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Work out which era of pipe
The age of the house tells Charlie where the pipe is likely to be and how it was laid. That comes from the phone call, along with what you have noticed.
Leak detection in Harlow
Harlow's post war housing, the older village and the 1990s estates each hide leaks in a different place. Charlie finds them with thermal imaging, a ground microphone and tracer gas.
No find, no fee
New town and Church Langley
Written report for claims
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
Harlow leak detection is shaped by the new town. The neighbourhoods built from the late 1940s onwards have solid ground floors with the heating laid in the screed, and that copper is now failing. The symptom is a boiler losing pressure and one warm spot on the floor.
Leak detection Old Harlow is a different job: older cottages with suspended floors, where a leak drips into the void and shows at a skirting board. Two searches need a straight answer. Gas leak repair Harlow is not something we do; if you smell gas, leave and ring the gas emergency line. And eld roof leak detection Harlow is a roofing survey, not pipework.
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The age of the house tells Charlie where the pipe is likely to be and how it was laid. That comes from the phone call, along with what you have noticed.
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The stop tap is shut and the meter read over time, then the heating is pressurised and left. Whichever shows a loss is the one that gets traced, and the other is left alone.
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The thermal camera finds the run, the microphone finds the noise, and tracer gas proves the point. Charlie marks it and explains whether it is a floor, wall or garden repair.
On a new town house with the heating on, the screeded floor shows every pipe as a bright line and the leak as a patch that bleeds sideways. Behind Church Langley plasterboard it shows as a cold stain.
Supply pipes under the shared greens, paths and drives of the Harlow neighbourhoods are traced with a ground microphone. The hiss peaks over the break, so the repair is one hole in the right slab.
In a heating circuit under screed or boards the pipe is drained and charged with a hydrogen mix. The gas rises at the split, through concrete, tiles or carpet, and a detector pinpoints it.
A house in one of the original new town neighbourhoods had a boiler that needed topping up every few days and one warm spot on the hall floor. Thermal imaging showed the heating pipe in the screed and tracer gas confirmed the failed copper, so a single square of floor came up. In Old Harlow a cottage with a suspended floor had damp showing at a skirting board. The camera found a heating pipe dripping into the void beneath, nowhere near the damp. In Church Langley a plastic joint behind a bathroom wall had let go in a house barely twenty years old.
Epping is 10 minutes down the B1393, Loughton and Chigwell a little beyond it, and Chipping Ongar a short run east. Leak detection in Harlow pairs with any of them on the same day, and leak detection Essex wide runs from the same van.
If your buildings policy includes trace and access, the cost of locating the leak and opening up the floor or wall to reach it is normally covered. Our written report gives the insurer the pressure test, the thermal images and the marked position.
Yes, they are the bread and butter of Harlow work. The heating pipe sits in the screed and the camera and tracer gas find it without breaking anything out. We mark the one spot the repair needs.
No, and please do not wait for anyone. Leave the property, do not switch anything on or off, and ring the gas emergency line. We trace water leaks only.
Mostly, yes. We test your own supply and heating first, and only ask for access to a neighbour or the communal riser if your systems are tight. The report states which pipe failed and whose it is.
Mostly a description. On the phone our engineer asks what you have noticed, whether the meter turns with every tap off and whether the boiler needs topping up, and the age of the house tells him where the pipe is likely to be and how it was laid. On the day, know where your stop tap and water meter are and keep the boiler accessible so he can take a pressure reading.
No. The camera sees the cold stain of a leaking joint through the board, and the microphone hears it, so nothing is cut to find it. The only hole is the one the plumber makes at the marked spot.
Call us on 07897 020 680 and tell us which part of Harlow you are in.
Landline 01440 840 772. Email hello@completeleakdetection.co.uk.