FAQ

Expect an estimated $150 to $400 in most homes, and an estimated $300 to $800 when finished walls or floors are in the way. Those are trade-wide ranges; no verified Commerce City average exists. The repair is never part of the figure.

Usually water is moving somewhere it should not, but compare the bill with the dials first. North of 96th Avenue most homes have a house meter and an irrigation meter on one combined bill, so read both: a summer jump on the irrigation meter is a sprinkler problem.

Usually not the city: water here comes from South Adams County Water and Sanitation District. Its standards, as summarized, give the meter pit to the district and the pipe beyond it to you; confirm it for your address. A leaking meter or pit goes to its 24-hour line, 303-288-2646.

By elimination. Read the meter with everything off, close the main shutoff and read it again, and north of 96th Avenue read the irrigation meter too. Then a ground microphone, thermal camera or pressure test finds the spot without opening anything to look.

Because a basement takes water from the ground as easily as from a pipe. Much of the Front Range sits on expansive clay that can push groundwater through a crack or the wall-floor joint. Still meters and water after storms point to a drainage or foundation specialist.

Read the meter before calling anyone. With everything off, a moving low-flow indicator confirms a leak; closing the main shutoff shows whether it is indoors or buried. Water you cannot stop: keep the main closed and call. Water in the street: call the district.

Yes, if the dial shows water moving and nothing you can see explains it. At an estimated $150 to $400, locating decides how much floor, wall or yard the repair opens. It is not worth it when the meters are still and the water follows rain.

For the repair, yes; for finding a hidden leak, a locator first is often cheaper. Colorado licenses plumbers through the State Plumbing Board, and repair permits come from the Commerce City Building Safety Division. A written finding lets any licensed plumber quote the fix.