Finding the source of a water leak also known as trace and access, especially when it's concealed beneath the floor or inside the cavity wall can be a very difficult process requiring expert knowledge and equipment.
Here at 999 plumber we have over 20 years experience in finding the source of water leaks this is also known as trace and access, Using our expert knowledge together with specialist water leak detection equipment and thermal imaging cameras including listening devices we are 100% spot on every time when finding the source of a water leak whether it be under a concrete slab or behind the cavity wall.
The source of some water leaks can be in the most strangest of places, for instance we found a water leak caused by two15MM copper pipes, this was an especially tricky job as one of the pipes was a heating pipe run from a gravity fed system and the other pipe was the 15MM mains water supply pipe, both pipes were buried deep inside the concrete slab of a house built in the 1960s, the reason why this job was particularly tricky was due to our listening device being tricked by the constant water supply coming from the gravity fed heating system, once we pick up the sound of a leaking pipe we switch off the mains water, go back and then listen to it again, on this specific occasion the sound of the water leak changed tone but were still present! this is where our expert plumbing and heating knowledge came into his own, unlike other trace and access companies we are also plumbing and heating engineers, this means we are able to understand the system more comprehensively while not only being able to diagnose the source of the leak, we can also repair it there and then, the concrete slab was at least 8 inches thick and the kitchen floor was covered in porcelain tiles so we didn't want to start making holes in it to investigate, Using a snake cctv camera we made a small hole in the outside wall, we could see there was a pinhole leak in both mains water and heating pipes, the pipes had rubbed together overtime causing a pinhole in both of them, when we turned off the mains water supply the pressure was reversed and the heating system was then feeding back into the mains water supply! to avoid excavating the floor and damaging the tiles we made the decision to re route both the mains water supply and heating pipe.
Not all trace and access jobs is difficult as the one mentioned above, some can simple like a tap dripping down the back of a basin due to poor silicone preventing it for sealing, others are traced to grout in the shower. wall tiles, If you have a leak and your not sure where its coming from, you will need an expert, that's why it's a good idea to give us a call.
Trace and access is normally covered by your insurance, we advise you give your insurance a call and ask if you are covered for trace and access.
For any help or advice or to ask more about us, don't hesitate to give us a call 24-hours a day 0800 999 1233