East Anglian Leak Detection
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Stevenage, the first New Town

Leak detection in Stevenage

From New Town maisonettes to newer homes with underfloor heating, many Stevenage leaks hide in concrete. We find them from the surface and mark where to open up.

Underfloor heating loops tested singly

Readings taken in both flats

Repairs guaranteed for 3 months

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

The first of the New Towns built after the Second World War, Stevenage grew again in the 1980s. Alongside its houses it built flats and maisonettes, some now let. Where homes share a concrete floor, a leak in one often shows up in the home below.

In a Stevenage flat or maisonette, the first question is often whose home the water actually starts in. Newer homes on the town's later estates pose a different puzzle: underfloor heating or plastic pipe set in a screed floor, slowly losing pressure while no damp shows anywhere.

1930s mock Tudor semi-detached houses with hedged front gardens on a frosty morning, typical of a Hertfordshire commuter town White rendered Arts and Crafts cottages behind hedges and wide grass verges, typical of a Hertfordshire garden city

Typical Stevenage leaks we are asked to find

Underfloor heating loop under a converted garage

The property

A 1980s link-detached house whose garage is now a playroom, with water underfloor heating in its screed, run from the hall manifold.

The problem

The boiler needed refilling every week or so, yet no floor showed damp, and the playroom felt warm in places and cool in others.

How we found it

Closing loops one by one at the manifold left only the playroom loop dropping. Thermal imaging showed a hot bloom where the new screed meets the old garage floor, and tracer gas surfaced there.

The outcome

Marked and photographed, the spot needed only a small square of screed lifting. The damaged pipe was joined, quoted separately, and the loop refilled and tested.

Hot pipe in a maisonette floor, traced from above

The property

An upper maisonette, now let, whose hot pipe from the boiler to the kitchen sink is buried in the concrete floor, above the kitchen of the home below.

The problem

The neighbour below reported a damp patch spreading across their kitchen ceiling. The landlord upstairs could not attend, so the tenant let us in.

How we found it

Moisture readings below peaked under the upstairs kitchen. Upstairs, the meter stopped when the valve feeding the boiler was shut, so the hot pipe was leaking. Thermal imaging traced it, and a ground microphone heard the hiss there.

The outcome

The mark upstairs was photographed. After payment, our report went to the landlord to pass to their insurer; any repair was a separate quote.

Three kinds of Stevenage call

People living below a leaking flat

Water is marking your ceiling and the source is upstairs. We take readings in your flat, then need access above, because concrete floors are investigated from on top.

Owners of homes with heated floors

The boiler gauge keeps sinking, but every floor looks dry. At the manifold we shut each loop in turn, so only the faulty one gets traced.

Landlords of New Town houses and flats

A tenant tells you about a stain, or sends on Affinity Water's letter. When booking, say the home is let, who pays, and whether your tenant can be in.

Affinity Water and the stop tap in your home

Affinity Water supplies Stevenage. A letter about constant use means its meter keeps recording flow even when nobody should be running water. Since its pipe usually finishes at your boundary or meter, the leak is likely to be on your side. In a house the inside stop tap is often under the kitchen sink; in a flat it may be in a landing cupboard.

Whose leak, which pipe, which point

1

Whose home is it in?

Where flats share floors, readings below show where water arrives and access above shows where it starts. Say at booking if a neighbour's home may be involved.

2

Supply, hot water or heating?

The water meter, the valve feeding the boiler and the heating gauge each tell us about a different system. Watching all three for a few minutes rules most of the house out.

3

Down to one spot

Heat and gas pin the leak down inside the concrete, and both must point to the same spot before it is marked. The mark is photographed for the report.

Methods for concrete floors

Thermal imaging

Warm water running through a pipe in concrete shows its path on the camera. A leak spreads warmth sideways into the floor, so the line turns into a bloom.

Pressure testing

Each underfloor loop or flat's pipework can be closed off and put under pressure. A gauge that drops proves which part leaks before any tracing starts.

Tracer gas

We fill the isolated loop or pipe with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix. Where it escapes, the gas rises through screed and floor coverings to our detector.

What your insurer will look for

For a trace and access claim on a Stevenage home, an insurer will want two things: the exact spot and proof of how it was found. Our report records both, with readings and photographs. Ask first whether yours must approve the work, and remember a leak is only proven once the floor is opened.

Common questions in Stevenage

It is. Closing each loop in turn at the manifold shows which one cannot hold pressure. That loop is then scanned with the camera once warm and checked with tracer gas. Insulation or a membrane over the pipe can limit what any survey finds.

It is. If the meter keeps turning with the inside stop tap closed, the leak is outdoors, between the meter and the house. We move a ground microphone along the pipe’s route, then confirm the loudest point with tracer gas before marking it.

In most cases. With concrete between the two homes, the source is traced from upstairs. Readings in your flat show where water arrives, and the owner or tenant above must let us test their pipes and fittings. Mention this at booking.

Visits are usually booked within 24 to 48 hours, and our lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day. When you ring, have the meter reading and boiler pressure to hand, so we can plan which tests to run first on the visit.

Usually. We quote for the repair separately, and that price stands if the work is done during the visit. Repairs are guaranteed for 3 months on what we install, not the whole system, and the screed is opened only at the mark.

Also near Stevenage

Knebworth sits just to the south, with Oaklands and Welwyn beyond. Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City and Baldock lie to the north, and Welwyn Garden City is a little further down the A1(M).

Leak detection in Oaklands Leak detection in Hitchin Leak detection in Welwyn Leak detection in Letchworth Garden City Leak detection in Baldock Leak detection in Welwyn Garden City Leak detection in Hertfordshire
Timber-framed and brick cottages beside a village pond with a willow tree, typical of a Hertfordshire village

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

Central heating leak sealer: what it can and cannot do How to choose a leak detection company: questions worth asking Microbore pipe leaks: finding a leak in thin heating pipes No find, no fee on home water leaks: what our terms cover and what they do not

Leak in a Stevenage home or flat?

Ring 07700 102 008 and tell us whether you live in a house, flat or maisonette. Lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection