Kitchen Leak Detection: Surveyed Along the Water Run
A kitchen usually has more water connections than other rooms, and they sit behind units and appliances. We survey it as one run, from the stop tap to the tap, sink waste, dishwasher, washing machine and fridge line, so the source is located rather than guessed. The package is £580. No VAT is charged.
What the visit covers
- The supply run from the stop tap to the kitchen tap tails, isolation valves and flexible connectors
- The sink waste, trap and the waste connections for the dishwasher and washing machine
- Appliance inlet and outlet connections, checked with the appliance valve closed and then open
- Plumbed-in fridge, filter and instant hot tap feeds where they are fitted
- Moisture readings across the floor, plinths and the backs of base units, with a thermal image where it helps
- A written report of what was found and where, with the readings and the limits of each method
Published prices
What it costs
- Fixed-price leak location package
- The package gives one fixed price, known before the visit, to locate a leak in one property using whichever methods the leak needs.
- £580Fixed price
Or by the hour
- Standard leak detection
- General water leak detection in a property.
- £180an hour
- Moisture mapping
- Mapping moisture to find where water is travelling.
- £180an hour
No VAT is charged
A fixed hourly rate that cannot rise on the day
No find, no fee applies when a live leak inside your own property cannot be located. No find, no fee in full
Order of work
Walk the run
The team talks through what you have seen, then follows the water from where it enters the kitchen to each fitting, noting what is visible and what is boxed in.
Take readings before opening anything
A moisture meter is taken across the floor edge, plinths and unit backs. A thermal camera shows cold or wet areas behind finishes. The wettest point is recorded, which is often not the leaking joint.
Isolate and test
Appliance valves and sections of pipe are closed one at a time while a gauge or the meter is watched, so the loss is tied to one branch. A dye or endoscope check follows where a waste or a void is suspected.
Report the source
The result is written up with the readings and photographs. Where the source is under a floor, tracer gas or acoustic work is used before any opening is suggested.
Why a kitchen is surveyed along the run
Most kitchen leaks are found by following the water in the order it travels, not by looking at the wettest spot. Water leaves a joint, runs down a pipe or a unit side, and soaks into the floor or plinth some distance away. The wet patch tells you where it arrived.
So the survey follows the run. It starts where the supply enters, passes each fitting that is under pressure, and then works through the waste side, where water only flows while something is draining. A leak that appears only during a dishwasher drain is a different problem from one that is wet all day, and the order of the survey separates them.
| Stage of the run | What is checked | Method | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stop tap and supply | Joints, valve spindle, pipe entry points | Visual, pressure gauge, meter watch | A buried section is not visible from above |
| Tap and tails | Flexible connectors, nuts, fixing, base seal | Dry tissue wrap, moisture meter | Water inside the tap body that stays inside |
| Sink waste | Trap, seal washers, overflow, outlet joint | Dye test, run-and-watch | A leak that only opens when the pipe is hot |
| Dishwasher | Inlet hose, drain hose, tee connection | Valve closed then open, drain cycle watched | Faults inside the machine casing |
| Washing machine | Inlet valves and hoses, standpipe | Same, with a dry-floor run | A tub or pump seal inside the machine |
| Fridge, filter, hot tap | Feed tube, valve, housing joints | Visual, pressure gauge, moisture meter | The inside of the appliance |
What each instrument is used for in a kitchen
A moisture meter is taken along the base of the units and the floor edge first, because kitchens hold water in chipboard and plinth boards long after the leak has stopped. A thermal camera adds a picture of cold, wet areas; see how thermal imaging finds a leak for what it can and cannot show.
A pressure test tells you whether a pipe branch is losing water at all. Closing the appliance valves one at a time tells you which branch. An endoscope or borescope goes through an existing gap or small opening to look behind a plinth or into a void. Dye in the sink shows a waste joint that leaks only when it drains.
Where the pipe runs under a solid floor, the instruments change. Acoustic detection and tracer gas are for buried pipework, and a kitchen on a concrete floor is where they are most often needed.
What the kitchen survey cannot do
A survey locates the leak. It does not take units apart or lift worktops, and it cannot see inside a sealed appliance. If a fault turns out to be inside a dishwasher or washing machine, the report says so, and an appliance engineer is the right next call.
Fitted kitchens also limit access. Where a unit is screwed to the wall and blocks the pipe, the report states what could not be reached. Opening up, and the work to put the kitchen back, are arranged separately and are not part of the visit; see leak damage repair and remediation.
How a kitchen survey is charged
A kitchen survey inside one property is the £580 detection package: one price, known before the visit, whether the leak turns out to be at the stop tap, the sink waste or an appliance line. No VAT is charged. Tracer gas is included by default. It does not include larger repairs, access, making good, or a leak outside the property such as a shared or water company pipe. A small repair, such as tightening a fitting or replacing a small part on the pipe, can be done on the same visit once the leak is found, agreed first.
Hourly work is £180 an hour, which is a fixed hourly rate that cannot rise on the day, or £180 an hour for moisture mapping, a starting rate. No VAT is charged. No find, no fee applies when a live leak inside your own property cannot be located.
Questions customers ask
What do I need to do before the survey?
Clear the cupboard under the sink and make sure the dishwasher and washing machine can be reached. Note when the leak shows, for example only after the dishwasher runs. Do not pull appliances out while water is running. Preparing for a leak detection visit has the full list.
Do you take the kitchen apart to find the leak?
No. The aim is to locate the source without opening anything first. If an opening is needed, the report marks the spot so it can be small, and that work is separate from the survey.
Can you tell if the leak is the dishwasher or the pipework?
Usually yes. Closing the appliance valve and watching the gauge or meter separates a leak on the pipe side from a leak inside the machine. A fault inside the machine is reported as such, not repaired.
What if the water is coming from the flat above?
The survey will show whether the kitchen pipework is losing water. A leak from a neighbour or a shared pipe is a located leak and is charged. See the no find, no fee page for the boundary.
Is a kitchen leak urgent?
A leak that runs when nothing is in use, or that is near electrics, is. Turn off the water at the stop tap and keep clear of wet sockets. A slow weep at a joint can wait a day, but swollen units and floors do not recover. If it cannot wait, an urgent leak detection appointment can be arranged as a priority; availability is confirmed when you enquire.
Does the survey include the fridge water line and a boiling water tap?
The survey follows the whole water run, including the fridge water line. A filter or boiling water tap on that run is checked where it connects. If you already suspect one, the pages on fridge water line leaking and boiling water tap leaking show what to note before the visit.