Emergency & Same-Day Leak Detection
If water is coming through a ceiling, the first job is yours: stop the supply and make the area safe. The second is ours: locate where it is escaping so the repair is small and the drying can start, with same-day and next-day surveys usually available.
Emergency and same-day leak detection, step by step
In the first ten minutes, turn off the stop tap (also called the stopcock), usually under the kitchen sink, in a downstairs cupboard or by the front door. If the water is hot or the boiler is dropping pressure, switch the heating and hot water off at the boiler too. Turn off the electrics in the affected room if water is anywhere near fittings. Open the hot and cold taps to drain the pipework down. Put a bucket under a bulging ceiling and, if it is safe, pierce the bulge to let the water out in a controlled way. Take photographs and a short video before you move anything.
Not every leak is an emergency, but some are. Water pouring through a ceiling, a meter spinning fast with everything off or a boiler that will not hold pressure for an hour all count as urgent. So does a floor that is wet across a wide area or a ceiling that has started to sag. A damp patch that has been there for months is not, and it is fine to book that for a convenient day. If you are unsure, send photographs and we will tell you honestly which it is. If you can smell gas, that is a different emergency: leave the property and call the gas emergency number.
A same-day visit runs the same way as any other survey, just sooner. We ask a few questions, agree a fixed price before we set off and arrive with the full kit. With the supply back on briefly, the acoustic microphone and the thermal camera show where the water is going, and tracer gas follows if the pipe is plastic or buried. Once the leak is marked we can repair it there and then if you want us to, so the water can go back on. The report is written for your insurer, and it is worth telling them the same day that an escape of water has happened.
In our own photos
From your first call to a leak you can see in the report
Call or WhatsApp with a few photos and a line about the symptoms. We ask a handful of questions, agree a fixed price and book the survey, usually for the same or the next day.
On arrival we pressure test the mains, hot water and heating, check the meter and test the escaping water, so we know what we are looking for before the detection starts.
Thermal imaging, the acoustic ground microphone and tracer gas are used as the pipework dictates until the leak is marked on the floor or wall.
You get a written report with readings, thermal images and photographs, ready for a trace and access claim. If you want the leak fixed, we open that one spot and repair it.
A report your insurer can act on
Most buildings insurance policies include trace and access cover for finding a hidden leak and making good the way in. Our report is written for that claim: what we tested, what we found, where it is, with photographs, thermal images and readings.
- Turn off the stop tap or the heating and stop topping up
- Photograph the damage, the boiler gauge and the meter
- Tell your insurer a leak is suspected and detection is being arranged
- Trace and access pays to find the leak and make good the access
Same-day: questions answered
Water is pouring through my ceiling. What do I do right now?
Turn the stop tap off, switch the heating and hot water off at the boiler, and turn off the electrics in that room if water is near any fitting. Open the taps to drain the pipes, catch the water in a bucket and take photographs. Then call or WhatsApp us with what you are seeing.
Can you come today?
Often, yes. Same-day and next-day surveys are usually available, and we cover Watford, Hertfordshire and London. Tell us what is happening and where you are and we will give you a straight answer on the earliest time we can be with you.
Will you repair the leak on the emergency visit?
If you want us to, yes. Once the leak is marked we open that one spot, replace the failed section and test it, so the water can go back on. If a part is needed that is not on the van, the pipe is capped so the rest of the house has water, and we come back to finish.
Should I call my insurer before or after the survey?
Let them know as soon as you can that an escape of water has happened and that you are arranging leak detection. Escape of water cover deals with the damage, and trace and access cover usually pays for locating the leak and making good the opening. The report gives them what they need.
The leak has stopped since I turned the water off. Do I still need a survey?
Yes. Turning the stop tap off stops the symptom, not the cause, and the pipe will leak again the moment the water goes back on. Locating it while the evidence is fresh keeps the opening small and the claim straightforward.
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Need emergency and same-day leak detection?
Call now and we will tell you straight away whether it needs a same-day visit. Or send a photo of the stain, the meter or the boiler gauge on WhatsApp.
07516 755 680