Boiler pressure keeps dropping
You top the system up and a week later the gauge is back below 1 bar. With no drip at any radiator, the heating pipework under the floor is the usual suspect.
Leak detection in Norfolk
Charlie finds hidden water and heating leaks anywhere in Norfolk without ripping up floors. He drives up from Haverhill and can usually book you in within 24 to 48 hours.
No find, no fee
Reports for trace and access
Whole Anglian Water area
Usually within 24 to 48 hours
No find, no fee
24/7 enquiries
Non-invasive methods
Reports for insurance claims
Norfolk is the far end of our patch. Haverhill to Thetford is about 30 miles, Norwich nearer 55 and the North Norfolk coast a good hour beyond that. Charlie still comes. The biggest share of the county's jobs over the last year has been in West Norfolk around King's Lynn, with steady calls from Norwich, Dereham and the coast.
The housing varies more than in most counties: flint and carrstone cottages on the coast, Victorian terraces in Norwich, 1960s estates in Thetford, timber framed houses in the market towns and farmhouses on long private supply pipes between them. Each leaks in its own way, and Charlie picks the equipment to suit the building.
Anglian Water supplies the whole county. If they have written to say your usage looks high, or your meter turns with every tap closed, the leak is usually on your side of the boundary stop tap and finding it is your job.
You top the system up and a week later the gauge is back below 1 bar. With no drip at any radiator, the heating pipework under the floor is the usual suspect.
Close every tap and watch the dial. If it still creeps round, water is escaping between the meter and your house, often under the drive.
A patch that dries out, then returns in the same spot, is being fed from somewhere. Plaster will not fix it until the pipe behind it is found.
Hot water from a leaking heating pipe warms the screed above it. If one stretch of tiles feels warmer than the rest, that is often where the leak sits.
1
A short call covers what you noticed, when it started and whether Anglian Water or your insurer is involved. From that Charlie knows which kit to load and how long to allow.
2
On site he isolates the mains, the heating and any underfloor circuits in turn and tests each one. That shows which system is losing water before any tracing starts.
3
Thermal imaging, acoustic listening or tracer gas follow the pipe run until the leak gives itself away. Charlie marks the point so the repair opens up one small area.
4
You get photographs, thermal images where used, the location and what Charlie found, written for a trace and access claim so your insurer has what they need.
An infrared camera shows temperature differences across a surface. A heating leak under screed shows as a warm bloom, a cold mains leak as a cool line. It needs no holes and works through tiles, laminate and plaster.
Water forcing its way out of a pressurised pipe makes a noise. Ground microphones pick it up through tarmac, concrete and soil, which is how Charlie follows a mains leak across a Norfolk driveway or garden without a digger.
Charlie drains a heating or underfloor circuit, fills it with a safe hydrogen and nitrogen mix, then sweeps the floor with a detector. The gas escapes at the leak and rises through solid concrete, so the spot is marked within centimetres.
West Norfolk is the busiest corner. Charlie has had repeat call-outs to Fairstead and Gaywood Chase in King's Lynn, to Gayton and Grimston, and along the PE31 coast road through Brancaster, Burnham Market and Docking. Leak detection in Norwich has taken Charlie to Eaton, Mancroft, Catton Grove and Hellesdon. There have been visits to Dereham, Attleborough, Wymondham and Aylsham, out to Acle and Brundall on the Broads, and up to Holt and Cromer. Downham Market and Denver round off the Fens side, Bradwell the Yarmouth end.
Each town below has a page of its own. If yours is missing, Charlie still comes: leak detection in Watton, Poringland, Caister-on-Sea and Hethersett is booked through the same number, as is every village between.
Most home policies carry trace and access cover. It pays for finding the leak and for putting right whatever had to be opened to reach it, separate from the repair. Charlie's report sets out the method, the evidence and the exact location, with photographs and thermal images. Check your policy wording before the visit so you know what is covered.
All of it. Haverhill to Thetford is about half an hour, Norwich a little over an hour and the north coast nearer two. Travel is built into the booking, and the 24 to 48 hour window applies in Norfolk as it does nearer home.
Read the meter with every tap off and note the number, then read it again an hour later with nothing used. If it has moved, the leak is on your supply pipe or inside the house. Call Charlie with both readings.
Yes. Older Norwich terraces often have heating pipes buried in a concrete floor with no access from below. Tracer gas is the usual answer. The gas passes through the slab and the detector picks it up at the surface, so the floor stays down until the repair.
Yes. An empty house hides a leak for weeks, so if you are away Charlie can arrange access with a keyholder and send the report by email.
Yes. If Charlie cannot locate your leak, you do not pay for the survey, wherever in Norfolk you are. The pressure tests at the start show which system is losing water, so the tracing begins with a clear target.
Yes. Shops, pubs, offices, farm buildings and holiday parks get the same approach. Larger pipe runs take longer to walk, so tell Charlie the size of the building when you call.
Ring Charlie on 07897 020 680 any time, or 01440 840 772 in office hours, for a visit usually within 24 to 48 hours.
Office hours: 01440 840 772. Email hello@completeleakdetection.co.uk.