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A phone call first
Charlie asks what you have seen, how old the house is and whether the floors are suspended timber or solid. For a rural property he also asks how far the meter is from the house.
Leak detection in North Elmham
Charlie finds hidden leaks in North Elmham, the villages along the Wensum and the market towns round them, from Dereham up to Fakenham and across to North Walsham.
No find, no fee
Private supply pipes traced
Flint cottages to new bungalows
Report for your insurer
Tell us what you have noticed and where. We ring you back to talk it through. No find, no fee.
No find, no fee
24/7 enquiries
Non-invasive methods
Reports for insurance claims
North Elmham sits on the River Wensum about 5 miles north of Dereham. Dereham and the villages around it are covered regularly, so a North Elmham job slots into an existing run.
The village has the mix you see across mid Norfolk: brick and flint cottages near the church, farmhouses on the lanes out to Bintree and Worthing, and post-war bungalows with heating pipes set in a concrete floor. Houses on the edge can be a long way from the main, and Anglian Water's meter is often the only sign that the private pipe is leaking.
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Charlie asks what you have seen, how old the house is and whether the floors are suspended timber or solid. For a rural property he also asks how far the meter is from the house.
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Each pressurised system is isolated and tested. A heating circuit that loses pressure on its own, or a meter that moves with the stop tap shut, tells Charlie where the problem is.
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The pipe run is followed with the right instrument until the leak shows. Charlie marks the spot, talks you through it and sends a written report with photographs.
Flint and brick walls hold heat, so our engineer scans them with the heating running to find a hidden hot pipe wetting the wall from inside. On a solid floor the same scan shows a heating leak as a bright patch.
On a long run from the lane to the house, our engineer walks the route with a ground microphone and listens at intervals. The noise of water escaping under pressure peaks over the break.
For a heating or underfloor circuit under screed, the circuit is drained and charged with a hydrogen mix, and the detector finds where it surfaces. It leaves no residue in the system.
A flint cottage near the church had a damp patch on an inside wall that grew when the heating was on. The thermal camera showed a hot pipe running inside the wall and a bright spot where it was leaking, so the plaster was opened at one place. A farmhouse on the lane out towards Bintree was losing water on a long private pipe from the meter at the road. We walked the route with the ground microphone, and the split was in the paddock where the pipe crossed an old ditch. And a post war bungalow in the village had a heating pipe failing in its concrete floor, which tracer gas pinned to one spot under the hall carpet.
Dereham and Fakenham have their own pages. Bawdeswell, Foulsham, Guist, Swanton Morley and the other Wensum villages are covered from North Elmham. Holt, Sheringham and the coast are on the Norfolk county page.
If a ceiling or a floor has been damaged, your home policy will usually pay to find the cause under trace and access. Our report gives the insurer the systems tested, the readings, the method that found the leak and photographs of the marked location.
Yes. North Walsham leak detection is booked through the same number, and our engineer has been out to Aylsham, Buxton and Coltishall on that side of the county several times in the last year. Give the postcode and he will group it with other jobs.
Our engineer covers all of Norfolk, and Dereham and its villages are a regular run for him. The person on the phone is the engineer who does the work.
Yes. The pipe from Anglian Water’s meter to your house is yours, and a long run across a garden or field is where many rural leaks turn out to be. Our engineer traces it with the ground microphone and marks one dig point.
Yes. Nothing is drilled or cut to find the leak. Thermal imaging and moisture readings show where the wall is wet from inside and which pipe is feeding it. The only opening is for the repair.
No further than North Elmham. Leak detection in Downham Market and the villages around it is handled on the West Norfolk runs, which also take in Denver and Downham Old Town.
Call us on 07897 020 680 and we will book the visit, usually within 24 to 48 hours.
Landline 01440 840 772. Email hello@completeleakdetection.co.uk.