East Anglian Leak Detection
07700 102 008
East Anglian Leak Detection
Call us
Home / Services / Water leak detection

Hidden water leaks

Water leak detection for homes and businesses

A meter that never stops turning, a spreading stain or a water company letter all mean water is escaping. Our water leak detection service finds the leaking pipe, then the point on it, from above the floor or ground.

We check inside or outside first

Two methods agree before marking

Report with readings and photographs

Lines open 8am to 8pm daily

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

Get a quote

Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Hidden leaks usually show up in one of three ways. The meter counts water nobody is using, damp appears where nothing should be wet, or the boiler keeps losing pressure. Which one you have tells us where to start, so it is our first question when you ring.

Non-invasive leak detection means searching without breaking anything open. Floors, tiles and drives stay put while we test. Two methods must agree on one spot before it is marked, and we photograph it before we go, so whoever opens up starts in the right place.

A water meter in a round boundary box in the pavement, seen from above with the lid lifted and a torch shining in An engineer listening through headphones with a ground microphone on a gravel driveway outside a house

Working out which pipe is leaking

Good water leak detection starts by finding out whether the leak is inside or outside. Turn off every tap, shower and appliance and watch the meter. Any movement means water is going somewhere. Now shut the stop tap indoors. A dial that comes to rest puts the leak inside your home. A dial that carries on means water is leaving the buried pipe from the meter to your wall.

Indoors, the cold supply, the hot water and the heating can each be shut off and tested alone. Damp that spreads after showers points to the bathroom. A wet skirting with no bathroom above can be a cold pipe under the floorboards. A boiler that keeps losing pressure suggests a heating leak, often in a floor or wall. Heating water goes round a sealed loop, so it rarely shows on the meter.

Clues that water is escaping

Numbers on the meter keep climbing

Note the reading, use no water for 30 minutes, then check again. Any rise means water is passing the meter with nothing turned on.

A letter about continuous use

Sent when meter readings show water passing all the time. That usually means a leak on your own pipework, though the letter cannot say where.

Skirting or plaster that stays wet

Bubbling paint at floor level, or a mark that slowly grows, usually has a pipe nearby. Moisture readings find the wettest point.

A sudden drop in water pressure

Every tap weak at once suggests water is lost before it reaches them. A split supply pipe can starve the whole house.

Who this page is for

Homeowners with a letter from the water company

The letter reports constant flow through the meter but no location. We find out whether the supply pipe or the plumbing indoors is to blame, then trace the point.

Households with a stain under the bathroom

Nobody wants tiles lifted on a guess. We test each part of the bathroom in turn, and usually need access upstairs when water comes from the flat above.

Policyholders whose insurer wants evidence

Trace and access cover, in some home policies, deals with finding a hidden leak. The insurer will want its position and how it was found, which our written report gives, with photographs.

What happens on a visit

1

Readings before anything else

Our engineer Charlie starts with numbers: the water meter, the boiler gauge if heating is involved, and moisture levels on any damp. They show whether water is lost and roughly where.

2

Narrowing the search

Closing stop taps and valves cuts off one section of pipe at a time. Once we know which length is losing water, we follow it with the method that suits it.

3

Confirm, mark and photograph

No mark goes down until a second method agrees. We photograph it before leaving, and the written report is yours once the visit has been paid.

Three methods that do most of the work

Ground microphone

A water pipe under pressure hisses where it has split. Walking the route with the microphone finds where the hiss is loudest. Quiet leaks, and plastic pipe, may need tracer gas instead.

Moisture meters

A moisture meter shows how damp plaster, timber or a concrete floor is. Readings across a stain find its wettest edge, so we know if the source is above, beside or below.

Tracer gas

The leaking section is shut off, emptied and filled with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix. It slips out through the hole and a detector finds it at the surface.

Three typical water leak jobs

Meter turning at bedtime in a 1930s Hertfordshire semi

The property

A 1930s semi in a Hertfordshire town. An old metal supply pipe runs from a pavement meter under the tiled front path.

The problem

The owners saw the dial still turning at bedtime with nothing running. Bills had crept up, but nothing indoors was damp.

How we found it

With the kitchen stop tap off, water still passed the meter: the leak was in the front garden. Listening was loudest by the step, and tracer gas rose there too.

The outcome

We quoted the repair separately, and the owners had it done before we left. Just the few tiles above the mark were lifted, and the meter then stood still.

Damp skirting in a Peterborough Victorian terrace

The property

A Victorian terrace in Peterborough with boarded floors over a shallow void. The cold supply runs under them to the kitchen at the back.

The problem

Paint along the back room skirting kept bubbling. A builder suggested rising damp, then the owner noticed the meter creeping on overnight.

How we found it

Once the inside stop tap was shut, the meter went still, which put the fault indoors. Moisture readings peaked at one end of the skirting, where listening on the boards was loudest.

The outcome

We marked the board and photographed it. The owner's plumber lifted it and repaired a weeping joint, so the damp proofing never went ahead.

A doubled water bill at two Essex workshop units

The property

Two rented workshop units in an Essex town. The meter is in one, and a plastic pipe under the concrete yard feeds a washroom in the other.

The problem

The firm's water bill had roughly doubled with no change in how they worked. Neither unit showed any damp, and the yard looked dry.

How we found it

Closing the washroom valve halted the dial, pinning the leak to that pipe. Plastic carries little sound, so tracer gas found the point; listening there caught a faint hiss.

The outcome

The firm sent the photographs of the mark and our report to their landlord, who owns the yard. The repair under the concrete was quoted separately.

What your insurer will want to see

Read your policy first, as some insurers want to approve the work. With trace and access cover, expect two questions: where is the leak, and what found it? Our report answers both with the location, methods, readings and photographs, and comes once the visit is paid. Paying the claim is the insurer's decision.

Common questions

Turn everything off, close the stop tap indoors and watch the dial. Any movement now means the leak lies between the meter and the house, a stretch that usually belongs to the owner. The main, and the water company’s own pipe up to the boundary or meter, are its responsibility.

Someone should be there to let us in and take us round the rooms, loft, outside, meters, stop tap and valves. Payment is taken at the finish, by card or bank transfer. If the payer cannot be there, tell us when you book: we may ask for payment first.

We can still help. Without a meter, the clues are damp, falling pressure or the sound of running water with every tap closed. Pressure testing the supply pipe, or one section of plumbing, shows whether it holds or leaks, and the search builds from there.

Yes, and we can usually carry it out ourselves, priced apart from the search. Our repairs are guaranteed for 3 months. If we price the repair in advance, that figure stands only for work done on that visit. If you prefer your own plumber, the mark and photographs show them where to start.

No. 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. It does not cover central heating, shared mains, businesses or leaks that come and go. Anything outside it is charged at the agreed price. Full conditions are on our terms page.

We agree the length with the price, before you book: either up to a half day or up to a whole day of testing. Finding the leak early does not lower that price. Materials, parking and tolls are charged on top of it, at cost.

Water leak detection near me

Leaks turn up in city flats, market-town semis, village cottages and farm buildings alike. Pick your county below to see its towns and the kind of pipework they tend to have.

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

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? Hot water leak or cold water leak: how to tell which pipe is leaking How to choose a leak detection company: questions worth asking

Not sure which pipe is leaking?

Call 07700 102 008 and tell us what you have noticed. 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