Leak in Living Room - Plumber or Leak Detection Company?

djp64

I have today found a leak in my living room. Area affected is approx 1m x 2m and carpet is sopping wet. The water appears to be clear, clean and odourless. The only water source in the living room is the radiator. The nearest source (internally) of clean water is the kitchen / downstairs toilet on the other side of the house.

House is traditional brick construction (circa 1983), concrete floors downstairs. 4-5cms of wall above the skirting board shows signs of rising water.

With all apparent water using things off the water meter (outside on the pavement) still turns. With the internal stopcock turned off the meter stops indicating that there may be an internal leak.

Given the concrete floor I'm tempted to call out a one of the specialist leak detection companies rather than a plumber.

Has anyone been in a similar position? What route did you take? Anyone used one of these leak detection companies? How did you find them?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Debbie

WestonDave

When you say internal stop tap is turned off do you mean the one in the house or the one at the meter?

djp64

Thanks for replying - I mean the stop tap in the house (kitchen) where the water supply enters the house.

Debbie

WestonDave

(If the meter keeps turning when the stop tap at the point of mains entry in the house is turned off then I'd be looking at a fairly straight line between that stop tap and the meter point on the street - does that run through the leak?) Ignore this bit as superceded!


If turning off the stop tap in the house stops the meter turning then its somewhere on the internal pipe work which I think would be unlikely to run under the lounge floor unless there is a particular reason to get across to that side of the house (e.g. to feed upstairs bathrooms, or a Central Heating boiler or even a back boiler behind the fire).


Just as a hunch - what set up is the downstairs toilet - is it a close coupled unit or a concealed cistern?

djp64

Thanks for your thoughts - I had exactly the same one - can't see why there would be clean water supply in the living room

There is no reason that I can see - the upstairs bathroom is on the opposite wall of the house as is the central heating boiler. There is no back boiler.

The downstairs toilet is close coupled.

Debbie

WestonDave

Very odd!


Worth checking any visible pipes (use some form of cloth that changes colour if it gets wet as this will make it easier to see), under the kitchen sink including the waste pipe, and around the toilet for any sign of water anywhere else. I guess it could have flowed across the floor from somewhere else which would have caused the rising damp marks if it came under that point. The other thing to check for is pinhole leaks in the radiators - that can happen as they rust from the inside.


Beyond that I'm afraid I'm stumped.

djp64

Thanks for the recommendations.

I'll try these in the morning. I have left the stop tap off so no further water can accumulate.

Regards

Debbie