Home
Services

Leak detection services for rented homes

Six places a rented home leaks in its own way, and how each one is investigated. Every survey starts non-invasive; pipework and drainage leaks can also be quoted for repair.

Leak detection between flats and in bathrooms

In a converted house or a block of flats, one home's bathroom sits over another home's ceiling. Water from a shower connection upstairs can run along a joist and show up two rooms away in the flat below, so the stain rarely marks the source.

What the tenant tends to notice

A stain or drip on the ceiling under a bathroom, sometimes only when the room above is in use
Soft or lifting flooring around a shower tray or bath
Damp skirting, or a musty smell the tenant keeps mentioning
Damp on the wall behind a WC or basin

How it is found

Moisture mapping shows how far the water has travelled. Thermal imaging and dye tests on the shower, bath and overflows show which fitting is at fault, and a borescope camera confirms it through a small hole or behind the bath panel before any tiling comes off. Where the fault is on the pipework itself, each circuit is pressure tested in turn.

Repairs

Pipework repairs can be quoted and carried out. Shower trays, seals and tiling are for the landlord's fitter, working from our findings and photographs.

Call 0333 567 2621

Engineer checking the screen of a thermal camera held to the opened base of a bathroom cabinet, toiletries on the glass shelf above — Thermal imaging · Bathroom cabinet

Compressor and pressure gauge set up on a tiled floor ready for a pressure test — Pressure testing · Test rig

Central heating leak detection and boiler pressure loss

When a tenant says the boiler keeps losing pressure, the water is going somewhere: a radiator valve, the pressure relief valve, or a pipe buried in the floor or behind a wall. A heating engineer can check the boiler; finding a hidden pipe leak needs different equipment.

What the tenant tends to notice

The tenant tops up the boiler pressure more often than it used to need
A warm patch on a floor, or one radiator that stays cold
Damp under a carpet with no bathroom nearby

How it is found

Pressure testing confirms whether the heating circuit is losing water. Thermal imaging follows the hot flow and return pipes through finished floors and walls, tracer gas in the circuit escapes at the leak and is detected at the surface, and acoustic listening and moisture readings settle the exact spot.

Repairs

Heating pipework leaks can be quoted and repaired. ADI's domestic "no find, no fee" guarantee does not cover central heating systems, so ask the office how the job is charged.

Call 0333 567 2621

Kitchen and appliance leak detection

Washing machines, dishwashers and sink wastes get connected and disconnected every time a tenant moves in or out. A leak behind the units stays out of sight until a kickboard swells or the floor starts to lift.

What the tenant tends to notice

A swollen kickboard or a damp base unit
Laminate or vinyl lifting beside the washing machine or dishwasher
A smell under the sink, or water marks on the ceiling below the kitchen

How it is found

Moisture readings and thermal imaging trace the wet area along the run of units. Dye tests show whether a waste connection is leaking, and a borescope camera looks into the void behind the units before a cabinet has to come out.

Repairs

Pipework and waste connection repairs can be quoted. Appliance faults are reported for the landlord's appliance engineer.

Call 0333 567 2621

Engineer holding a thermal camera up to the doorway of a utility room with a washing machine and tumble dryer inside — Thermal imaging · Utility room

Engineer holding a blue leak detection unit on a shoulder strap, its sensor cable in his other hand — Detection equipment · On site

Underfloor pipe leak detection

Plenty of homes have hot, cold and heating pipes buried in a concrete floor or chased into a wall. When one fails, the only signs may be a damp hallway, a meter that keeps turning and a boiler that loses pressure.

What the tenant tends to notice

Damp flooring or skirting in a hallway or understairs cupboard
The water meter turns when every tap in the property is off
A damp patch on a solid floor that keeps growing

How it is found

The engineer reads the meter with the internal stopcock open and then closed, which shows whether the loss is inside the property. Each circuit is pressure tested on its own to find the pipe that is losing water. Tracer gas is put into that pipe and picked up where it escapes through the floor, and thermal imaging follows hot pipe routes so the opening goes in the right place.

Repairs

Buried pipework can be quoted for repair: a targeted opening at the marked spot, the damaged section replaced and a pressure retest. Relaying floor finishes is for the landlord's contractor.

Call 0333 567 2621

Water supply pipe and meter leak detection

The supply pipe runs underground from the water company's meter or stopcock to the property. A leak here shows up as a bill that jumps, low pressure, or a damp patch in the front garden, and in a converted building the same pipe may serve more than one flat.

What the tenant tends to notice

A water bill that has gone up with no change in the household
The meter keeps turning with the internal stopcock closed
A damp, green or sunken patch along the route of the pipe

How it is found

Acoustic ground microphones and leak-noise correlation locate leaks on pressurised pipe under paths and gardens. Tracer gas is used where the pipe is deep or the ground is noisy, and a trace wire maps the route of a plastic pipe so the excavation goes in the right place.

Repairs

Supply pipe repairs can be quoted, including the excavation and a pressure retest. Shared supplies are excluded from ADI's domestic "no find, no fee" guarantee, so tell the office if other homes are on the same pipe.

Call 0333 567 2621

Engineer wearing ear defenders listening with a ground microphone along the pavement outside a white-painted terraced house — Acoustic listening · Pavement

Engineer checking the frame of a back door in a white-painted brick wall with a thermal camera — Thermal imaging · External wall

Roof, wall and window leak detection

Flat roofs over extensions, valleys, chimneys, dormers and window reveals all let water in as they age. The stain often appears away from the defect, after the rain has stopped, which makes it easy to mistake for a plumbing leak.

What the tenant tends to notice

A ceiling stain that grows after heavy rain
Damp on the inside of an external wall below a gutter or window
Water marks around a chimney breast or a rooflight

How it is found

Moisture mapping and thermal imaging inside show where the water is arriving, and rule the plumbing in or out. On the roof, tracer gas, smoke testing or an electronic membrane tester can pinpoint the defect.

Repairs

ADI locates roof and structural leaks and reports them with photographs. Repairs to roofs and building fabric are for a roofing contractor.

Call 0333 567 2621

Not sure which of these you have?

Most agents are not sure when the first report comes in from a tenant. Describe what has been noticed and the office team will work out which kind of investigation fits, what access is needed and whether it can be done in one visit.

0333 567 2621

Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 6:30pm
Calls reach ADI Leak Detection's office in High Wycombe. Engineers cover England, Scotland and Wales.