East Anglian Leak Detection
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Hatfield lets and family homes

Leak detection in Hatfield

Many Hatfield homes are let, so a tenant may spot the leak while the bill goes to a landlord living elsewhere. We work with both, split heating from supply, and trace whichever pipe is losing water.

Tenants can show us round

Landlords can book from elsewhere

Leaks under solid floors traced

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Hatfield was built up after the war as one of the new towns ringing London, and much of it still shows the plain modern style of that time. It is a university town too, so plenty of houses are let, some to groups of students.

Those post-war homes shape leak detection in Hatfield too. Many have solid ground floors with heating pipes, and sometimes cold pipes, laid in the concrete, so water can soak away for weeks with nothing to see. The meter and the boiler gauge are often the only clues.

White rendered Arts and Crafts cottages behind hedges and wide grass verges, typical of a Hertfordshire garden city Timber-framed and brick cottages beside a village pond with a willow tree, typical of a Hertfordshire village

Two kinds of Hatfield leak

Tenants refilling the boiler in a shared house

The property

A post-war semi let to five students, with narrow heating pipes laid in the concrete ground floor to each radiator.

The problem

The tenants were refilling the boiler every couple of days, despite a leak sealer an earlier plumber had added. The landlord, living elsewhere, heard about it last.

How we found it

Closing the upstairs radiators made no difference, so the loss was downstairs. With the heating hot, thermal imaging found warmth at the foot of the stairs; a pressure test on that branch confirmed it.

The outcome

A tenant let us in and the landlord paid ahead, so the report followed straight after. The floor repair was priced on its own and carried out before we left.

A meter letter, and a leak under the hall floor

The property

A new town terrace with a solid ground floor. The meter sits at the pavement edge, and the cold pipe to a downstairs cloakroom runs through the hall floor.

The problem

A letter reported continuous use. Every tap and toilet was quiet, and the owners assumed the pipe under the front garden had failed.

How we found it

The meter stopped as soon as the stop tap was shut, putting the leak indoors. Thermal imaging picked out a cool damp area along the cloakroom pipe's route in the hall floor, and tracer gas agreed.

The outcome

Our mark and photographs kept the front garden out of it; only a small square of hall floor came up, for a repair quoted separately.

How a Hatfield job comes together

1

Who lets us in, who pays

Tell us if the house is let, which tenant will be in and who pays. A payer who will be somewhere else may be asked to pay at booking, not on the day.

2

Heating or supply: which is losing

Our engineer Charlie checks the meter with every tap shut and the boiler gauge with the heating isolated. Whichever reading moves tells him which set of pipes to chase.

3

Traced, agreed and reported

The leak has to be located twice, by two different methods, before we mark and photograph it. Those photographs and readings go into your written report.

Who we help across Hatfield

Landlords of shared student houses

Where bills are in the rent, a leak costs you before any tenant notices. Book it as a let and name the tenant opening up; the report comes to you after payment.

Owners forever topping up the boiler

A boiler needing refills every few days is losing water, and here the pipes often run through a solid floor. We trace them from above before any floor is opened.

Households holding a meter letter

A letter about continuous use means water is passing the meter all the time. Shutting the stop tap and watching the dial tells us whether to search outside or indoors.

Methods we lean on in Hatfield

Pressure testing

On a sealed heating system we close radiators or branches in turn and watch the gauge. Only the section that cannot hold steady is worth searching.

Thermal imaging

Heating pipes in a solid floor show as faint warm lines on the camera once the radiators are hot. A leak shows as a wider warm patch spilling off one of those lines.

Acoustic listening

Outside, a ground microphone moved along the supply pipe's route hears water forced out under pressure. The sound peaks over the leak, even beneath a path.

Affinity Water, allowances and the report

Affinity Water supplies Hatfield. Its pipe runs from the main in the road to your meter or boundary, and from there to your taps the pipework is normally yours. Ask Affinity whether its leak policy includes an allowance after a repair; our report records where the leak was, which you can show them.

When your report arrives, and why then

We send the written report when the invoice is paid, so a landlord who pays in advance is not left waiting for it. It gives the location, methods, readings and photographs. Planning to claim on a landlord's or home policy? Ask your insurer first if they need to agree the work.

Places near Hatfield

Welwyn Garden City, the planned town next door, lies just north, with the older village of Welwyn beyond. St Albans is to the west, London Colney to the south-west and Potters Bar to the south.

Leak detection in Welwyn Garden City Leak detection in London Colney Leak detection in Welwyn Leak detection in Potters Bar Leak detection in St Albans Leak detection in Oaklands Leak detection in Hertfordshire
1930s mock Tudor semi-detached houses with hedged front gardens on a frosty morning, typical of a Hertfordshire commuter 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

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

Common questions in Hatfield

The tests are the same; the arrangements differ. Tell us it is let, who will open up and who pays. Tenants can show us the meter, boiler and stop tap, and the landlord receives the report after payment, wherever they live.

It can get in the way of some tests, which is why we ask about it when you book. Tell us what was added and roughly when, if you know. That lets us plan the order of testing around it.

Students can stay put. Someone needs to open the door and give us access to the boiler, the meter and any rooms with pipes. Water or heating may go off for short spells while sections are tested, but daily life carries on.

Not always. Water can also escape from a radiator valve, from pipes under upstairs boards, or through the boiler’s pressure relief pipe, which usually runs outside. Closing sections in turn and watching the gauge shows which, before anyone looks at the floor.

We can usually book a visit within 24 to 48 hours. In a let house the date also depends on when a tenant can be at home, so please have two or three possible times ready when you ring us.

Leak in a Hatfield house or let?

Call 07700 102 008 and tell us whether you own, let or rent the home, and who can let us in.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection