# Moisture and Leak Detection: Cost, Hours and Process in Hacienda Heights Moisture and leak detection locates water in a coach and maps how far it has spread. It combines meter readings on a grid against a dry baseline, thermal imaging where the construction allows it, and a controlled water test at suspected entry points. The output is a boundary, which is what determines whether a repair is small or structural. ## Specifications - Price band: $285 to $1,200 - Shop hours: 1 to 5 hours - Turnaround tier: Light cosmetic - Insurance billable: yes - Parts lead time: Not applicable to detection. Repair component lead times are stated in the report - OEM brands: Dicor, Alpha Systems, Lippert, Dometic, Carefree ## Why the stain is a bad guide to the leak Water entering a coach does not fall straight down. It lands on a roof rafter, a wall stud, a wiring chase or the top of a cabinet, and it runs along whichever of those offers the least resistance until it finds a place to exit. The place it exits is where you see a stain, and it is frequently several feet from the entry point and sometimes in a different room. This is why owners who reseal the vent above the stain often have the same stain the following winter. The vent was not the problem. The problem was a skylight eight feet forward, or the slide topper rail, or a window frame, and the water was tracking down a rafter. So detection does not start with the stain. It starts with a grid of readings across the roof deck, the walls and the floor, and it works from the resulting map back toward the wettest region and then to the penetrations above it. That sequence finds the actual entry rather than the nearest plausible one. ## What the three methods each do Meter readings are the backbone. A pin type or pinless meter is read across the surface on a grid, and every number is compared to a dry area on the same coach rather than to an absolute threshold, because material and ambient humidity move the numbers. What matters is the differential and the shape of the wet region. Thermal imaging adds speed and it adds the ability to see a pattern rather than a series of points. Wet material holds and releases heat differently from dry material, so under the right conditions a thermal camera shows the boundary of a wet region as a shape. It is not a moisture meter and it does not work on every construction, but where it works it turns a two hour grid into a picture. A controlled water test is what confirms entry. Specific penetrations are wetted in isolation, under pressure and in sequence, with somebody inside watching, which is the only method that proves which joint is the source rather than inferring it. That test needs a bay, a water supply and a drain, and it is one of the reasons this cannot be done at a customer location. - Meter grid across roof deck, walls and floor, read against a dry baseline on the same coach - Thermal imaging to reveal the shape and boundary of a wet region - Controlled water test of individual penetrations in isolation, observed from inside - Interior access panels and cabinet interiors opened for direct reading where practical - Underbelly and compartment inspection for exit staining and prior patching - Mapped report with a wet boundary outlined and a repair scope attached ## What the boundary decides, and the cost asymmetry behind it The reason this appointment exists as a priced service rather than as a courtesy walkaround is that the boundary determines the scope of everything downstream. A dry deck with failed sealant is a reseal. A wet deck across a small area is a sectional membrane and decking repair. A wet deck across a third of the roof, or any moisture in framing rather than only decking, is a full replacement. Those three outcomes differ by an order of magnitude in price, and no amount of looking at the roof from outside distinguishes them. Quoting a roof without reading the substrate is how owners end up paying twice, and it is why we will not give a membrane number over the phone. The same asymmetry is why early detection is worth so much. Water in decking spreads laterally along framing and does not stop on its own. A leak found in the first months is a sealant job at the bottom of a price band. The identical leak found in year three is a decking and framing job at the top of a much larger one. ## Not included - We do not perform moisture detection at a customer location. A controlled water test needs a bay and a drain. - Detection is not repair. Sealant, membrane, panel and structural work is quoted separately once the boundary is known. ## Questions **How do you actually find a leak in an RV?** With a grid of moisture readings across the roof deck, walls and floor compared to a dry baseline on the same coach, thermal imaging where the construction allows it to show the shape of a wet region, and then a controlled water test of individual penetrations in isolation with somebody inside watching. The stain itself is a poor guide and is not where we start. **Why did resealing the vent above the stain not fix my leak?** Because water entering a roof lands on a rafter or a chase and runs along it until it finds an exit, and the exit is where you see the stain. It is frequently several feet from the entry and sometimes in another room. The vent above the stain is the nearest plausible source rather than the actual one, which is why detection works from a map rather than from the mark. **Can you tell how bad the water damage already is?** That is the entire purpose of the appointment. The map gives you a boundary, and the boundary decides the scope: a dry deck with failed sealant is a reseal, a small wet area is a sectional membrane and decking repair, and widespread wet decking or any moisture in framing is a replacement. Those outcomes differ by an order of magnitude in cost. **Is a moisture inspection useful for an insurance claim?** Very. Where a covered event opened the envelope, the moisture pattern radiates from that specific opening, while long term sealant fatigue produces a diffuse pattern across many penetrations. Documenting which pattern is present, with the dry baseline included, is frequently the difference between an approved supplement and a contested one. --- Source: https://ocrv.club/rv-maintenance/moisture-and-leak-detection OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Phone (949) 799-3387. Email info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Hacienda Heights and the surrounding area. 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, then south to La Palma Ave. In shop work only. All estimates are priced and credited against an authorized repair.