Confirmation test only
Fixed price
Pressure-decay or mains-meter test to confirm whether there's actually a leak. Often resolves the question without further work.
Plumbing Services
Hidden Leak Detection in Corbyfound without ripping up your floor& fixed-price repair after
If your water bill has crept up, your boiler keeps losing pressure, or there's an unexplained damp patch — we trace the leak using thermal imaging, acoustic listening kit and tracer gas. Then we agree the repair price before any flooring comes up.
- Non-invasive tracing first
- Thermal imaging & acoustic kit
- Insurance-grade reports available
- Repair quoted before lifting floors
92%
Leaks located non-invasively
Same week
Most jobs trace + fix
Insurer-ready
Reports for claims
12 mo
Workmanship guarantee
Leak detection — water mains, heating, hot water
Find the leak first. Lift the floor only if we have to.
The mistake we get called in to fix is people pulling up the wrong floor. A guess-and-dig approach destroys flooring you didn't need to lose, and often misses the actual leak by a metre or two. Proper detection comes first; repair comes second.
We use four detection methods depending on the leak type: thermal imaging cameras (visible heat differential where hot pipes are leaking), acoustic ground microphones (audible signature of pressurised water escaping), tracer gas (hydrogen-nitrogen mix injected into the system, sniffed at the surface), and pressure-decay testing to confirm the system is actually losing water in the first place.
Around 92% of leaks we attend are located without lifting flooring. The remaining 8% need targeted access — but always at the right point, with the smallest possible cut, and a written quote before we touch the floor.
What happens if you wait
Hidden leaks don't stay hidden — they take your floor with them
A heating-circuit leak under engineered oak flooring usually shows up first as a boiler that keeps needing topping up. By the time you can see the damage, you've often lost the floor and a section of subfloor with it. Acting at the 'pressure keeps dropping' stage is a fraction of the cost of acting once the floor's gone spongy.
Combi boilers losing pressure once a month is normal. Once a fortnight is borderline. Once a week is a leak — find it.
- Combi pressure dropping weekly — almost always a system leak, often radiator or pipework
- Damp patch on a downstairs ceiling — usually upstairs bathroom soil or supply
- Engineered floor cupping or lifting — pressurised water under the floor
- Unexplained spike on water bill — possibly a mains-side leak before the meter reaches the house
- Persistent musty smell in one room — slow leak inside a wall cavity
- Boiler inhibitor disappearing — system leak slowly washing it out
Our process
From first call to job done — exactly what to expect
- 01
Confirm the leak
Pressure-decay test on heating, mains-meter test on supply. We confirm there is a leak before we start hunting one.
- 02
Non-invasive trace
Thermal imaging, acoustic listening, tracer gas — chosen by leak type. No floors lifted yet.
- 03
Pinpoint
Down to a 30cm window in most cases. We mark the spot before any cuts are made.
- 04
Quote the repair
Written, fixed price for the access + repair before we lift a single board.
- 05
Repair & report
Repair, refill, retest, and a written report — insurer-grade if you need it for a trace-and-access claim.
Why customers choose Reactive
No guesswork. No upsell. Just the work, done right.
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Trace-and-access reports
Most home insurance policies cover trace-and-access. We supply documentation that lets you claim back the cost.
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Right tool per leak type
Thermal for hot, acoustic for pressurised mains, tracer gas for buried — we don't force one tool on every job.
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Fixed price before we cut
You see the repair price before any floor or plaster is touched. No hidden time-and-materials creep.
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Same-week trace + fix
Most jobs scoped, traced and repaired within the same working week.
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Heating + plumbing under one roof
If the leak is on the heating side, we repair it ourselves — no second contractor.
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Honest 'no leak found' if true
If pressure-decay shows no leak, we'll tell you and stop the meter. You don't pay for a hunt that wasn't needed.
In detail
How we trace each leak type — methodology, not magic
Thermal imaging works on heating pipes because escaping hot water heats the surrounding floor or wall material visibly more than the dry sections. It's our first tool on suspected heating leaks. It's not useful on cold mains leaks, where the temperature differential is too small.
Acoustic ground microphones pick up the high-frequency hiss of pressurised water escaping a hairline split. They work best on mains-pressure cold supply, especially in concrete-floored properties common across the Corby new-build estates. We sweep the suspected zone in a grid, marking peak signal points.
Tracer gas (a non-flammable hydrogen-nitrogen blend) is our last resort for genuinely buried leaks. The system is drained, sealed, the gas injected, and a sniffer probe used at the surface. The gas escapes only at the leak point — pinpoint accuracy down to a few centimetres.
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Heating-circuit leaks
Thermal imaging first, often confirmed with a controlled pressure test.
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Cold mains leaks
Acoustic ground mic + meter check. Common at the rising main entry and stop tap.
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Hot supply / cylinder leaks
Thermal + acoustic. Often the cylinder itself or the immersion boss.
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Buried garden mains
Tracer gas after isolation. We work with Anglian Water mapping where available.
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Underfloor heating leaks
Thermal imaging across the slab + manifold pressure test by zone.
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Slab leaks (concrete floors)
Acoustic microphone, tracer gas, then targeted core access.
Honest pricing
How much does leak detection cost in Northants?
Detection is priced separately from repair so you only pay for what's actually needed. Most household insurance policies cover the detection cost as 'trace and access'.
Full trace (thermal + acoustic)
Fixed price
Multi-method trace using the right kit for the leak type. Pinpoint result and written report.
Trace + tracer-gas
Fixed price
Includes hydrogen-nitrogen tracer gas for buried leaks. Used for slab and external mains where other methods can't isolate.
What changes the price
- Leak type (hot, cold, heating, buried, underfloor)
- Access — concrete slab, suspended timber, engineered flooring
- Whether tracer gas is needed
- Size of the area to be swept
- Whether a written insurance-grade report is required
- Whether repair is included or quoted separately
Free, fixed-price quote — no obligation, no callout fee.
Get my fixed priceAreas covered
Local cover across Northants & Rutland
Leak detection is one of our most-requested services across the older Northants villages and the newer Corby and Kettering estates alike. Different builds, different leak patterns — we adapt the trace method to the property type.
Who'll be doing the work
The Reactive engineering team
We've traced everything from a 12mm pinhole under a Kettering kitchen island to a buried garden main feeding a Rutland farmhouse. The kit matters — but knowing which method to reach for first matters more.
- Gas Safe Registered
- OFTEC Registered
- Thermal imaging trained
- Acoustic detection equipped
- Insurance-report ready
FAQs
Questions we actually get asked
Anything not covered here? Pick up the phone — straight talk, no salesperson in the middle.
Call 07342 043953Ready when you are
Find the leak. Save the floor. Book a trace.
Non-invasive detection first, fixed-price repair second, insurance-grade report on request.
Last updated May 2026 · Reactive Gas Heating and Plumbing Services Limited · 9 Rutherford Court, Corby NN17 4SJ · Gas Safe Registered · OFTEC Registered · Checkatrade Verified