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Gas pipework, after it is made safe

Gas pipe leak detection after the supply is made safe

If you can smell gas, ring the gas emergency service first. Once they have made things safe, the leak may still be hidden. We trace it from the surface and mark it for your gas engineer.

Only after it is made safe

Tracer gas on isolated pipework

Leak marked for your gas engineer

Homes, lets and business sites

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

The gas emergency service makes a property safe, which can mean capping the supply at the meter. That does not always show where the pipe leaks, especially under a solid floor, inside a wall or underground to an outbuilding. You can be left without gas and unsure where to open up.

Finding that spot is what our gas leak detection service does. We work only on pipework already made safe, tracing and marking the leak. Putting the pipe right and turning the gas back on is work for a registered gas engineer, who can then start in one place.

A handheld gas detector probe held to the outlet pipe of an open gas meter box on a house wall

Why a gas pipe leak can still be hidden

A gas pipe leak can be small and slow. A gas engineer's test can show the pipework is losing pressure without showing where. Pipes run under concrete, behind kitchen units, through walls and out to garages, and a smell can drift far from its source. Lifting floors or pulling out units to look takes time and may still miss it.

We start from pipework that has been made safe and isolated, and from your gas engineer's results, which show whether one branch or the whole system is losing gas. That length is filled with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix, and a detector above it finds where the mix comes out. We confirm the point, then mark and photograph it for the gas engineer.

What points to a hidden leak on gas pipework

Any smell of gas

Ring the gas emergency service first, not us. Once they have made it safe, tell us where the smell was strongest, because it helps narrow the search.

A failed test with no visible fault

Your gas engineer's pressure test fails, yet no appliance or visible fitting is to blame. That points to a leak on a hidden length of pipe.

A capped supply waiting on a location

The supply has been capped and cannot go back on until the leak is found and put right. Knowing the exact spot saves lifting floors to look.

Grass browning in a line

A strip of grass dying towards a garage or workshop, with no dry spell to blame, may lie over a leaking buried gas run. Ring the gas emergency service first.

Who calls us about gas pipework

Households left without gas

With the supply capped there is no gas for heating, hot water or cooking. Your gas engineer has found a pressure drop but not the leak, so we find the point.

Landlords and letting agents

A tenant with no heating wants answers, and you may live some way off. When you ring, say the house is rented out and who will pay us. If you cannot attend, we may ask you to pay first.

Farms, workshops and business units

Business sites often have gas runs buried under yards or across land. When the gas emergency service has made the site safe, we trace the run and mark the leak for your gas engineer.

How a gas trace runs once the supply is safe

1

Made safe before we start

We begin only once the gas emergency service has made it safe, and the supply stays off throughout. Tell us what they did and what your gas engineer found.

2

Choosing the length to follow

Where the pipes run, what covers them and which part failed your gas engineer's test tell us where to start: a kitchen branch, a pipe under a floor or a buried run.

3

Tracing and marking the point

That run is filled with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix, and our engineer Charlie traces the pipe route with a detector over floors, walls and ground. The point is confirmed, marked and photographed.

What a gas trace relies on

Tracer gas

A hydrogen and nitrogen mix goes into the isolated pipe and leaves at the leak, where a detector finds it through screed, boards, plaster or soil.

Your gas engineer's pressure test

It shows whether the pipework holds gas. If parts were tested separately, the results tell us which length to fill with tracer gas and follow first.

Marks and photographs

We mark the point where the floor, wall or ground needs opening and photograph it, so your gas engineer has a clear record even after we leave.

Typical gas pipework jobs

Essex semi with a capped supply and tiled kitchen

The property

A post-war semi in Essex with a tiled kitchen extension. The pipe to the gas hob was thought to cross the extension inside its concrete floor.

The problem

After a smell in the kitchen, the gas emergency service capped the supply. The family's gas engineer found a pressure loss but no fault at the hob or boiler.

How we found it

The gas engineer's test had put the loss on the hob branch. With tracer gas inside, readings rose at a grout line by the back door and peaked at the same tile on every pass.

The outcome

We marked and photographed one tile, which gave the gas engineer a single place to start instead of lifting the whole kitchen floor.

Cambridgeshire farm workshop with a buried gas run

The property

A gas-heated farm workshop in Cambridgeshire, fed by a pipe buried across a concrete yard from the meter beside the farmhouse.

The problem

A smell near the yard gate brought out the gas emergency service, which made the site safe. The buried run then failed the gas engineer's pressure test.

How we found it

With the run isolated and filled with tracer gas, the detector followed its likely line across the yard. Readings peaked at a crack about halfway across and fell away on both sides.

The outcome

Booked as a business, the farm paid before the visit was confirmed. The crack was marked and photographed, giving their gas engineer one spot to break out.

Rented Norwich terrace with pipes under the boards

The property

A rented Victorian terrace in Norwich with suspended timber floors. The gas pipe runs from the front meter under the front room and hall to the kitchen.

The problem

The tenant noticed a faint smell and the supply was capped. The landlord lives away, and nobody wanted boards lifted all through the house.

How we found it

The gas engineer had narrowed the loss to the run under the front of the house. Tracer gas came up between two boards by the hall door, and readings either side fell away.

The outcome

That gave the gas engineer two boards to lift instead of a whole floor. The landlord paid ahead, as they could not attend, and received the report with its photographs.

Gas leaks, reports and insurance

You get a written report giving the location, methods, readings and photographs once the visit is paid. Some policies help with finding a hidden leak and opening up: check whether yours extends to gas pipework, and whether your insurer needs to approve the visit first. The claim decision is your insurer's.

Common questions

No. If you can smell gas, ring the gas emergency service first. They make the property safe, which may mean capping the supply. Our work on gas pipework starts only after that, so call us once they have been and the leak still needs finding.

Next comes a gas engineer, who tests whether the pipework holds pressure. If it does not and no fault is visible, that is our part. We follow the isolated pipe to the leak, then mark and photograph it so the engineer knows where to open up.

Your gas engineer’s results tell us which length to follow. That length is filled with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix, and our detector finds the spot where it seeps out through the floor, wall or ground. That marked spot is where your gas engineer starts.

Yes. A registered gas engineer has to put the pipe right and turn the supply back on. Our part is finding the leak and marking it, so whichever gas leak engineer you use can open up at one spot. The location and photographs are in our written report, ready to pass on.

It depends on how much pipe there is and where it runs. We fix the price before booking. It pays for a half-day or whole-day slot, and an early finish does not reduce it. No find, no fee on home water leaks does not cover gas pipework; full conditions are on our terms page.

Yes, on the same condition: only once the gas emergency service has made it safe. Units, workshops and farm buildings book as businesses, so payment can be taken before the visit is fixed, and we need at least a working day’s warning to cancel.

Where we trace gas pipework

We trace leaks on gas pipework for homes, landlords and businesses, from Victorian terraces in the towns to farm workshops with long buried runs. Choose your county below for the local pages.

Leak detection in Cambridgeshire Leak detection in Essex Leak detection in Suffolk Leak detection in Norfolk Leak detection in Hertfordshire Leak detection in Bedfordshire Leak detection in Buckinghamshire Leak detection in Greater London

Other leaks we trace

Water leak detection Leaking water main Central heating leak detection Leaking underfloor heating Shower leak detection Underground water 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

Gas meter capped after a leak: what happens next

Supply made safe, leak still hidden?

Call 07700 102 008 and tell us what the gas emergency service and your gas engineer found. Lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection