East Anglian Leak Detection
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Dunstable homes and business units

Leak detection in Dunstable for homes on solid floors

A boiler that keeps losing pressure with nothing wet in sight can mean a heating pipe leaking inside a concrete floor. We find which length, and where on it.

Heating pipes traced inside screed

Price agreed before you book

Business units and workshops

Repairs guaranteed for 3 months

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Dunstable grew up where two ancient roads cross below the Downs, and for much of the last century it was a works town. Some old works sites later became housing, with 1990s homes on ground that once held factories. Post-war estates and an older centre surround them.

Homes of that era usually have the downstairs heating pipes in the screed, the smooth concrete layer on top of the floor. A leak there soaks in and rarely shows, so the boiler gauge may be the only clue. That is why leak detection in Dunstable often begins with the boiler.

Rows of red brick terraced houses with slate roofs and chimneys climbing a hillside, typical of a Bedfordshire town New-build red brick homes with solar panels and young trees, typical of a new Bedfordshire estate

Two typical Dunstable jobs

Boiler losing pressure in a 1990s detached house

The property

A 1990s detached house on former factory land, with a concrete ground floor and the heating pipes laid in the screed.

The problem

The boiler needed refilling every other day. An engineer had passed it and suspected the floor; no sealant had gone in, and nothing looked damp.

How we found it

With the upstairs shut off, the ground floor circuit failed a pressure test. Thermal imaging on the warm floor showed heat blooming across the dining room, and tracer gas agreed.

The outcome

Only a small square of floor was lifted at the mark. The repair, quoted separately, was done while we were there and guaranteed for 3 months.

Gas pipe under the side path of a post-war semi

The property

A post-war semi on one of the estates, its gas meter in a box at the front and the pipe buried under the side path to the kitchen boiler.

The problem

Smelling gas by the side path, the family rang the gas emergency service, who made it safe. Their gas engineer then wanted the leak found before lifting slabs.

How we found it

The isolated pipe failed a pressure test. We then filled it with tracer gas and moved the detector slab by slab, and the reading peaked where the pipe turns towards the wall.

The outcome

We marked and photographed that slab for the gas engineer, who lifted it and made the repair. The rest of the path stayed down.

Who we help in Dunstable

Owners of newer homes on concrete floors

There may be nothing to see, or just a warm strip on the tiles. We test the downstairs heating by itself, so the screed is opened in one place.

Anyone told it is not the boiler

Your boiler engineer has passed the boiler and blames the pipes. Say how often it needs refilling and whether sealant went in, as sealant can stop testing working.

Businesses on the industrial estates

A unit's water bill jumps, or a buried gas pipe has been made safe and nobody knows where it leaks. We book on business terms and report in writing.

Who supplies your water in Dunstable

We do not assume which company supplies your street, so check your water bill for its name. Its part usually stops at the meter or boundary, and the pipe beyond is normally yours; a letter about constant flow points there. Water leak detection in Dunstable on that pipe, under a drive or garden, starts at the meter.

Tracing a heating leak in a solid floor

1

Your top-up history

First we ask how often the boiler needs refilling, whether sealant has been added and which floors the pipes cross. That tells us how much time to allow.

2

Splitting the circuits

Charlie shuts off parts of the heating and pressure tests each one. A circuit that holds is ruled out; the one that drops is the one we follow.

3

Warm floor, then a second check

With warm water circulating, thermal imaging picks out heat escaping into the screed. A tracer gas reading or a further pressure test then confirms the point before marking.

The methods we lean on in Dunstable

Thermal imaging

The camera needs the heating on for a while, so warm water fills the pipes. On tiles or vinyl, a leak then shows as heat spreading out of line.

Pressure testing

We close off a section of pipe and watch a gauge. Falling pressure means that section leaks. It shows which length to search, though not the exact point.

Tracer gas

The heating pipe is emptied and charged with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix. It escapes at the leak, works up through the concrete and registers on a detector above.

Opening the floor for an insurance claim

Where trace and access is part of your cover, it helps to open the floor in the right place first time. Our marked, photographed spot is where to start, although nobody can call a leak proven until the pipe is uncovered. The report covers the location, methods, readings and photographs, and follows payment.

Common questions in Dunstable

It helps. Thermal imaging works once warm water has been through the pipes for a while, so we may ask you to switch the heating on first. If the boiler cannot hold pressure that long, pressure testing and tracer gas take over.

No. The point is found from the surface and confirmed with another method, and only that spot is opened. On tiles that might mean lifting a few; under carpet, a small cut in the screed once it is rolled back.

Mostly. We begin at the manifold, the set of valves usually kept in a cupboard, and test the loops one at a time. Whichever loop loses pressure is traced with thermal imaging on the warm floor, then confirmed with tracer gas before marking.

No. No find, no fee on home water leaks does not cover central heating. For a heating leak we agree the price by phone or email first, for half a day’s or a full day’s searching, and it stays the same however quickly we find it.

Yes, once the gas emergency service has made it safe. If you can smell gas, ring the gas emergency service first. We then trace the leak on the isolated pipework and mark it for your gas engineer, who carries out the repair.

Also serving

Houghton Regis and Dunstable have grown into each other, with Luton just beyond on the east side. We also cover Caddington, Toddington and Eaton Bray, where older cottages sit alongside newer closes.

Leak detection in Houghton Regis Leak detection in Eaton Bray Leak detection in Caddington Leak detection in Toddington Leak detection in Luton Leak detection in Leighton Buzzard Leak detection in Bedfordshire
Limestone and thatched cottages along a curving village street with a church spire, typical of north Bedfordshire

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

How to choose a leak detection company: questions worth asking No find, no fee on home water leaks: what our terms cover and what they do not Underfloor heating losing pressure: manifold, loop or boiler? Water leak in a new build house: what to do and who fixes it

Boiler losing pressure in Dunstable?

Call 07700 102 008 and say how often you top up. Lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection