People often ask which “leak detector” we use, as if there’s one magic box. There isn’t. Finding a hidden leak reliably means combining methods, because each one sees something the others can’t. Here’s what each does.
Thermal imaging — reading temperature
A thermal camera shows heat, not water. Where it earns its place is in tracing the temperature trail a leak leaves: a warm path under a floor from a heating pipe, or a cool, evaporating patch from a cold-water escape. It’s fast and completely non-invasive — but it reads surfaces, so on its own it can suggest an area without confirming the exact joint.
Acoustic detection — listening for it
Water escaping under pressure makes noise — a hiss at the breach, a drumming where it hits the structure. Acoustic equipment amplifies those sounds far beyond what the ear can hear, letting us “listen” a pressurised leak down to a small area. Brilliant on mains and supply pipes; less useful on a leak that isn’t under pressure.
Why one method isn’t enough
Thermal narrows the area. Acoustic narrows it further on pressurised pipes. Tracer gas confirms the exact point. Used together they cross-check each other — which is how you get a confident result instead of a best guess.
Tracer gas — confirming the exact spot
This is the closer. We introduce a safe, inert gas mixture (typically hydrogen and nitrogen) into the drained pipework. Being light, it escapes through the breach and rises to the surface, where a sensitive probe detects it — pinpointing the leak to within centimetres, even through screed or concrete. It’s the method that turns “around here” into “right there”.
Thermal finds the area, acoustic narrows it, tracer gas marks the X. Skip a step and you’re back to guessing.
And the supporting cast
- Moisture meters and mapping — quantify how wet a structure is and chart where the moisture spreads.
- Pressure testing — isolates a circuit to prove a leak exists and which system it’s on, before we hunt for it.
- Borescopes — a tiny camera through a small hole to confirm visually before committing to access.
The point of all this
The reason we carry the full kit isn’t to look thorough — it’s to protect your home. Every method we cross-check is one less reason to open a floor speculatively. By the time we recommend an access point, several independent methods agree on it. That’s the difference between a specialist survey and a hopeful hole in the wall.