Most leaks we find weren’t sudden. They’d been signalling for weeks — quietly, in ways that are easy to explain away. Here are the six signs worth taking seriously, and what each one usually means.
1. A water bill that’s crept up
A steadily rising bill with no change in how you live is one of the most reliable early flags. A leak the size of a pinhole can waste hundreds of litres a day without a single visible drip. Compare a couple of recent bills — if usage is climbing on its own, something is running.
2. The meter moves when everything’s off
The simplest test you can do yourself. Turn off every tap and water-using appliance, then watch your water meter for ten minutes. If the dial is still turning, water is escaping somewhere between the meter and your taps.
3. Warm or damp patches on the floor
A warm spot underfoot, especially on a tiled or solid floor, often points to a hot-water or heating pipe leaking below. Damp patches that never quite dry — at the base of a wall, around a shower, under a kitchen unit — are the cold-water equivalent.
One sign or several?
Any one of these alone might be innocent. Two or more together — a rising bill and a damp patch, say — is the point at which it’s worth a professional look rather than a wait-and-see.
4. A musty smell that won’t shift
Persistent damp behind a wall or under a floor smells before it shows. If a room has a faint earthy, musty note that air-freshener and open windows don’t fix, trust your nose — it’s often detecting moisture you can’t yet see.
5. Staining, blistering or peeling
Tide-mark stains on a ceiling, paint that’s bubbling, or plaster that’s gone soft are all moisture finding its way to a surface. By the time it’s visible the leak has usually been active a while, so this is a sign to act on, not monitor.
6. Boiler pressure that won’t hold
If your heating system keeps losing pressure and needs regular topping up, that’s a leak in the heating circuit until proven otherwise — even with nothing visible.
A leak rarely gets cheaper to fix by waiting. The clue is the bargain; the damage is the bill.
Spotting any of these doesn’t mean panic — it means look properly. A non-destructive survey confirms whether there’s a leak and exactly where, before anyone lifts a floor or opens a wall.