Articles & Guides

What the small pipe dripping outside your house near the boiler actually is, why a pressure relief valve discharges, and why you should never cap or block it yourself.

What a cold top, cold bottom or cold middle on a radiator actually tells you, how to fix trapped air and sludge yourself, and when the pattern combined with pressure loss points to a hidden leak in the heating circuit.

Why water pressure drops across a whole house or at a single outlet, the difference between a supply restriction and a leak, and when low pressure in a rural Cornwall or Devon property needs professional leak detection.

How to recognise an airlock in your water pipes, safe ways to clear one yourself, and the signs that a recurring airlock is actually air being drawn in through a leak.

A step-by-step look at what happens when you call DCI Leak Detection about a suspected leak, from phone triage through to pinpointing the source. Covers what to do before we arrive and how fixed pricing works.

A water meter that keeps spinning or ticking over with every tap and appliance off means water is passing through somewhere on your side of the system. This guide covers how to isolate internal plumbing from the supply pipe, what small dial movements mean, and what South West Water customers should know.

A ceiling bulging with trapped water is an active emergency that needs a calm, specific sequence: electrics off, controlled containment, stopcock shut, then finding the actual source. This guide walks through exactly what to do in the first few minutes and what happens next.

When a ceiling or wall stain returns after a repair, it usually means the original leak was never properly found, only patched over or coincidentally stopped. This guide explains why repairs fail without detection first, and how to confirm a stain is genuinely dry before redecorating.

A damp or wet patch of carpet with no spilled drink, no pet accident and no visible pipework nearby usually means water is tracking up from below. This guide covers the likely sources, from slab leaks to heating pipes, and how to find one without lifting the whole floor.

A sound of running water with every tap and appliance off usually means water is moving somewhere it shouldn’t be. This guide explains the likely causes, the checks to run first, and how acoustic listening pinpoints the source.

A musty smell with no visible damp patch is often the first sign of a hidden water leak, especially under floors or inside wall cavities. Here’s how to tell the difference between a smell you can ventilate away and one that needs a proper survey.

The ten most reliable signs of a hidden water leak, from a spinning water meter and unexplained bills to warm floor patches, musty smells and pressure loss. A practical checklist for working out whether professional leak detection is the next step.

Why underfloor heating develops cold spots, from airlocks and balancing issues to blocked loops, and how to tell an ordinary heating fault from a leak. Covers the pressure drop pattern that means a loop leak rather than a simple fix.

A practical look at smart water leak detectors and automatic shut-off valves, what point sensors and flow-based systems each catch and miss, and where they genuinely help holiday lets and second homes. Covers what these devices cannot do.

How to use a pin or pinless moisture meter correctly, what %WME and relative scale readings actually mean, and the common mistakes that make a reading unreliable. Covers when a reading justifies calling in a professional survey.

How to recognise a central heating pipe leaking under a floor, from warm patches and pressure drop patterns to the difference between suspended and solid floors. Covers what a non-invasive survey involves before anything gets lifted.