Leak Detection Folkestone
Rising water bill or a damp patch that keeps returning? We locate hidden leaks accurately with non-invasive equipment across Folkestone, then repair the pipework rather than guessing where to dig.
Leak Detection in Folkestone
A leak you can see is a job. A leak you cannot see is a problem, because the temptation is to start lifting floors and opening walls in the hope of finding it.
We locate the leak first, using acoustic detection, thermal imaging and tracer gas. That means the repair is targeted, the disruption is minimal, and you are not paying to make good three areas that turned out to be fine.
Signs you have a hidden leak
A water bill that has climbed with no change in how much you use
Damp patches or tide marks that keep coming back after redecorating
A warm area on the floor, which almost always means a heating pipe
Boiler pressure that drops and needs topping up regularly
The sound of running water when every tap is off
Musty smells in a cupboard, under the stairs or in a cellar
Floor tiles lifting or timber flooring cupping with no obvious cause
Unexplained cracking or movement in plaster
Our article on seven signs you may have a hidden water leak goes into each of these, and bathroom condensation or plumbing leak helps you tell the two apart, which is a common source of confusion and a common reason people call someone out unnecessarily.
Do the meter test first
This costs nothing and it tells us a great deal before we arrive.
Turn off every tap and appliance that uses water. Take a reading from your water meter. Leave the property untouched for two hours without using any water at all, then read it again.
If the reading has moved, you have a leak somewhere on your supply. If it has not, the problem is more likely to be a heating system leak, a waste pipe, or something that only leaks when a particular fitting is in use.
How we find leaks
Acoustic detection. Water escaping under pressure makes a noise. Ground microphones and contact probes pick that sound up through floors, walls and concrete, and the signal is strongest directly above the leak. This finds most supply pipe leaks without touching anything.
Thermal imaging. A thermal camera shows temperature differences invisible to the eye. It picks up the warm track of a leaking heating pipe under a floor and the cold damp area a mains leak creates inside a wall.
Tracer gas. For the difficult ones. We drain the affected section, introduce a harmless hydrogen and nitrogen mixture, and it escapes through the leak and rises to the surface where a detector picks it up. It finds leaks that nothing else will, including under concrete and screed.
Pressure testing. Isolating sections of the system one at a time to establish which run is losing water before we go looking for the exact point.
Which method we use depends on what you have. A suspected heating leak under a screed floor is a different job from a mains leak in a cavity wall, and using the wrong technique wastes everyone's time.
Why this matters in older property
Non-invasive detection earns its keep most in buildings you cannot simply open up.
Period cottages around Elham, Lyminge and Lympne have pipe routes that were never logical to begin with and have been altered over generations. Conservation area property in Sandgate often has restrictions on what can be disturbed. Converted flats along the Folkestone seafront share stacks and supplies between units, which means the leak affecting your ceiling frequently is not on your pipework at all.
In all three cases, finding the leak precisely before anything is opened up is the difference between a small repair and a large bill.
The repair
Once we know exactly where the leak is, the repair itself is often small. A single joint, a short section of pipe, a failed olive on a compression fitting.
With hidden leaks, the cost sits in the finding rather than the fixing, which is exactly why accurate detection saves money rather than adding to the bill. Our article on why professional leak repairs save money covers this properly.
When repairing the same run stops making sense
If a pipe run has leaked more than once, the pipework itself is the problem rather than any single joint. Copper thins over decades, and once it starts failing in one place it tends to follow.
At that point replacing the section is the better decision, and we will say so rather than repairing it a fourth time. See signs your home needs pipework replacement.
Lead supply pipes
A number of older properties across Folkestone, Hythe and Dover still have lead supply pipes running in from the main. Lead is worth replacing whether or not it is currently leaking, and we replace it with modern MDPE.
It is worth contacting Southern Water before you commit, as they sometimes contribute towards replacing the section beneath the road.
Heating system leaks
If your boiler pressure keeps dropping and you are topping it up regularly, you either have a leak on the system or a failed expansion vessel.
Every top-up brings fresh oxygenated water into the system, and oxygen is what drives the internal corrosion that produces sludge, so this is worth resolving rather than managing. See why your boiler keeps losing pressure, central heating and boiler repair.
Noise that is not a leak
Not every unexplained sound means water is escaping. Banging, whistling, humming and juddering usually relate to pressure, loose pipe clips or fast closing valves rather than a leak.
See noisy pipes and what the sounds may mean and what causes pipes to vibrate before assuming the worst.
Stopcocks and isolation
A stiff or seized stopcock turns a manageable leak into a serious one, because you cannot stop the water while you wait.
If yours is stiff, or you are not certain where it is, that is a small job worth doing before an emergency rather than during one, and we can fit isolating valves on individual runs at the same time. See how to find and use your stopcock.
Buying a property
Hidden leaks and their consequences are not covered by a standard homebuyer survey, and neither is drainage. If you are purchasing, see plumbing checks before buying a home and consider a CCTV drain survey before exchange.
Where we work
Leak detection across Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate, Seabrook, Saltwood, Hawkinge, Capel-le-Ferne, Lympne, Lyminge, Elham, Sellindge, Dymchurch, New Romney, Dover and Ashford.
If water is actively escaping and you cannot stop it, that is a job for our 24 hour emergency service or burst pipe repair.
Common questions
Will you have to dig up my floor? Only if the leak is genuinely beneath it, and detection tells us exactly where before anything is lifted, so we open up as little as possible.
How long does detection take? Most domestic properties are done in a single visit. Difficult leaks under solid floors or in complex systems occasionally need a second.
Can you find a leak under concrete? Yes. Acoustic detection and tracer gas both work through concrete and screed.
My bill has gone up but I cannot see any damp. Is that possible? Very much so. A leak on an underground supply pipe can run for months into the ground with nothing showing indoors at all. The meter test will confirm it.
Does my insurance cover leak detection? Many policies include trace and access cover, which pays for finding the leak and making good afterwards. It is worth checking your policy before you book.
Call +44 7915 255984 to book leak detection in Folkestone.
