You WON'T believe what caused this WATER LEAK 

7:02 Throws the hammer down onto the tiles like a noob.

When I moved into my new to me house, I replaced all the trim and floor boards. Fifteen years later, the carpet in our family room was slightly damp in one small area and would not dry out. Turns out I drove a nail into a pipe that was running along the drywall. Not in the middle of the wall or anything, right along the drywall in a notch in the stud. No plates or anything to protect it. It took that full 15 years for the leak to develop.

I like when he talks about a few lessons to be learnt there’s no mention of his own mistakes

Has an infrared moisture meter, but not a $20 scope.

As a plumber myself I can say a few things that my tribe could have done better. Where is the sleeve to protect the copper pipe from the concrete? Why was the pipe brought up near the face of the wall. There should have been a nail plate, installed by my tribe member, over any area reasonably expected to get trim. As for the wood butcher tribe; they hit our pipes all the time, the smelly bunch of drunks. Carry on.

Nice how you dropped the hammer on the tiled floor. In someone's home, I always use clean canvas drop sheets to work on. You should also consider using them

You won't believe what caused this water leak! It was a guy with a plunge-cut saw, who even knew that the pipe was there before cutting...

I really enjoy these informative videos. I'm no carpenter, but I've had minimal experience with just about everything, just haven't learned the advanced stuff. It's really amazing how carpenters can make some of this stuff look easy.

I want to see him troubleshoot electricity next.

Nice find guys, that was a tough one. I find and fix leaks like that for a living so it was sad to hear the leak detector you guys called couldn't find it. Tell your buddy those soft copper pipes going through his slab will cause some headaches in the future

Wow, this is unreal, thanks for posting! Never thought of this ever happening, good to know! Great Video, thanks!

He must have just got that moisture sensor 😂

Nice cabinets buddy.... I'm a saw loads of holes in it!

Logic said the problem was in the larger bath considering it was newer, and the green moss on exterior wall indicated exactly where leak was.

Matt, I really appreciate this video, because this issue is my greatest fear anytime I do work on any wall that is near waterlines.

Twice I've seen this and been like "this man needs a snake cam for his phone, save cutting giant holes in everything

Thank you for showing the entire trial and error. You did an excellent job.

Your cameraman could use a haircut.

6:00 *TLDW* = He has a theory that there is a nail through a pipe somewhere. As he does his fault-finding he cuts holes in walls rather than using an inspection camera. 8:40 He sees 3 copper pipes potentially leaking. 10:30 You get to see it is a nail in a copper pipe causing it to constantly spray a tiny jet of water. 11:20 You see that there are actually 2 nails as another pipe has the problem too. You're welcome.

As a plumber myself, when you started cutting into the vanity, I cringed. I would have removed the vanity. This would dry the area faster and better and cost less.

Whoever installed that tankless water heater needs a damn level.

Send this video to DFW Crown Molding. They showcase, (on RU-vid,) how to drive nails into drywall, without locating the center of studs; professionally. They are the the best at it. Truly, the person who drove that nail into that pipe is lucky it wasn't a live 220 volt electrical line.

This was great Matt! Same 'cut inspection holes' method I use for my victims...mobile home and RV owners. The only difference is that materials are thinner, so they're easier to cut.

Matt....this is a very cool video showing cause and effect of what can happen when you nail into a wall into pipes. Your channel is one of the best in YT!

I learned how much a inexperienced person can cause damage to a bathroom

Cuts a hole see’s wetness immediately says “we found the source of the leak”

Matt, the same happened at my son's place. He had water on his basement bathroom floor and thought it was from showering. We installed new flooring upstairs and when we removed a baseboard and water started shooting out of a plastic water line. Yes someone had put a trim nail into the water pipe.

We had that same exact thing happen in a two story home. Crazy thing is it would only become evident every other year or so. When we started remodeling and removed the baseboards in the upstairs bathroom is when the nail came out and the floodgates opened...

Don't let people rip holes like this in your home. We now use inspection cams. One small round hole is much easier to fix then mudding and tapping a cut out. And if the cam does not pan out which sometimes happens. Then cut out a section.

He tossed his hammer on the tile ... Dude.

Great videos! I love learning from you. Just found you and have watched two of your videos and you do a great job.

This guy is unreal !!! He's about as subtle as fireworks. Destroys half the bathroom to fix a leak..... SMH

Awesome video Matt! It's a shame such a nice (and probably expensive) bathroom was ruined due to minor negligence.

I had that exact thing happen one time when my guys went and put stucco on a third floor exterior wall. Like 2 weeks later the customer called said it's pouring water down stairs.. a trim nail was stuck in it. Since water is low pressure, when the copper expands and contracts with temperature it began to leak..

That was really interesting watching you isolate the leak. Thanks for sharing. Also makes you think about the length of your finish nails a little more - and taking the time to mark studs so you nail into the right location.

The importance of pre-planning your plumbing routing when doing additions. Access panels that are removable are a great idea as well.

My contractor did the exact same thing during laminate flooring install. They hit a water line coming into the hallway bathroom, and slowly flooded my daughter's room in Killeen,TX about 11 years ago. Needless to say it costed more money to replace outside siding to get to the problem.

I had a similar nail in the pipe we had just finished a remodel and the cleaning crew called freaking out beacause the floors were soaked , took me about a hour to find the dam thing but it was a dumb home owner repair from 30 years before the current owner had it, I still have the pipe chunk to show peope why we use punch proof plates.

On a site I was working, I heard a brad nail went through some copper wiring... I could definitely smell it when I got there.

"I'll use my Festool Plunge Saw to cut another hole here", Looking for some sponsorship are we? Jeez. I've been a plumber for 40 years and have diagnosed many leaks, but never have I destroyed someones house like that.

Do not throw a hammer on a finished tile floor

Great video. Would love to see more of this type of DIY, homeowner-help videos mixed in with your normal high-end remodels.

OMG! UNBELIVABLE! This is so far off away from I guessed. Thank you for your quality content. I never would of believed it was a nail, never!

Great information and troubleshooting techniques...thanks!!

Great video! Excellent approach to finding the problem and explaining your thought process.

Would love to see more of these forensic videos! Thanks Matt

Great detective work! Very informative. Learned a lot, thanks!

that's a huge lesson about the length of trim fasteners. same thing happened at my brother's condo except it was pex pipe. did not leak until the trim board was removed.

Oh, please don't do click-bait titles. I almost dismissed this video out of hand because the title looked just like it would on another schlocky channel. Your content is great, and speaks for itself!!

Put some flex-seal tape around the pipe. Fix her right up. LOL

Good find! I had a similar situation but it was a pinhole leak. Makes a real mess. I usually go directly where the copper lines are in the walls and evaluate how bad the area is. I cut a hole where it's the most saturated.

In the past, when I still had a house that was undergoing remodeling that included a new master bathroom, the plumber was very meticulous in using nail shields at every point where drywall was to be installed, sufficient to protect the pip s from misplaced nails!

Tankless water heater on the OUTSIDE of the house ??? must be somewhere you don’t have to worry about freezing.

As I see your thought process. Its elimination- keep eliminating pieces of the house and eventually you'll find what you're looking for

Great Video, this is the third video I see of yours and you now have a new subscriber. We had a pin hole leak in our kitchen that occurred on its own. After the leak was fixed, my brother and I put up the new drywall, my brother put a drywall screw through the newly repaired 1/2" copper pipe. Remember to put those steel plates when applicable to prevent punctures similar to what happened to me.

Very educational! Thanks for the post.

Really? A nail is what you thought I woudn't believe caused a water leak? I was expecting something like a leprechaun or a tiny alien with a laser gun.

so, run around with a silly tool, then randomly cut holes in walls without even looking nor feeling around for obvious signs. this falls under "nailed it" :)))

Real cool video, watching you trouble shoot the problem. Would love to see more vids like this

Nice detective work. Good find.

He’s pretty neat, the plumbers I’ve known in the past would have used a Mel hammer to smash holes everywhere ! ⚒

300 holes later ....yay

Whoever piped that tankless simply didn't give 2 fucks about workmanship.

Very helpful content. Thank you very much!

Like when my mom and dad had a leak in the wall. They thought that they would have to replace the whole roof. I cut through the wall and found that the water was coming through the chimney flashing and going down a timber to the wall. The flashing was a very cheap fix compared to a whole roof replace.

after 42 yr.'s plumbing i'ved learned to install "nail plates" every where. they make all sizes to cover waste, water, vent, Hvac piping. can't think that the carpenter is going to use 1 1/4" screws or nails. they work............

Perfect way to expose the leak. If I were doing it I would of done the same thing Matt. The only way to fix it properly is to open it up to air and repair it correctly a couple pieces of 1/4” plywood cut to fit and painted white they will never know you were there. It’s hard to believe some of the stupid remarks. Keep up the good work!!!

Watching from the UK. Thanks.

Matt, instead of cutting an 8"x16" hole in drywall to inspect, just drill a 1/2" hole and use this inspection camera: www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M12-12-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-M-Spector-360-Degree-Digital-Inspection-Camera-Kit-with-One-1-5-Ah-Battery-and-Tool-Bag-2313-21/202932657 ... makes it quick and easy to inspect multiple areas, and patches are super quick

I think you should invest in a cheap endoscope for checking inside cavities.

I spit up my coffee laughing. "Is that water from the outside? No no someone had a shower."

Thank you for the video. It is really an eye opener

WOW! I THOUGH I WAS WATCHING TIM ALLEN ON TOOL TIME

Wow. Nice job finding problem.... half house has holes... why cut cabinet bottom?... crazy.

I very much like the video. I have chased simular problems, I used a borescope camera and 1/4" hole to inspect inside walls. The cameras I got was less than $20 at Amazon. Paul Rice Lake Charles, LA.

AFTER YOU WRECKED HIS HOUSE YOU FOUND THE LEAK AFTER MAKING ANOTHER LEAK GOOD JOB

LOL, I'll give you credit for posting this comedy of error and common sense

Too many expensive tools not enough common sense.

Excellent job.

I have found many a leak with my iPhone. I bought a ridged flex cam and that is a great game changer. I can stick the lens that has lights down into the wet area or down into the drain lines. it can zoom and adjust the amount of light. Great detection work on locating the leak. Always just one step at a time.

Good cabinets buddy.. just gonna cut a hole in it even tho my moisture meter could have told us that it was showing moisture. Oh and even if I cut the hole we can't fix the issue from the hole in the bottom of your vanity. Nice vanity tho. Also love how buddy cut the wall to the bathroom.. textured drywall.. even tho he knew there wasn't moisture there. If you're going to own a flir... know how it works.

I had a dead electrical outlet on a back to back kitchen on some new construction. I had power to the plug on the opposite kitchen and I thought I had fished the wire to the wrong unit. Turned out that the stucco guys had nailed through and sheared my hot completely and the nail caught the opposite unit wire and energized it via the nail.

I see this all the time when I track down leaks in Condos that were built fast and many units at a time. Sometimes the leak stays plugged until years later when the nail rusts out.

Many years ago I went on a service call, water leak. Years before a builder worker had driven a dry wall nail into the copper pipe from the faucet to the shower head. All those years the nail sealed until it rusted away and leaked whenever they took a shower.

Dude. They make super cheap, but decent, gooseneck cameras with lights now. Start with the tiny 1" hole and go from there.

Filmed in Whisker Vision!

Here is a perfect example of using a sub-par contractor inevitably will cause you grief down the road. I'm not a contractor, but commonsense tells me those nails are way too long and sure enough a couple of them punctured a pipe. What were they thinking when they tack on the trim board by using 3 in nails. Just unbelievable the kind of damage an incompetent contractor can cause.

I would have been livid if I saw you cutting through the vanity! but also glad you found the issue.

I have run into this very problem but with electrical. Newbies gotta be careful!

jeseuess... I thought that was someones hair hanging over the lens of a go pro.

Hey Matt, fun fact, here in Minnesota we are not allowed to have an exterior wall as our wet wall. (Wet wall being the term we use to describe which wall we run our plumbing)

Good lesson. Thank you.

scope is a great tool , less wall damage

I have done many plumbing jobs and one thing you do not do is place a pipe that close to a wall and if you do, you put a steel barrier in front and wear is the insulation. If it was to get cold then we have a chance of bursting pipes also. 2 dummies, the plumber and the carpenter for using such long nails. thanks for the video.

One thing you can do for the immediate purposes, and it actually will hold up possibly indefinitely, but it's not elegant, is you can just grab a piece of bicycle inner tube and a hose clamp. Cut a small chunk of inner tube to fit over the leak and most of the way around the pipe, then hose clamp that inner tube into place. That will stop your copper pipe leak easy without having to leave the water off and you can then have time to figure out what you're going to do for a real fix. Oh btw i like I like that FLIR moisture meter I might have to get one of those.

Awesome!!!! You’ve nailed it on the spot!

I'm a retired painting and drywall contractor, and I have seen this several times in house's. It's nothing more than a carpenter that either doesn't know what he's doing or is very careless.

Had ground in front corner of house start to be damp and then mid hot August the corner of house in front of kitchen was like swamp land when usually is hard as concrete during hot dry SC summers. Plumber wanted to cut hole in slab floor of kitchen and do a scope camera to see if it was a broken pipe in the slab. $2000 for just a look at the issue this way not including fixing it or even still trying to find it if this found nothing. I was like hell no the kitchen pipers come up right under kitchen sink in ext wall so I said cut the drywall out there and take a look at the pipes in wall but plumber was like the copper pipes don't just start leaking behind drywall for no reason. Well I cut the drywal and low and behold there was a nail from where the external siding was put on house 11 years earlier. The siding contractor drove the nail dead center into cold water pipe and the nail self sealed its own hole until ground vibrations broke it loose. I fixed it for $20 and the plumber wanted $2500 just to look for the issue.

Great video,reminded me of a basement remod where cheaper laborers were hanging wood wall paneling A wet rug in the bedroom made me think toilet seal leak,but no.I saw where one guy ignored the seams and studs ,and nailed into the paneling to take the bow out.Of course the supply lines to the bathroom were right behind it AND spraying into an outlet box.Lucky,it was a pinhole and the sheet rock was not soggy yet. Another one was a drip in the corner of the ceiling of the half bath on the first floor.That one was tricky ! After a day of cutting holes I found that the floor trim installer used those 3 inch finishing nails and had punctured the 4 inch PVC vent stack.After ten years the nail rusted away and condensation no longer went up,it came out that tiny hole and ran downstairs.

As a Texas home builder since 1977, I learned the hard way after a trim carpenter drove a nail into a water line similar to your friends home, but the coated nail gun nail didn't leak for the first year or so after the home was finished, sold and then occupied. The nail eventually rusted loose and the leak developed and was spraying water just like this one was. After fixing the problem, I began having my plumbers install metal protection plates (taller than the planned base boards) over vulnerable areas where water pipes are coming up out of the slab. The metal plates are thick enough to prevent nail gun nails from penetrating the plate.