumbers was $ 925. Money well spent, received great service and got an education at the same time. Hydro Jetting is basically pushing a large volume of water at a very high rate of speed at the blockage to clear it. In this case it was 14 gallons of water per minute at 3,000 psi.
My closing thoughts are. If I had stayed away from ALD I would have saved $ 650 initially and would have gotten the problem resolved on the first visit by experts in the field. Instead I spent $ 1,550 for unnecessary work plus the additional $ 925 to get it competed by folks more qualified to perform the work, not to mention I saved another $ 6550 by not listening to this company for what appeared to be unnecessary work.

American Leak Detection through its knowledgeable, courteous and enormously helpful technician Ryan expertly within an hour found the leak in my underground, under the concrete slab, hot water pipe. When my monthly residential water bill skyrocketed to $ 750 from under $ 200 and the city of Palo Alto notified me their field technician had found a flow on the meter, my plumbing company recommended American Leak Detection to locate a leak.
Calamity increased because since the leak Ryan had found was under the bathtub, my plumbing company said to repair the leaking pipe mandated a major remodel, jackhammering up the new tile floor, ripping out the bathtub and walls of discontinued beautiful tiles. Ryan from American Leak Detection, hearing my distress on the phone with the plumber, reached out with interest and care to inform me of another method to repair my pipes without destroying floors and walls, repair through ePipe restoration.
In ePipe repair of pipes, epoxy is forced through the pipes to coat and fill the leak without tearing out floors and walls. This ePipe repair of leaks is standard repair in Seattle and now used in California. Ryan said American Leak Detection does ePipe restoration on leaks only on one line of pipe and lacks equipment to separate out pipe lines on my Eichler house, but other companies in my area said Ryan repair leaks using the ePipe method. Thanks to knowledgeable Ryan, the enlarging leak is repaired, all my pipes throughout restored by ePipe restoration without demolishing floors and walls. My water bill has dropped to $ 90.
American Leak Detection charged $ 295 to come out and locate the leak.
I had so wait several days after calling for American Leak Detection to have time to come to my house.