Leak Detection & Repair
Tracing visible and concealed leaks in supply and waste pipework, then repairing the failure rather than only drying the damage.
A leak is a location problem before it is a repair problem. Water travels along joists, pipe runs and the underside of floors, so the wet patch on a ceiling is often some distance from the failure that caused it. Opening the building at the damp spot is the most common way to spend money without fixing anything.
Leak work therefore separates into detection, meaning narrowing the source to a specific pipe, joint or fitting, and repair, which depends on the pipe material, its accessibility and its remaining condition.
Symptoms
Signs this is the right service
- Water use that rises with no change in occupancy or habits
- A meter that continues to move with every fixture closed
- Warm or persistently damp flooring above a slab or underfloor pipe run
- Staining, blistering paint or a musty smell in one recurring area
- A running sound in the walls when nothing is drawing water
What the work covers
Methods and scope
Which method applies depends on what the system is doing, the materials involved and the condition of the pipework.
- Meter isolation testing
- Closing the main isolation valve and watching the meter separates a leak inside the building from one on the incoming supply, before any wall or floor is touched.
- Acoustic and pressure methods
- Pressurised supply lines make a characteristic noise at the point of escape. Listening equipment and controlled pressure tests narrow a run to a short section rather than a whole floor.
- Moisture and thermal survey
- Moisture meters and thermal imaging map where water has spread and where it is warmest or wettest, which helps distinguish an active leak from historic damage.
- Repair options
- Depending on the material, a failure may be resolved by replacing a section, remaking a joint, replacing a valve or fitting, or rerouting a run that is inaccessible or repeatedly failing.
Process
How the work is sequenced
Confirm the leak is live
Meter behaviour with fixtures closed distinguishes an ongoing loss from a one-off spill or condensation.
Split supply from waste
A supply leak runs constantly under pressure; a waste leak appears only when a fixture is used. The test is different for each.
Narrow the location
Isolation of zones, acoustic listening and moisture mapping reduce the search area before anything is opened up.
Expose and repair
Access is opened at the located point, and the repair method is matched to the pipe material and its condition.
Retest and document
The system is re-pressurised and the meter rechecked, and the cause is described so the same failure mode can be watched for elsewhere.
Questions