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Royston and the border villages

Leak detection in Royston

Royston sits on the Cambridgeshire border, and the homes we visit range from town estates to villages in two counties. Testing shows which pipe is losing water; tracing shows where along it.

Supply, heating and hot water leaks

Confirmed a second way, then marked

Written report for your insurer

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Royston is a market town on the county line, with Cambridgeshire just to the north and direct trains to London and Cambridge. Around the old centre are later housing estates, and beyond them farmland and villages either side of the border, not all on the town's water supplier.

Leak detection in Royston changes with the house. On the later estates, many radiator and hot water pipes are buried in concrete ground floors, so a falling boiler gauge or a warm patch on tiles is the usual first clue. In the villages, it is more often a meter that never rests.

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

Typical Royston jobs, in town and out

Gauge falling only when the heating ran

The property

A detached 1990s house at the edge of town, its downstairs radiator pipes laid in a concrete floor under tiles and carpet.

The problem

The gauge dropped on days the heating ran and barely moved when it was off. No sealer had been added, and nothing looked damp.

How we found it

With the circuits isolated, only the downstairs one lost pressure. Once the floor was warm, thermal imaging showed heat spreading from one point in the hall, and tracer gas rose there.

The outcome

With the spot marked and photographed, one tile and a patch of screed were lifted. The joint underneath was repaired while we were there, quoted separately.

A bill jump at converted farm units

The property

Farm buildings outside Royston, now small business units around a concrete yard, fed from one roadside meter with a sub-meter per unit.

The problem

The owner's water bill had jumped. One unit's sub-meter kept turning overnight with the unit locked, though nothing inside looked wet.

How we found it

Isolated, that unit's branch would not hold pressure. It runs under the concrete floor to a back kitchen; the ground microphone found the hiss halfway along, and tracer gas confirmed the point.

The outcome

We marked and photographed it. The owner had the branch repair quoted separately and sent that quote to the business insurer with our report.

Who we help in and around Royston

Owners with a meter letter

In Royston the letter comes from Affinity Water; over the border it may be another company. Either way, the first test is whether the meter stops when you close your stop tap.

Owners of newer homes on concrete floors

If the boiler needs regular top-ups but no damp shows, suspect a heating pipe under the floor. Count the top-ups in a week, and find out whether anyone has added leak sealer.

Farms and rural businesses

Converted farm buildings often run several supplies off one meter. We test each branch alone, so you know which unit or building the water is going to.

Affinity Water, the county line and your bill

Affinity Water supplies Royston itself, but villages over the county line may have another supplier: check your bill. Either way, the company's part normally stops at the boundary or meter. Past it, the owner is usually responsible for the pipe, and on a farm it can be long, shared or cross a neighbour's land.

The order we work in

1

Tell us what is moving

When you ring, say whether the meter, the boiler gauge or both are moving, and what kind of building it is. That shapes the plan and price.

2

Water or heating, tested apart

On site we close the stop tap and the heating valves in turn, so we know whether the supply, hot water or heating is losing water before tracing.

3

Pinpointed, confirmed, recorded

Our engineer Charlie finds the point with whichever method suits the pipe, checks it a different way, then marks and photographs it for your report.

Three methods, matched to the pipe

Pressure testing

Isolating one length or branch and seeing whether it holds picks out the leaking pipe before tracing. Old pipe can reveal a second weak point under test; fixing that is quoted separately.

Thermal imaging

Warm water escaping into concrete heats the floor above. With the heating or hot water on for a while, the camera sees that heat as a patch, brightest over the leak.

Acoustic listening

Suits metal pipe and leaks under good pressure. The ground microphone hears water escaping through soil, gravel or concrete, so no trial holes are needed along the route.

Breaking into concrete, and your claim

Before anyone breaks into a concrete floor or yard, your insurer will expect evidence of where. Our report records the location, methods, readings and photographs, and reaches you once the visit has been paid for. Opening up should begin at our mark; the leak itself is only proven when the pipe is uncovered.

Common questions in Royston

Usually. A heating or hot water leak shows on the thermal camera as a warm patch on the floor; a cold supply pipe is found by sound or tracer gas instead. We mark the spot, so only that piece of floor needs opening.

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. Longer, shared or unmapped pipes fall outside it. Full conditions are on our terms page.

Leave it on its usual settings. We isolate parts of the system first, then run it hot for the thermal camera. No find, no fee on home water leaks does not cover central heating; the visit is priced and agreed before you book.

It can. Mention it when you book: if the supply passes under next door’s garden or field, testing may need their side too, so ask them first. A pipe shared with them also falls outside the home water leak promise.

Testing is the same as at a house. The differences: we may need payment before confirming the booking, and no find, no fee on home water leaks does not cover businesses. Tell us how many units, supplies and meters the site has.

Around Royston and over the border

Buntingford lies to the south, with Baldock and Letchworth Garden City to the west: three more towns we cover for leak detection in Hertfordshire. Over the Cambridgeshire border are Melbourn and Sawston; Stotfold and Potton are in Bedfordshire.

Leak detection in Buntingford Leak detection in Baldock Leak detection in Stotfold Leak detection in Sawston Leak detection in Potton Leak detection in Letchworth Garden City 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

Leak in Royston or a nearby village?

Call 07700 102 008. Visits are usually booked within 24 to 48 hours.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection