East Anglian Leak Detection
07700 102 008
East Anglian Leak Detection
Call us
Home / Cambridgeshire / Ely

Ely homes, lets and new builds

Leak detection in Ely for lets and newer homes

At an Ely let, the first sign is often a tenant forwarding a water company email; in a newer home, a leak hides under tiles. Our engineer Charlie finds either from the surface.

Old supply pipes traced by sound

Underfloor heating loops tested

Reports for landlords and insurers

Repairs guaranteed for 3 months

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

Get a quote

Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Ely is a small cathedral city on raised ground above the fens. Near the centre, older terraces and town houses stand beside flats over shops, and some are let. A leak there can involve two people: the tenant who sees the damp and the landlord who books and pays.

On the newer estates at the city's edge, leaks hide in the floor: plastic push-fit pipe under screed and, in many homes, underfloor heating whose loops meet at a manifold behind a cupboard door. Underfloor heating leak detection in Ely means testing those loops one at a time, so the floor stays down.

Water leak detection in Ely starts with the same question in any home: is the heating, the hot water or the cold supply losing water? The answer tells us whether to look under a floor indoors or outside, along the buried pipe from the meter.

Pale gault brick Victorian terraced houses with bicycles at the railings, typical of Cambridge New-build brick and timber-clad townhouses with solar panels and young street trees, typical of a Cambridgeshire estate

Two Ely jobs of the kind we do

Tenant's email at a Victorian terrace near the centre

The property

A Victorian terrace close to the city centre, let to tenants. Its old metal supply leaves a meter set in the pavement and runs beneath the front path and hall floor.

The problem

Anglian Water emailed the tenant about water passing the meter day and night, and the tenant sent it to the landlord, who lived away and could not come.

How we found it

With the tenant's help we shut the stop tap, and the meter kept turning. The ground microphone picked up a clear hiss under the front path, and tracer gas confirmed the spot.

The outcome

The landlord had paid before the booking was confirmed, so the report and photographs went straight to them. A new length of pipe was quoted separately for the landlord to approve.

Darkening grout round a kitchen island in a new home

The property

A town house on one of the newer estates, with a tiled ground floor over screed and plastic pipes laid in the floor to a kitchen island sink.

The problem

The owners noticed the grout round the island darkening, and the meter kept edging round with all the taps off. A plumber had looked under the sink and seen nothing wrong.

How we found it

Closing the valve on the island's cold feed stopped the meter, so that pipe was to blame. Moisture readings in the grout peaked at one corner, and the thermal camera showed a cool, damp patch spreading from the same spot.

The outcome

We marked that corner of the floor and photographed it. The owners accepted the repair price, so two tiles came up and the pipe was rejoined before we left. The report followed payment.

What we check first in an Ely house

1

Tell us the age of the house

A period house and a new build hide leaks in different places, so we ask which you have, what has been altered and where the meter is. That decides which system we test first.

2

Test the likeliest system

In older houses that is often the supply under the front path; in newer ones, the heating loops or a pipe in screed. Valves and the stop tap let us test one part at a time.

3

Mark it once two tests agree

When a second method lands on the same place, we mark it and photograph it. Any repair is quoted on its own, and the written report follows payment.

Who rings us from Ely

Landlords with a let near the centre

Your tenant forwards Anglian Water's email about constant use, and you live elsewhere. Say the property is not yours when booking; if you will be absent on the day, payment may be taken up front.

Owners on the newer estates

The boiler keeps losing pressure, nothing looks wet, and one patch of tiles feels warm. We find which loop is leaking at the manifold, then the point along it.

Policyholders who need evidence

Some insurers want to know where the water is escaping before anything is opened. Check your policy first; the report then gives the location, methods, readings and photographs.

Three tests for Ely's older and newer homes

Acoustic listening

For external leak detection in Ely, a ground microphone moved along the supply finds where the hiss is loudest. It needs the water on and under pressure; quiet plastic pipe may need tracer gas instead.

Thermal imaging

The camera needs the heating or hot water running. It then shows underfloor loops and hot pipes in screed, with warmth fanning out where one has failed, and a cold pipe leak as a cooler, damp patch.

Moisture meters

Readings in plaster, grout or screed show how wet one spot is compared with the rest of the room. They rarely find a leak alone, but they back up what another test has pointed to.

Older supplies near the city centre

Anglian Water supplies Ely. Its responsibility stops at your boundary or meter; the length from there into the house is normally the owner's. Near the centre, that length may be lead or iron, laid long ago and patched since, so whether to replace a failing run is the owner's choice once we have found the leak.

Is it worth claiming at all?

Before you claim, weigh the excess on your policy against our price for the search, which is agreed before you book. If a claim still makes sense, read the trace and access section and ask if the insurer needs to approve us. After payment, the report gives the location, methods, readings and photographs.

Towns and villages around Ely

Littleport sits just to the north and Soham to the south east, with Burwell beyond it. Towards Cambridge we reach Waterbeach and Cottenham, and to the north west lies Chatteris, out across the open fen.

Leak detection in Littleport Leak detection in Soham Leak detection in Burwell Leak detection in Waterbeach Leak detection in Cottenham Leak detection in Chatteris Leak detection in Cambridgeshire
A lone brick house beside a straight drainage channel on flat black fields, typical of the Cambridgeshire fens

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 Central heating leak sealer: what it can and cannot do Damp patch on an internal wall: leak, condensation or something else? Gas meter capped after a leak: what happens next

Common questions in Ely

Yes: we do the search, then write up the location, methods, readings and photographs. Paying the claim, or not, is your insurer’s call, so read the policy and any approval it asks for before booking. The report reaches you once the bill for the visit is settled.

Finding it is often easier, because old metal pipe carries the sound of a leak well. The catch comes with the repair: once tired old pipe is tested or mended, a second weak point can show itself, and that would be priced separately.

Whichever flat rings us, we need access to the one above, because that is usually where the search happens, so agree it with your neighbour or the managing agent first. The written report shows where the leak was found, which helps when deciding whose repair it is.

A block of our time on site, half a day or a full one, with the figure settled by phone or email first. Finding the leak early does not reduce it. Repairs are priced on their own, and a repair price holds only if the work is done during that visit.

We need free parking within 100 metres of the house, so tell us when booking if your street is tight or pay and display. Any parking or toll charges, like materials, are then passed on at cost under our terms.

Leak at an Ely home or let?

Call 07700 102 008 any day from 8am to 8pm. Visits are usually booked within 24 to 48 hours.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection