Whether the water is disappearing under a Bedminster terrace, inside a Clifton flat conversion or along a factory's process pipework, we find the exact escape point before anything is opened up — for one fixed fee of £480 + VAT.
Bristol is the busiest English city on our books, and the work reflects its variety: terraced homeowners south of the river, freeholders and block managers around the Harbourside, letting agents juggling the student belt from Redland to Fishponds, and commercial clients with pipework that simply cannot fail quietly. Whatever the building, the principle holds — locate first, open up second, and only ever at the confirmed spot.
Crossing the Severn is routine for us, so Bristol surveys slot onto planned routes rather than waiting on a rare special trip; most customers get a confirmed date within a few working days of ringing 01639 999 999. The fee is settled in advance at £480 + VAT, so a leak that hides all day in a warren of Victorian pipework costs no more than one found before lunch.
Every survey is written up to insurance standard, with thermal captures, moisture data and photographs of the pinpointed fault — the paperwork that keeps a trace and access claim moving and gives managing agents a clear record for leaseholders.
Local knowledge
South and east Bristol run on Victorian terraces — Bedminster, Southville, Totterdown, Easton, St George — where supply pipes cross suspended timber floors over shallow voids, and a weeping joint can rot joists for years before a floor feels spongy. Up the hill, the Georgian and early-Victorian villas of Clifton, Cotham and Redland have been carved into flats, leaving long, undocumented pipe runs threading through multiple dwellings; when one fails, the damp arrives in somebody else's ceiling. The student houses of Horfield and Fishponds add another layer: bathrooms worked far harder than their fittings were designed for.
North of the Downs, the 1930s semis of Henleaze and Westbury-on-Trym often carry retro-fitted central heating buried in later screeds, a classic source of slow, invisible pressure loss. Post-war estates in Hartcliffe and Southmead see similar solid-floor heating faults, while the Harbourside's warehouse conversions and new-build blocks bring modern problems — communal risers, boosted mains and underfloor heating manifolds — where a small fault can affect a dozen flats at once.
WHAT WE FIND IN BRISTOL
Coverage
We cover the city from the centre and Harbourside out in every direction — south through Bedminster to Hartcliffe and Whitchurch, east through Easton to Kingswood and Downend, and north across the Downs to Westbury-on-Trym, Southmead and Shirehampton.
Postcode areas covered: BS1 · BS2 · BS3 · BS4 · BS5 · BS6 · BS7 · BS8 · BS9 · BS10 · BS11 · BS13 · BS14 · BS15 · BS16
Our methods
A city this varied needs the full toolkit. In the terraces we drop a borescope into floor voids through an opening barely wider than a pencil, and let acoustic sensors trace pressurised water beneath solid ground floors. Flat conversions call for circuit-by-circuit tracer gas testing, which follows a leak across party walls and between storeys to a single marked point. On commercial sites we apply the same gas tracing to process and distribution pipework — stainless steel, steel or plastic — where shutting the system down for exploratory strip-out is not an option.
A safe hydrogen-nitrogen mix escapes through the smallest defects — traced above ground to pinpoint the leak.
Non-toxicInfrared surveying reveals temperature anomalies behind floors, walls and ceilings.
Non-contactAmplifies the distinctive sound of pressurised water escaping from mains, copper and MDPE pipework.
UndergroundA flexible camera inspects wall cavities, floor voids and boxing-in through the smallest access point.
Minimal accessComparative readings across plaster, timber and concrete map water migration and confirm findings.
Evidence-gradePricing
Many leak detection companies charge £100+ per hour with no way of knowing the final bill. Our Trace & Find survey is a fixed £480 + VAT — however long it takes to find your leak.
A complete leak detection survey with the right equipment for your property.
no hourly rates · no hidden costs
Once located, repairs are quoted separately — every repair varies by leak type, pipework and access.
Priced individually to reflect the size, complexity and requirements of each project.
Answer a few quick questions and we will point you to the right fixed price.
Bristol FAQs
Answers specific to Bristol properties and how we work in the area.
Bristol sits on our regular route network across the Severn, so most surveys are confirmed within a few working days of your call to 01639 999 999. If water is actively escaping, we will explain how to isolate the supply while you wait.
Very possibly. Victorian terraces in Totterdown, Bedminster and Easton have shallow voids under suspended floors where a small supply leak can fester unseen. We check the void with a borescope and moisture mapping, and confirm any pipework fault with acoustic or gas testing before a single board is lifted.
Yes — factories, offices, hospitality and managed blocks. Tracer gas testing works on commercial process pipework just as it does on domestic plumbing, and we can often survey around normal operations rather than forcing a shutdown.
The report is compiled precisely for that use: pinpointed leak location, thermal imagery, moisture readings and photographs. Trace and access cover features in most buildings policies and typically refunds the professional cost of finding the leak — our fee is a fixed £480 + VAT.
Yes. We isolate and test communal risers, boosted mains and individual flat circuits in turn until the failed run is identified, then document it so the block manager, leaseholders and insurers are all working from the same evidence.
Book a non-invasive Trace & Find survey for a fixed £480 + VAT — we locate the source fast, with a full report for your records or insurer.
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