Leak Detection in Hartshead

On a ridge where the weather comes straight across, not every damp patch is a plumbing problem. Rain pushed into old stonework, a blocked gutter or condensation in an unheated bedroom can all leave a mark that looks like a leak. The giveaway for a pipe is a patch that keeps its shape whatever the weather, sits on a line where pipework is likely to run, or spreads when the heating or the taps are in use.

We check the systems first: the water meter, the boiler pressure, and the pipes either side of the patch. That settles whether the water is ours to deal with. If it is not coming from the pipework, we will tell you so rather than open up a wall to prove it.

A pipe in a barn, garage or stable gets none of the warmth of the house. In a cold snap the water inside freezes and expands, and copper or plastic can split along its length. Nothing happens until the thaw, and then water runs wherever the split points, sometimes for days before anyone walks out to that building.

If you have a supply running to an outbuilding, knowing where it can be shut off is worth more than any repair. We can find the isolating valve, or fit one where there is none, so the outbuilding can be turned off for winter without cutting the water to the house.

A sealed heating system ought to hold its pressure for months. In farmhouses where the system grew room by room there are more joints, more valves and longer runs, and a single weeping fitting is enough for the gauge to sink a little every few days. Re-filling keeps the radiators warm, but each top-up draws in fresh water, and that water carries oxygen and corrosion with it.

Finding it is methodical: the boiler and its valves first, then each radiator in turn, then isolating lengths of pipe until the loss stops. Where pipework was laid in stages, the joins between one stage and the next are a sensible place to begin.