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Leak detection, repair and reporting

We are called out to every kind of escape of water there is. Each of these pages sets out what the fault usually turns out to be, how we find it, and what it costs.

Our equipment

The instruments we bring to every job

No single method finds every leak, which is why we do not turn up with one. The right tool depends on the pipe, the pressure, the building and the ground it sits on.

  • Thermal imaging camera survey

    Water moving where it should not changes the temperature of everything it touches. A thermal camera renders those differences as an image, so a leak under a solid floor shows up as a shape long before it shows up as a stain. It is completely passive: nothing is drilled, lifted or cut to take the reading.

    • Underfloor heating leaks
    • Leaks under screed and tiled floors
    • Tracing pipe runs before any floor is lifted
    • Mapping the true extent of water damage behind a wall

  • Acoustic leak correlation

    A pressurised leak makes a continuous noise that travels along the pipe wall. Sensors placed either side of a suspected run measure the tiny difference in arrival time between them, and the correlator converts that into a distance. On a mains supply pipe this routinely gets us to within a foot of the fault.

    • Underground mains water supply leaks
    • Leaks under driveways, patios and lawns
    • Buried pipework in commercial premises
    • Pinpointing a fault before any excavation

  • Tracer gas testing

    Hydrogen is the smallest molecule there is, so it finds its way out of a crack far too small to see and rises straight up through concrete, screed and soil. We sweep the surface with a sensitive detector and the reading spikes directly over the breach. The gas mix is non-toxic, non-flammable at the concentration used, and leaves nothing behind.

    • Very small or intermittent leaks
    • Leaks with no pressure behind them
    • Central heating and underfloor circuits
    • Confirming a find made by another method

  • Moisture mapping and salts analysis

    Damp on its own does not tell you where water came from. Rising ground moisture leaves nitrate and chloride salts behind; a burst pipe does not. Testing the salt content of a plaster sample separates a plumbing leak from rising damp or condensation, which is often the difference between a valid insurance claim and a rejected one.

    • Distinguishing a leak from rising damp or condensation
    • Mapping how far water has travelled
    • Evidence for a trace and access claim
    • Checking a repair has actually dried out

  • Pressure and flow testing

    We cap a section of pipework, raise it to a controlled test pressure and watch the gauge. A circuit that holds is eliminated; a circuit that drops is quantified. Repeating this system by system narrows a whole-house problem down to a single run, and gives a hard number for the report rather than an opinion.

    • Identifying which system is leaking
    • Central heating pressure loss
    • Proving a repair before reinstating
    • Quantifying loss rate for insurers

  • CCTV drainage survey

    Where waste water is escaping rather than supply water, the fault is usually a cracked, displaced or root-invaded drain. The camera carries a sonde so we can mark the position of the defect on the surface above, and the footage doubles as evidence for an insurer or a neighbour dispute.

    • Foul smells and recurring blockages
    • Subsidence investigations
    • Waste water under floors
    • Pre-purchase drainage checks

  • Borescope inspection

    When every non-invasive method points at the same spot, a borescope gives visual confirmation before anything is properly opened up. The access hole is small enough to fill and touch in with a dab of filler, which is why we always try it before lifting a floor or cutting a ceiling.

    • Confirming a find inside a wall or ceiling void
    • Inspecting under suspended timber floors
    • Checking behind bath panels and shower trays
    • Keeping any access hole as small as possible

  • Tracer dye testing

    Ideal where several possible sources share the same wet patch. A shower tray, a waste trap and a heating pipe can all end up on the same ceiling; dosing them one at a time and watching where the dye emerges answers the question definitively rather than by elimination.

    • Shower tray and wet room leaks
    • Leaks between flats and maisonettes
    • Swimming pool and hot tub leaks
    • Roof and gutter ingress paths

  • Pipe and cable tracing

    Knowing where a pipe actually runs, as opposed to where the drawings say it runs, prevents the two most expensive mistakes on any leak job: digging in the wrong place, and putting a spade through a live service. We mark the route on the surface and record the depth.

    • Locating a buried supply pipe
    • Planning an excavation safely
    • Finding capped or abandoned runs
    • Underfloor heating loop mapping

  • Roof integrity and voltage testing

    A single pinhole in a felt, EPDM or GRP roof can flood a ceiling while the roof looks perfect from above. Electronic testing energises the membrane and locates the exact point where current, and therefore water, is getting through, so the repair is a patch rather than a re-roof.

    • Flat roof leaks
    • Balcony and terrace waterproofing
    • Warm roof and green roof build-ups
    • Commercial single-ply membranes

Think you have a leak? Let us find it.

Non-invasive survey, same-day response and a written report your insurer will accept. No call-out fee, and no charge for advice over the phone.

01273 936 030Request a callback