East Anglian Leak Detection
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Cambridge flats, lets and homes

Leak detection in Cambridge for flats, lets and family homes

In Cambridge the leak can be in the flat upstairs, on a supply pipe that crosses next door's land, or in a house you let rather than live in. We offer leak detection in Cambridge to owners, tenants, landlords and agents.

Leaks between flats traced upstairs

Reports for landlords and agents

Damp party walls tested both sides

Cambridge Water letters explained

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Cambridge grew fast in the nineteenth century, and its Victorian terraces still line many streets. Large council estates followed between the 1930s and the 1980s, and newer neighbourhoods of flats and family houses now ring the city. Each kind of home hides leaks in its own way, and many are let rather than lived in by their owners.

That changes who rings us. A tenant spots the stain, a landlord in another town pays, and a managing agent wants the report. In a terrace, a pipe can run under next door's floor or garden. In a block, the leak overhead may sit in a flat whose owner you have never met, so sorting access early saves time.

A lone brick house beside a straight drainage channel on flat black fields, typical of the Cambridgeshire fens Pale gault brick Victorian terraced houses with bicycles at the railings, typical of Cambridge

Typical jobs across Cambridge

Flat ceiling stain from the dishwasher feed upstairs

The property

A second floor flat in a purpose-built block near the edge of the city, with concrete floors between flats and a managing agent running the building.

The problem

A damp patch on the kitchen ceiling kept widening. The owner upstairs had seen nothing wet, and the agent wanted to know whose pipe it was before anyone paid for a repair.

How we found it

Readings below placed the damp under the upstairs kitchen. With the agent arranging access, we pressure tested the sink, dishwasher and washing machine feeds in turn; only the dishwasher feed dropped, and moisture readings at the plinth agreed.

The outcome

The joint behind the upstairs units was marked and photographed. Both flat owners and the agent received the written report, so everyone worked from the same evidence when the repair was arranged.

Damp party wall traced to the house next door

The property

A Victorian terrace with suspended timber floors downstairs and a party wall shared with the next house in the row.

The problem

Damp crept up the base of the party wall in the front room. A builder had suggested rising damp, but the patch was getting wetter week by week, not drier.

How we found it

With everything off, their meter did not move, so the owners' own supply was sound. Readings rose towards the neighbour's side, and with their agreement the ground microphone on their floor picked up a hiss, which tracer gas confirmed.

The outcome

The report and photographs showed both households where the leak was. The neighbour arranged the repair under their own floor, and the owners left the party wall to dry out.

Who calls us in Cambridge

Flat owners and tenants below a leak

Water through your ceiling usually starts in the flat above, and with concrete floors the testing has to happen up there. Ask your neighbour or managing agent to arrange that access first.

Landlords living away from the city

Tell us who holds the keys to the let house. When the person paying cannot be at the visit, payment may be taken before the slot is confirmed, and the report follows once the bill is settled.

Owners of newer homes on the city's edge

Many newer houses have underfloor heating downstairs. Underfloor heating leak detection in Cambridge starts at the manifold, closing loops one by one. Thermal imaging then follows the leaking loop, so the floor stays down while we search.

Pavement meters and old pipe routes

Cambridge Water supplies the city. On terraced streets the meter tends to sit beneath a pavement cover, and the company is responsible up to that meter or your boundary. From there the supply pipe is normally the owner's. In older terraces it may take an odd route, even across next door's land, so tell us if you know it does.

Getting a city visit right

1

Access, parking and keys

Tell us where the meter and stop tap are, whether we need a neighbour's flat or garden, and what parking is like. Without a free space within 100 m, parking costs are passed on.

2

Readings, tracing, marking

Readings first, to show which pipe or fitting is losing water, then tracing with whatever suits the floor or ground. A second method confirms the point before it is marked and photographed.

3

Payment, report and repair

We take payment as we finish, by card or a transfer from your bank, never cash or cheque. The report follows, and any repair is quoted separately, so you decide who does it.

Methods that suit Cambridge buildings

Moisture meters

In a flat these come out first. Readings across a ceiling show where damp is heaviest and which room above to test, before anyone moves furniture or lifts a floor.

Acoustic listening

External leak detection in Cambridge is mostly about the stretch of supply pipe between the pavement and your front step. The ground microphone is moved along it until the hiss is strongest.

Tracer gas

A hydrogen and nitrogen mix pumped into an emptied pipe seeps out wherever the pipe is split, and a sensor above picks it up. It double-checks a point found by listening and suits quiet plastic pipe.

Villages close to Cambridge

Histon and Waterbeach to the north, Cottenham beyond them, and Sawston to the south are all part of our Cambridge work. Cambourne lies out to the west, and Burwell sits on the fen edge to the north east.

Leak detection in Histon Leak detection in Waterbeach Leak detection in Cottenham Leak detection in Sawston Leak detection in Cambourne Leak detection in Burwell Leak detection in Cambridgeshire
New-build brick and timber-clad townhouses with solar panels and young street trees, typical of a Cambridgeshire estate

If the pipe at fault is a neighbour's

If the leak sits under a neighbour's floor or on their side of a shared pipe, the claim may belong with them and their insurer rather than you. Our report gives the location, methods, readings and photographs, so both households, and both insurers, see the same evidence. Ask your own insurer first whether it wants to approve the work.

Leaks we trace

Water leak detection Leaking water main Central heating leak detection Leaking underfloor heating Shower leak detection Underground water leak detection Gas pipe leak detection Thermal imaging leak detection Acoustic water leak detection Tracer gas leak detection Commercial leak detection Trace and access leak detection Leak detection for landlords Water leak repair

Useful guides

Water leak from an upstairs flat: what to do and who is liable Boiler overflow pipe dripping outside: what it means Central heating leak sealer: what it can and cannot do Damp patch on an internal wall: leak, condensation or something else?

Common questions in Cambridge

Testing usually settles it. We map the damp on your ceiling first, then test the fittings and pipes upstairs one at a time, so we need access up there. The report names the pipe or fitting at fault, and everyone works from the same facts.

Yes, provided they can give us the rooms, the meter, the stop tap and the valves. Mention the tenancy when you ring to book. As you will be away, we may ask for the money before the slot is confirmed.

We can usually repair leaks on pipework once they are found, quoted separately. An advance repair price is kept only if the fix happens on the day of the detection itself, and our repairs are guaranteed for 3 months on the pipework and fittings we install.

No. In a terrace the leaking pipe could be yours or next door’s. Reading your meter with everything off tells us whether your own supply is losing water, and readings on both sides show which way the damp spreads. Tell us if next door’s pipework runs near the wall.

Then the freeholder or managing agent will usually need to arrange the repair, and the report shows them exactly where it is. Mention a communal supply when you book, because shared mains sit outside no find, no fee on home water leaks.

Leak in a Cambridge flat or let?

Call 07700 102 008, 8am to 8pm every day. Tell us whose flat or garden we may need, and we can usually book a visit within 24 to 48 hours.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection