The shower has been getting worse for ten years and nobody noticed
Galvanised pipe closes up from the inside. The loss is gradual enough that households adapt to it instead of reporting it.
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A leak under a slab has nowhere to show itself until it reaches the floor
There is no subfloor for the evidence to collect in. The early signs, and the ten-minute test that settles it.
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On a newer home, photograph it before anybody repairs it
Statutory warranty periods pass to later owners. A repair closes the wall and takes the only record of what was there with it.
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