Detecting the source of a water pipe leak
Reading, Berkshire
The problem
Our client had noticed that their kitchen floor had become damp. At first this was attributed to a spillage, but the problem continued for several days after cleaning the floor. The client soon realised that water was leaking up through the tiled floor and spreading across the rest of the kitchen.
As their insurance policy included Trace and Access cover, their insurance company advised them to engage with a Trace and Access company. After the client contacted ourselves, we arranged for a leak detection engineer to visit their home within 24 hours.
Our approach
The problem was fairly obvious. Water was indeed leaking up through the tiled floor. We suspected that this may be due to a damaged water pipe, but we needed to rule out other sources (for example an inflow of ground water).
A brief scan of the kitchen floor revealed that water pipes ran underneath the affected area of the kitchen. The water pipes were not buried deep beneath the surface, which made a thermal scan of the area the most logical place to start. Thermal imaging scans are ideal for locating the source of a water leak without needing to cause further damage to the area.
The results of the thermal imaging scan were conclusive. The temperature variations clearly indicated a source of warm water leaking from a central heating pipe underneath the floor. The scan narrowed down the area of the source to approximately 30 cm2.
The solution
As this was a Trace and Access investigation, we then needed to expose the water leak, so that it could be repaired. Our engineer removed two tiles from the kitchen floor to reveal the leaking water pipe.
The repair of a damaged water pipe is not covered by the majority of insurers, but it was important that the leaking water pipe was repaired quickly. Our client requested to use our leak repair service and we repaired the leak on the same day.
Fortunately, our client had quickly reported the problem and the damage was not too severe. However the area did need to be dried out and our client also used our water extraction and drying service.
After the leak was repaired and the area dried, the affected tiles were relaid and the problem was solved.