ZIP code · Phoenix
Leak detection in 85013, Phoenix
Housing built around 1964, which decides what is under the slab and how it gives way.
85013 covers part of Phoenix, where the typical home was built in 1964. Everything else here follows from that date, because galvanized on the older end and early copper on the newer is what went into houses of that age and it fails in its own particular way.
Older than three quarters of the ZIP codes on this site, 85013 carries the failures that go with that.
| What the housing in 85013 is | Figure |
|---|---|
| Median year housing was built | 1964 |
| Built before 1980 | 68 percent |
| Build era | Mid-century |
| Built since 2000 | 18 percent |
| Likely supply material | galvanized on the older end and early copper on the newer |
| Largest decade of building | 1950s (29 percent) |
| What tends to fail first | Early copper in Valley soil tends to fail at pinholes rather than joints, which is why a leak here can run for months at a rate the meter barely registers. |
| Owner-occupied households | 42 percent |
| What we listen for | A fine, high hiss from a pinhole, which only separates from household noise with the line held at pressure and the house quiet |
| Single-family detached homes | 43 percent |
| Land area | about 4 square miles |
Housing figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2023), for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 85013. Town coverage: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 ZCTA-to-Place relationship file.
The damp is in one room. Why look somewhere else in 85013?
Because in 85013 the water has already moved by the time damp appears. It takes the easiest path under the concrete and comes up where it can.
68 percent of 85013 is pre-1980 stock. On that housing the damp carpet is where the water arrived.
So in 85013 symptoms are directions, not destinations. Sound narrows it to a point once the loss is proved. See acoustic leak detection.
Why do slab leaks show up in 85013 more than in 85016?
Age, and a wide gap of it — 1964 in 85013 against 1976 in 85016 in Phoenix. Pipe that has been in the ground longer has had longer to corrode and perforate.
The two ZIP codes sit about 3 miles apart and need opposite first moves. In 85013 the question is galvanized on the older end and early copper on the newer; in 85016 it is copper supply under the slab.
Next door: leak detection in 85016, where the typical home dates from 1976.
Does 85013 have one kind of plumbing or several?
At least four, going by the decade figures for 85013. That is a wide spread for one boundary.
In 85013 the material changes from one address to the next. Where a house was part repiped, the joint between materials is the weak point.
So nothing about the house next door carries over to yours in 85013. Isolate, hold at pressure, and let the result say what is down there.
Does all the housing packed into 85013 get in the way?
It changes the method rather than the outcome. 85013 packs a lot of building into its boundary. Sound travels, and there is plenty of it.
Somebody else's water can reach your floor in 85013. Listening without ruling those out gives a confident answer in the wrong place.
We eliminate before we listen. Once the loss is proved and isolated, the noise that is left is the one that matters. See thermal imaging leak detection.
85013 sits inside Phoenix. The Phoenix area page covers the ground this ZIP code is part of.
Straight answers
Questions we get about 85013
What is the typical age of a home in 85013?
The U.S. Census Bureau puts the median year of construction in 85013 at 1964. The source is the American Community Survey, five-year estimates for 2023. About 68 percent of 85013 was built before 1980 and about 18 percent since 2000.
What kind of supply pipe is under a house in 85013?
Probably galvanized on the older end and early copper on the newer: 85013 was built around 1964. It is an expectation rather than a fact about any one house. Plenty of 85013 houses have been altered since. So the line is isolated and tested under pressure before anything is opened.
Homes in 85013 share walls. How do you tell whose leak it is?
By isolating the lines under pressure before anyone assigns blame. Single-family detached is about 43 percent of 85013, and the rest shares walls. Where it appears says nothing reliable about whose pipe lost it.
Will you dig or open a floor in 85013 to find out where the leak is?
Locating comes first, and it is non-destructive. The line is isolated, held at pressure, traced and listened along. The whole purpose is to open one place rather than several. We will tell you what we found before anything is touched.
Where a call from 85013 normally goes next
Not sure whether it is the house or the pool in 85013?
A photo of the wet patch, the pool equipment or the meter face is enough to start. Say how long it has been happening, and whether anything in the house changed.
5.0 on Google
What customers in the Phoenix valley have written. The words are theirs, on listings we cannot edit.
“Humberto has been amazing! Prompt, professional, and patient. He has gone above and beyond, taking the time to show me how to operate the water valves and educating me so I can continue to monitor for future leaks. He identified multiple leaks and made thoughtful recommendations.”
“Beto was very professional, thorough and patient in explaining everything he was doing and why. It was an excellent and well worth it experience, and this is saying something for an architect who had a hundred questions!”
“The owner and operator of this company is everything a contractor should be. On time, honest, competent, reachable, comprehensive. Hope to work with him again in the future.”