East Anglian Leak Detection
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Houghton Regis homes, old and new

Leak detection in Houghton Regis

A meter turning all night, the pipe now under an extension. Or a new home losing heating pressure. We find the cause before any floor is opened.

Supply pipes found under extensions

Underfloor heating loops tested

Report with readings and photographs

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Houghton Regis was a small village until large estates were built in the 1950s and 1960s for London families. Many of those houses have been extended since, some over the original supply pipe, so leak detection in Houghton Regis often means a leak under a newer floor.

To the north and east of the town, new homes on former farmland come with plastic pipework and often underfloor heating downstairs. There the first warning sign is more often a falling boiler gauge than a turning meter, and the cause is not always in the floor.

New-build red brick homes with solar panels and young trees, typical of a new Bedfordshire estate Limestone and thatched cottages along a curving village street with a church spire, typical of north Bedfordshire

What a typical job looks like here

Supply pipe under a garage turned into a playroom

The property

A 1960s end terrace on one of the older estates. Its side garage is now a playroom, and the supply pipe to the kitchen runs under its concrete floor.

The problem

At midnight, with every tap off, the meter still turned and the bill had climbed. The playroom carpet felt cold and faintly damp by one wall.

How we found it

The meter kept going with the kitchen stop tap shut, so the leak was before it. Under the rolled-back carpet, tracer gas and moisture readings both peaked by that wall.

The outcome

We opened a patch of playroom floor no bigger than needed and repaired the pipe, quoted separately. The owner filed our report with the water company's letter.

Falling boiler pressure in a new home with dry floors

The property

A new detached house north of the town, with underfloor heating downstairs, radiators upstairs and its manifold in the utility room.

The problem

Within two days of each top-up the boiler fell below 1 bar. Nothing was damp, bleeding the radiators changed nothing, and the owner feared the floor would come up.

How we found it

With the boiler shut off from the pipework, every underfloor loop and the radiator circuit held pressure. The loss was at the boiler, whose safety valve was letting water out through a small pipe on the outside wall.

The outcome

No floor was opened. We recorded the readings and photographed the dripping pipe for the owner to take back to the builder, and the visit was charged at the agreed price.

Homes we help in Houghton Regis

Owners of extended estate houses

Your meter shows a leak, but the pipe now runs under an extension or conservatory. We pinpoint it from above, so that floor is not opened on a guess.

Buyers of the new homes north of town

Heating pressure keeps dropping and nothing looks wet. We test the boiler side, each underfloor loop and the radiators separately, so a floor is opened only for a leaking loop.

Landlords letting homes in the town

A tenant sends on a leak letter from the water company. Say who has a key and who pays, and the report comes straight to you.

Your supply pipe, even under the extension

The supplier named on your water bill is who to speak to about a leak letter. Their responsibility runs out at the meter or boundary. After that the pipe is usually yours, even the length now under an extension, conservatory or converted garage, so tell us about anything built over it when you ring.

From the whole system to one marked spot

1

Split the system

We separate the supply pipe, the hot water and the heating, and test each one alone. Only the part still losing water gets traced further.

2

Find the length

On a supply pipe, that is the stretch between meter and stop tap. On underfloor heating, it is the one loop that will not hold pressure.

3

Find the point

Charlie narrows it to a spot with tracer gas, a ground microphone or thermal imaging, then checks it with a different method before marking and photographing it.

What each method does in a Houghton Regis home

Acoustic listening

Water forced from a pressurised pipe is noisy, and a ground microphone hears it through concrete and paving. A small leak on plastic pipe can be too quiet.

Tracer gas

When a leak is too quiet to hear, tracer gas, a hydrogen and nitrogen mix, goes into the emptied pipe and rises through the floor at the break.

Thermal imaging

On a warm underfloor system, the camera shows the loops as evenly spaced lines. Heat spreading between them marks a likely leak, which we then test with gas.

Is your supply pipe on your policy?

Not every home policy includes the underground supply pipe, or trace and access, so check the wording before booking; some insurers want to agree the work beforehand. Our report then gives the location, methods, readings and photographs for the claim, though whether it is paid is your insurer's decision alone.

Common questions in Houghton Regis

Only a small patch. We locate the leak from above and prove it a second way, so only the marked spot is opened. If the pipe runs in ducting or under insulation, tell us, as that can limit what any survey shows.

It can. A leak is often at a joint, or where a pipe was damaged during fitting out. Underfloor heating leak detection in Houghton Regis starts at the manifold, the valves the loops run from, testing each loop alone before tracing the one that fails.

It can. No find, no fee on home water leaks covers one leak on a water main up to 30 m or the hot and cold supply pipes, at least half a litre a minute, where we also carry out the access and repair. Shared mains and pipes whose route is unknown are not included. Full conditions are on our terms page.

Turn off every tap and appliance and note the meter reading. Look again an hour later without using water. If it has moved, shut the stop tap and repeat. Still moving means the pipe before your stop tap, perhaps under the extension.

Visits are usually booked within 24 to 48 hours, and lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day. When you ring, have a recent meter reading or boiler pressure figure to hand, and mention any extension or garage conversion over the pipe.

Near Houghton Regis

There is no gap between Houghton Regis and Dunstable, and Luton's northern edge is close by to the east. We also reach Toddington and Barton-le-Clay, plus Caddington and Eaton Bray.

Leak detection in Dunstable Leak detection in Toddington Leak detection in Eaton Bray Leak detection in Caddington Leak detection in Luton Leak detection in Barton-le-Clay Leak detection in Bedfordshire
Rows of red brick terraced houses with slate roofs and chimneys climbing a hillside, typical of a Bedfordshire town

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

Meter turning in Houghton Regis?

Ring 07700 102 008 and tell us roughly where your meter and stop tap are.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection