How long to find a leak in a house?

[nervous123]

As mentioned in another post, the boiler pressure on our unvented sealed system drops about 0.4bar per week, so seems likely we have a leak somewhere.

There is no obvious leak from the rads or visible pipework so I have been quoted £380 + vat or £89 per hr for a company to detect the leak using thermal imagery , tracer gas, and sound detection.

Now feeling I have little choice, which of the 2 prices seem better? How long do the above methods take? (4 bedroom house, 12 rads) Anything less than 4.5 hours would be better to use the hourly rate...

Thanks everyone

 

[nervous123]

Forgot to add, if it has any bearking, that my (1/2yr old) boiler makes a loud gurgling/gushing water noise when it fires up - would that perhaps indicate a different problem than a leak?

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Have you checked the PRV discharge outside for any escaping water?

 

[Agile]

If I took on the job in our local area then I would charge £84 for an hour but nothing if I failed to find the leak.

Tony

 

[Gasman77]

You are both in London, get your arse around there Tone!

 

[Agile]

London is a big place!

The OP has apparently discounted any other solution other than that firm.

Tony

 

[ursamajor]

Forgot to add, if it has any bearking, that my (1/2yr old) boiler makes a loud gurgling/gushing water noise when it fires up - would that perhaps indicate a different problem than a leak?

A 6 month old installation will clearly be within a reasonable guarantee period, and I would be calling back the installer who may have some idea of where to look. If it turns out to be the prv then the boiler itself is under warranty.

I see no reason to get anyone else involved at this time.

 

[Nige F]

I reckon it will take 4 1/2 hours and they will tell you if it`s under the concrete floored part of the house - or not . You`d need a pretty clever device to detect a pipe under a suspended wooden floor leaking and dripping into a void - if they can do that, then I want one and I can use it @ £90 an hour Same as what they charge round here for turning off a mains stoptap - was under a foot of snow - and no, it wasn`t me - I just heard the tale and

 

[Nige F]

I know where to look @ the old existing pipework - not covered by any guarantee -

the OP /householder can look outside for the PRV discharge pipe .

 

[Agile]

A 6 month old installation will clearly be within a reasonable guarantee period, and I would be calling back the installer who may have some idea of where to look.

If it turns out to be the prv then the boiler itself is under warranty.

Presumably the OP has already checked that before spending £400.

If it was the PRV leaking then that would only be as a result of dirt and not covered by the boiler makers warrantee.

Tony

 

[ursamajor]

Presuming anything is a risky business as you well know.

We have no idea of how much pipework was done during the boiler installation, hence why the installer may have a better idea. Who knows, it may even be the drain-off passing.

If the prv inside the boiler has begun to pass water, then it may well be faulty and thus within the warranty period. As indeed is the case if it's the expansion tank. Either way I'd be inclined to look down these two routes before I got my chequebook out and get another company involved.