Washroom and staff area leak detection
Customer toilets, staff kitchens, cleaners’ cupboards and shower rooms pack more pipework into fewer square metres than anywhere else in a shop. When the wall next door goes damp, this is where we look first.
Washrooms fail quietly. A cistern overflow that runs all night, a shower tray seal that has opened up, a waste that weeps under a boxed-in pan. The water finds the floor and the wall, spreads under the tiles and appears as a stain on the shop-floor side of the partition, sometimes in the unit next door. By the time it is noticed the damage is in three rooms and the cause is still hidden behind tiling.
Our engineers test the supplies, the wastes and the seals separately so that each is either cleared or confirmed. Moisture mapping shows how far the water has travelled, thermal imaging picks out hot-water leaks behind tiles, and a borescope through a small hole shows the state of the pipework in the boxing. You get the cause, the location and a report that supports the repair and the claim.
Signs you have one
- A damp patch on the shop-floor side of a washroom wall, usually low down
- Grout or silicone that is dark, loose or growing mould despite cleaning
- A cistern that refills on its own, or the sound of running water in an empty room
- Water on the floor around the pan or shower tray after use, with no obvious splash
- Lifting vinyl or tiles just outside the washroom door
- A smell of drains or damp in the staff kitchen or cleaners’ cupboard
- Staining on the ceiling of the room or unit below the washroom
- The water meter turning overnight when the store is closed
What we do
Test supplies and wastes separately
Hot and cold supplies are pressure tested, then the wastes and traps are tested with water and dye where needed, so the leak is put on one system before we go looking for it.
Check the seals and trays
Shower trays, basin edges and pan connections are tested one at a time. A leaking seal behaves differently from a leaking pipe, and the fix is very different too.
Map the moisture
Readings across the floor and walls show the extent of the wet area and the direction the water has travelled, which points back to the source.
Look behind the boxing
Thermal imaging finds hot-water leaks behind tiles, and a borescope through a small opening shows joints and wastes inside the boxing or beneath the pan without stripping the room.
Retail considerations
One cubicle at a time
Customer toilets rarely need to close entirely. We test cubicle by cubicle and keep the rest available.
Shared walls in parades and centres
The damp wall in your stock room can be the washroom in the unit next door. Our report names the source so the conversation with the neighbour or landlord starts from evidence.
Slips and hygiene
A washroom leak that reaches the shop floor is a slip hazard and a hygiene issue. Finding it early keeps the problem inside the room.
Questions
Do we need to close the toilets?
Usually one cubicle or one room at a time. Pressure tests and moisture readings are quick and quiet, and anything noisier can be done before the store opens.
Could it be condensation rather than a leak?
In a busy washroom with poor extraction, yes. Moisture mapping and the pattern of the damp tell the two apart: condensation is spread across cold surfaces, a leak is concentrated and follows the pipe or the seal. The survey says which.
The shower room was refitted last year. Can it really be leaking?
New rooms can leak, usually at a tray seal, a joint behind the boxing or a waste that was never tested under load. The report describes the defect so the fitter can be asked to put it right.
Will you have to take the tiles off?
Not to find it. Thermal imaging and moisture readings work through tiles, and the borescope goes through a small hole in the boxing or an access panel. Tiles come off only at the repair, and only over the defect.
Is a dripping overflow worth calling about?
It is worth fixing. A cistern that runs into its overflow all night wastes a lot of metered water and is often the answer to a high bill. It is a simple repair once identified, and the kind of thing we put right on the visit.
Other services.
Most engineers arrive with the full kit, so if the leak turns out to be a different kind, the survey carries on.
Water mains & underground
Supply pipes under car parks, service yards and slab floors. The usual suspect behind a water bill that has quietly doubled.
See the serviceHeating & pipework
Commercial central heating and underfloor systems losing pressure. Tracer gas and thermal imaging find the break with the floor still in place.
See the serviceRoof & ceiling leaks
Flat roofs, rooflights, box gutters and drips from the unit above. We trace the water back to where it gets in, which is rarely where it shows up.
See the serviceUnder-floor & slab
Pipes buried in screed beneath tiles, vinyl and timber. Located from above, so the shop floor stays whole.
See the serviceDrains & CCTV surveys
Blocked, cracked or leaking drains in service yards and beneath units, surveyed with CCTV drain cameras and pressure testing.
See the serviceDamp & structural ingress
Penetrating damp, basement stock rooms and party walls. Moisture mapping shows what is a leak and what is condensation.
See the serviceWhere this comes up.
Restaurants & cafés
Kitchens, cellars and the ceiling of the customer downstairs.
View sectorSupermarkets & grocery
Chillers, condensate lines and busy back-of-house plumbing on a floor that never really closes.
View sectorShopping centres
Multi-tenant leaks, service corridors and units stacked above units.
View sectorSpeak to the team about your leak.
One call gets a leak engineer moving. Our methods are non-invasive, so there is usually nothing to dig up, and you get a written report ready for your insurer.
Engineers across England, Scotland and Wales. £5 million public liability insurance.