East Anglian Leak Detection
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Norfolk homes, farms and holiday lets

Leak detection in Norfolk for farms and holiday homes

Across Norfolk, a leak often shows up first on paper: a letter about constant use, or a verge meter that never rests. Our leak detection starts at the surface, and our engineer Charlie can usually repair the pipe once it is found.

Long supply pipes followed on foot

Keyholder access for second homes

Photographed mark at the leak

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Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Norfolk spreads a long way between its towns, and so does its pipework. Farmhouses and fen bungalows often sit well back from the road, with the meter on a verge. When a buried supply splits under a yard or paddock, the ground can soak up the water before any reaches the surface.

On the coast and around the Broads, many cottages, chalets and flats are second homes or holiday lets. Water can escape for weeks in an empty house before a cleaner notices a smell or a stain. Owners often ring from far away, and a keyholder can let us in.

Norwich, King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth add older terraces and flats over shops, and newer estates near the market towns bring underfloor heating. Our engineer Charlie has worked across the area for over 15 years. His first questions are where your meter sits and what lies between it and your back door.

Flint and red brick cottages with pantile roofs facing a village green, with a round-towered church behind, typical of a Norfolk village A farm track leading across ploughed fields to a red brick farmhouse under a wide sky, typical of rural Norfolk

Typical Norfolk jobs, from the Fens to the Broads

Fen bungalow whose supply crosses a neighbour's field

The property

A fen bungalow on a solid floor in west Norfolk. From the verge meter, its plastic supply crosses a neighbour's field to reach the house.

The problem

The water company's letter reported constant use, yet nothing was wet at the house, and nobody knew exactly where the pipe ran under the field.

How we found it

Shutting the indoor stop tap left the dial turning, so the loss was outside. With the neighbour's permission, a ground microphone followed the likely route, and tracer gas confirmed the loudest point.

The outcome

The spot, just inside the neighbour's boundary, was marked and photographed, so both households saw it before anyone dug. The owner later sent our report to the water company.

Heating leak under a farmhouse's old stone flags

The property

A Victorian farmhouse in mid Norfolk with radiators throughout. The heating pipes to the kitchen and back hall run beneath thick stone flags.

The problem

The boiler had to be refilled every few days. A heating engineer had ruled the boiler out, and the owners were told to add leak sealer but rang us first.

How we found it

Shutting off one heating circuit at a time showed the kitchen run losing water. Through thick flags the thermal camera showed only a broad warm area, so tracer gas went into that run and rose between two flags.

The outcome

Those two flags were lifted, and we priced the repair on its own. With no sealer in the system, nothing had blocked the testing.

Bar ceiling stain under a Broads pub's letting rooms

The property

A riverside pub in a Broads village with letting rooms upstairs. Their en suites were added to the old building later, two of them above the bar.

The problem

A brown ring on the bar ceiling grew whenever every room was let. The landlord could not close rooms for long, and the shower trays had already been resealed.

How we found it

Moisture readings put the wettest plaster under one en suite. We ran its fittings one by one, and only the shower made the readings climb. Once it ran hot, the thermal camera showed warmth spreading from the waste joint.

The outcome

As a business booking, the pub paid before the visit was confirmed. One board beside the tray came up to reach the joint, and the repair was quoted separately.

Signs worth checking at a Norfolk property

A green line across dry ground

Grass that stays green through dry weather, or a soft patch in a verge or paddock, often lies over a buried pipe losing water.

Weak taps at the far end

Taps furthest from the meter, or in an outbuilding, running weaker than before can mean water is escaping somewhere along a long supply.

A boiler gauge that keeps falling

A sealed heating system, oil or gas, should hold its pressure. Regular topping up, with no dripping radiator and the boiler ruled out, points to a leak on a hidden pipe.

A musty smell after time away

A holiday home that smells damp when you arrive, or a meter far ahead of your last reading, suggests water escaped while the place stood empty.

Planning a visit to a Norfolk property

1

Tell us what the pipe passes under

Say whether it crosses lawn, concrete, a field or next door's garden, and roughly how long it is. That shapes the price, agreed before you book.

2

We split inside from outside

With every tap off we watch the dial, then shut the stop tap. If the needle settles, water is escaping indoors. If it carries on, the pipe from the meter to the stop tap is leaking.

3

Found, then checked a second way

One method points to a spot, and another has to agree before we mark it and take photographs. Stiff or missing stop taps hold testing up, so mention them.

Who rings us from Norfolk

Farmhouses and bungalows far from the road

Some supplies here run 50 metres or more from the verge, under grass, concrete or next door's land. We ask about the route before tracing it from above.

Anyone holding a water company letter

The letter means your meter shows water passing all the time. On a rural plot the loss could be anywhere along a long pipe, so we find the point before anyone digs.

Owners of second homes and holiday lets

Living elsewhere is no barrier. Name the keyholder and the person paying when you book. If the payer will be away on the day, payment may be taken before the booking is confirmed.

The three tools we use most in Norfolk

Acoustic listening

A split in a pipe under mains pressure gives off a hiss. Our ground microphone hears it through a track, lawn or concrete yard, growing louder as we close in.

Tracer gas

Blue plastic pipe and soft fen soil often deaden that sound. We fill the pipe with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix instead, and a surface sensor catches it where it seeps out.

Thermal imaging

Once the water is hot, a thermal camera shows warmth spreading from a heating or hot water leak in a floor. Thick old flags blur the picture, and cold leaks need the other two.

Anglian Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, and your pipe

Most Norfolk homes are on Anglian Water; around Great Yarmouth it is Essex and Suffolk Water, so check your bill. A letter about steady use means water keeps passing your meter. Your company's responsibility ends at your boundary or meter. From a verge meter onward, the buried pipe is normally the householder's, even across a whole yard or field. Ask your company whether it offers an allowance once the repair is done.

Where the digging starts on a claim

Trace and access cover is part of some home policies, and a call to your insurer before booking tells you whether they must agree the work first. Our written report sets down the location, methods, readings and photographs. On a long Norfolk run, the mark shows where to start digging, though only uncovering the pipe proves the leak.

Norfolk towns with their own page

Norwich, King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, Thetford and Swaffham in Breckland, market towns such as Dereham, Wymondham, Diss and Fakenham, and the north coast and Broads villages all have pages below.

Leak detection in Attleborough Leak detection in Aylsham Leak detection in Brundall Leak detection in Caister-on-Sea Leak detection in Cromer Leak detection in Dereham Leak detection in Dersingham Leak detection in Diss Leak detection in Downham Market Leak detection in Fakenham Leak detection in Gorleston-on-Sea Leak detection in Great Yarmouth Leak detection in Harleston Leak detection in Hemsby Leak detection in Hethersett Leak detection in Hingham Leak detection in Holt Leak detection in Hunstanton Leak detection in King's Lynn Leak detection in Loddon Leak detection in North Elmham Leak detection in North Walsham Leak detection in Norwich Leak detection in Poringland Leak detection in Reepham Leak detection in Sheringham Leak detection in Stalham Leak detection in Swaffham Leak detection in Thetford Leak detection in Thorpe St Andrew Leak detection in Watton Leak detection in Wells-next-the-Sea Leak detection in Wroxham Leak detection in Wymondham
Victorian red brick terraced houses on a sloping street, typical of Norwich

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 Damp patch on an internal wall: leak, condensation or something else? Gas meter capped after a leak: what happens next Hot water leak or cold water leak: how to tell which pipe is leaking

Common questions in Norfolk

We do. Water leak detection in Norfolk takes us from the fen droves west of King’s Lynn to the Broads and the cliffs at Cromer. Visits are usually booked within 24 to 48 hours, and lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Not usually, though a long run takes longer. No find, no fee on home water leaks applies only to a main of up to 30 m, and not to shared mains or pipes on an unknown route. Beyond that, the half or full day price agreed beforehand stands whatever the outcome. Full conditions are on our terms page.

We can. Ask whoever holds the keys to find the meter and the stop tap beforehand and check that each valve turns, because testing means shutting them off and on. The written report is sent to you once the visit is paid in full.

Usually, yes. The stop tap that divides house from buried pipe tends to be indoors, and shutting it proves which side leaks. We will also want the meter and any outdoor valves, plus somewhere to park without charge within 100 m.

With a sketch of everything the supply feeds: house, cottages, yards and troughs. We close each branch in turn and read the meter after each, which shows the leaking branch. A supply feeding farm buildings or more than one home sits outside no find, no fee on home water leaks, so you pay the agreed price whatever we find. Full conditions are on our terms page.

Leak at a Norfolk home or farm?

Call 07700 102 008. Lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day, and visits are usually booked within 24 to 48 hours.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection