East Anglian Leak Detection
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Serving Wells and the farms inland

Leak detection in Wells-next-the-Sea for second homes and farms

When a home in Wells-next-the-Sea stands empty, the first sign of a leak often comes from a neighbour, a cleaner or the flat below. We arrange access, then trace the leak from the surface.

Testing while you are away

Farm supply pipes followed

Ceilings below empty flats checked

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Narrow streets and yards of older cottages run back from the quay at Wells-next-the-Sea, a harbour town on the north Norfolk coast. Many cottages, and flats made from old harbour buildings, are holiday lets or second homes. Leak detection in Wells-next-the-Sea often means finding a leak that ran unseen for weeks.

Inland, farmhouses and cottages sit down lanes towards Wighton and Warham, some far from the meter at the road. So Wells has three typical situations: homes empty between visits, flats with another flat above, and long supply pipes across farmland. Each starts with a different test.

A farm track leading across ploughed fields to a red brick farmhouse under a wide sky, typical of rural Norfolk Victorian red brick terraced houses on a sloping street, typical of Norwich

Typical jobs around Wells

Wet ceiling below a flat nobody was using

The property

A first-floor flat in an old brick warehouse turned into homes, with concrete floors laid at conversion and a second home above.

The problem

A stain crept across the living room ceiling while the flat upstairs stood empty, and the agent could not say whose pipe was to blame.

How we found it

Readings below pointed to the kitchen upstairs. With the agent's key we tested its fittings in turn; the dishwasher supply, run in the floor behind the units, failed, and tracer gas confirmed the point.

The outcome

Once marked and photographed, the point went into one report for both owners and the agent. The repair upstairs was quoted on its own.

Boiler pressure gone between stays at a yard cottage

The property

A flint cottage in one of the town's old yards, kept as a second home, with radiator pipes laid in a solid floor when it was modernised.

The problem

Each time the owners arrived, the boiler gauge had dropped near zero and needed topping up. Nothing looked wet, and no radiator was dripping.

How we found it

The keyholder put the heating on before we arrived. With the radiators shut off, the floor pipes still lost pressure. Thermal imaging found a warm patch near the back door; tracer gas confirmed it.

The outcome

Only the floor over the mark was opened, for a repair priced separately. The absent owners received the photographs and report once the visit was paid.

People who ring us about Wells properties

Second-home and holiday let owners

A neighbour or cleaner spots a damp patch, or the bill climbs while nobody stays. Name the keyholder and whoever is paying, because payment may be taken ahead.

Farms and cottages down long lanes

The meter is at the road, the pipe crosses a field or yard, and nobody knows its route. A ground microphone follows it, and tracer gas confirms the spot.

Flat owners below an empty flat

Water is coming through your ceiling and the owner upstairs is away. We take readings below, then need a key to test the fittings above.

Reading the meter between stays

Anglian Water supplies Wells. If you stay only now and then, note the meter reading as you leave and again when you return, with nothing running. Any change means water is escaping on your side. Movement with the stop tap shut puts the leak on your supply pipe outside, usually the owner's to mend.

Arranging a visit when you live away

1

Keys, parking and the stop tap

Tell us who holds the key, and check they can find the stop tap, meter and any valves. We need free parking within 100 m, which can be hard in the old streets.

2

Testing in an empty house

An empty home is quiet, which suits the ground microphone, and meter readings stay clean. Our engineer Charlie works through supply, heating and hot water before tracing.

3

Payment, report and repair quote

Payment is due at the end, by card or bank transfer. When the payer is elsewhere, we may want payment in advance. The report follows payment; any repair is priced separately.

How each finding gets checked

Acoustic listening

On a long farm pipe the ground microphone moves along the route step by step, listening for the loudest point. That point is only a suspect until another test backs it.

Tracer gas

A hydrogen and nitrogen mix goes into the emptied pipe, leaks out where the water did, and our detector finds it at the surface. It settles what the microphone suggested.

Moisture meters

In the flat below, readings show where the ceiling is wettest and how far damp has spread, pointing to the room above and the fittings to test.

Wells, Holkham and the villages inland

Holkham lies just west, with Burnham Market beyond, while Stiffkey and Blakeney are east along the coast. Inland, our leak detection in Norfolk covers Wighton, Warham and Walsingham, and reaches Fakenham and Holt.

Leak detection in Fakenham Leak detection in Holt Leak detection in North Elmham Leak detection in Sheringham Leak detection in Hunstanton Leak detection in Dersingham Leak detection in Norfolk
Flint and red brick cottages with pantile roofs facing a village green, with a round-towered church behind, typical of a Norfolk village

Converted buildings and two kinds of cover

In a building of flats, the freeholder or managing agent may insure the structure, while each owner insures their own contents. A leak from above can touch both. Before booking, find out which policy carries trace and access cover. The report we write shows where the water started: location, methods, readings and photographs.

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

Boiler overflow pipe dripping outside: what it means Damp patch on an internal wall: leak, condensation or something else? Gas meter capped after a leak: what happens next Hot water leak or cold water leak: how to tell which pipe is leaking

Common questions in Wells-next-the-Sea

Yes. A neighbour, cleaner or agent with a key can let us in, if they can find the meter and stop tap. Say when booking that you will be elsewhere and who is paying, since payment may then be due before the visit.

A free space within 100 m of the door, because equipment comes and goes during the visit. If only paid parking is close by, it is charged at cost. Mention it when you book so we arrive knowing where to stop.

We start below, mapping where your ceiling is wettest. Then someone must let us upstairs, so ask the owner or managing agent for a key. Say at booking that two flats are involved, so we allow time for testing both.

Not usually. We start at the meter and where the pipe enters the house, then work along likely routes with the ground microphone. An unknown route falls outside no find, no fee on home water leaks, so a half or full day price is set in advance. Full conditions are on our terms page.

Visits are usually booked within 24 to 48 hours, and lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day. If water is reaching a ceiling, turn it off at the stop tap first, and tell us who has the key to the property.

Leak at your Wells home while you are away?

Call 07700 102 008 or email hello@eastanglianleakdetection.co.uk with the address and who holds the key.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection