Pinhole Leak Detection and Repair in Round Rock, TX
A pinhole leak starts as a speck of corrosion inside a copper pipe and weeps for weeks before it stains a wall or ceiling. Round Rock's mineral-heavy water is what feeds them.
What a pinhole leak actually is
Copper does not usually fail at a joint with a pinhole. It fails in the middle of a run, where minerals in the water slowly pit the pipe wall from the inside until a tiny hole opens. The leak is small, so it weeps rather than sprays. The first sign is often a faint stain on drywall, a musty smell in a closet, or a green spot on an exposed line in the garage.
Round Rock water runs near 15.2 grains per gallon, hard enough to drive this pitting. Many homeowners here work in tech, often at Dell or across the Austin corridor. A finished-out home office or media wall is exactly the kind of place a slow weep does quiet damage before anyone notices.
Tracing a leak you can barely see
Pinholes are stubborn to locate because the water volume is so low. Acoustic gear can pick up the faint sound of a pressurized weep, and thermal imaging reads the cool or warm patch it leaves behind drywall. When a pinhole hides in a dry, quiet wall, we pressure-test the supply loop to confirm the system is losing water, then narrow the run before opening the smallest possible section.
Location is where homeowners save the most money. A pinhole behind a tiled shower or a finished media wall is expensive to reach, so getting the spot right the first time matters. We mark the exact point and open only that, rather than chasing a stain across half a wall. If you have a stain spreading and want it pinned down, call (512) 737-6168.
Repair the spot or replace the run
One pinhole in an otherwise healthy line gets a clean spot repair. The harder truth is that a pinhole is often the first of several. The same water has been working on the whole system for the same number of years. In the 1980s and 1990s homes of Brushy Creek and Cat Hollow, the original copper is now well into middle age. In those homes we often find that a section repipe, or a whole-house repipe in PEX, is the repair that ends the cycle.
We never push a repipe you do not need. We show you what we found, explain how likely a repeat is, and let you weigh a quick fix against a permanent one.
Slowing the pitting down
You cannot change the city water, but you can blunt its effect. A whole-house softener or treatment system reduces the mineral load that pits copper, and keeping water pressure in a sane range takes stress off the pipe. These steps do not undo existing corrosion, so a line that has already started pitting still needs attention, but they buy newer plumbing more time.
When a repipe is the right call
Deciding between chasing pinholes and repiping comes down to a few honest questions. How old is the copper, and how many leaks has it had? Are the failures spreading to new parts of the house, or staying in one run? Is the pipe behind finished walls that are expensive to keep opening? When the answers point to a system near the end, a PEX repipe usually costs less over a few years than a string of one-off repairs.
A repipe in a Round Rock home is less disruptive than people expect. We plan the routes, open a limited number of access points, and restore water quickly between stages. You get modern pipe that shrugs off the hard water that wore out the copper. If you have had more than one pinhole, that is the moment to ask the question. Call (512) 737-6168 and we can lay out both paths with real numbers.
Not sure what you are dealing with? Talk it through.
📞 (512) 737-6168Frequently Asked Questions
Why does copper get pinholes but my neighbor's PEX does not?
Hard water pits copper from the inside over years. PEX does not corrode the same way, which is why newer Round Rock homes see far fewer pinholes.
If I have one pinhole, will I get more?
Often, yes. The same water has aged the whole system equally, so a first pinhole is a sign the rest of the copper is at a similar stage.
Is a whole-house repipe worth it?
If pinholes are repeating, repiping in PEX usually costs less over time than chasing one leak after another. We will tell you honestly which situation you are in.
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