Bathroom and shower leak detection in Sussex, Surrey & London
When a ceiling stains under a bathroom, there are usually five or six candidates sitting within a metre of each other: the shower tray seal, the waste trap, the bath overflow, the tiling grout, the supply pipes and the toilet pan connector. Replacing them all is what most people end up doing, and it is rarely necessary.
Dye testing lets us load one source at a time and see which one produces the water below. Combined with moisture mapping to establish where the water is actually travelling, it usually takes under two hours to name the culprit and leave everything else alone.
Our approach
How we find bathroom and shower leaks
These are the methods we would normally work through on this kind of job, in this order, stopping as soon as the evidence agrees on one point.
- 1
Tracer dye testing
Ideal where several possible sources share the same wet patch. A shower tray, a waste trap and a heating pipe can all end up on the same ceiling; dosing them one at a time and watching where the dye emerges answers the question definitively rather than by elimination.
- 2
Moisture mapping and salts analysis
Damp on its own does not tell you where water came from. Rising ground moisture leaves nitrate and chloride salts behind; a burst pipe does not. Testing the salt content of a plaster sample separates a plumbing leak from rising damp or condensation, which is often the difference between a valid insurance claim and a rejected one.
- 3
Borescope inspection
When every non-invasive method points at the same spot, a borescope gives visual confirmation before anything is properly opened up. The access hole is small enough to fill and touch in with a dab of filler, which is why we always try it before lifting a floor or cutting a ceiling.
- 4
Thermal imaging camera survey
Water moving where it should not changes the temperature of everything it touches. A thermal camera renders those differences as an image, so a leak under a solid floor shows up as a shape long before it shows up as a stain. It is completely passive: nothing is drilled, lifted or cut to take the reading.
What happens
Trace, access, repair, prove
The same four stages on every job, whether it is a weeping joint or a mains supply pipe under a driveway.
- 1
Trace
Non-invasive survey of the whole affected area. We rule systems out as well as in, because knowing what is not leaking is half the evidence.
- 2
Access
One opening, in the right place, as small as the job allows. Usually a borescope hole first, and a larger opening only if the repair needs it.
- 3
Repair
The fault fixed on the same visit wherever it can be, guaranteed for 12 months. Anything larger is quoted at a fixed price before we start.
- 4
Prove
The circuit re-pressurised and held, moisture readings taken again, and the whole job written up with dated photographs and calibrated readings.
Pricing
Published rates, no call-out fee
Charged by the half hour with a half an hour minimum, and no premium for an emergency. All prices exclude VAT at 20%.
- Weekdays7am – 6pm, Monday to Friday£54.00+ VAT
- Evenings & weekends6pm – 9pm weekdays, plus all day Saturday and Sunday£69.75+ VAT
- Late night9pm – 7am, every day£90.00+ VAT
Questions
Bathroom and shower leak detection: your questions
The leak only happens when we use the shower. What does that mean?
It points at the shower itself rather than the pipework, because supply pipes are pressurised all the time. Usually it is the tray seal, the waste connection under the tray, or failed grout letting water behind the tiles.
Do you have to take the bathroom apart?
No. Dye testing and moisture mapping are done with the bathroom intact. If we need to see under a tray we usually go in through the ceiling below or through the bath panel.
Water comes through my ceiling from the flat above. What can I do?
We can survey both properties with the upstairs owner's agreement, which is the fastest way to settle it. Our report identifies the source and which property it sits in, which is what both insurers and managing agents need before anyone will act.
Related services
- Ceiling leak detectionWater travels along joists before it drops. The stain is almost never directly under the fault.
- Water leak detectionThe core survey: we find the exact source of any escape of water in your property without lifting floors or opening walls on a guess.
- Leak repairFind and fix in one visit wherever possible, with the repair pressure tested and proved before we leave.
Bathroom and shower leak detection near you
We cover 74 towns, cities and boroughs across Sussex, Surrey and London.
Sussex
Need bathroom and shower leak detection?
Call 01273 123 5050 for free advice, or book a survey online. No call-out fee, and we will tell you honestly if you do not need us.