The meter is still turning with every tap in the house shut off. Or there is a warm patch on the solid hall floor of a Harmans Water semi that the heating cannot explain, a damp smell in a Priestwood kitchen that never airs out, a water bill that has quietly doubled. Nothing is bursting. Something is leaking, somewhere under the floor or behind a wall, and it has probably been leaking for months.
TrueFlow is based in Bracknell, and non-invasive leak detection is one of our core services: trace and access work that pinpoints a hidden leak without ripping up floors on guesswork. We are available 24/7, fully insured, and quotes are free, with the exact price agreed before any work starts.
Why Bracknell homes are built to hide leaks
The Development Corporation put up ten neighbourhoods, from Priestwood, occupied from 1951, through Harmans Water in the 1960s. In line with the practice of the era, many of those houses had their copper hot and cold runs laid directly into the solid concrete ground floor. That copper is now under attack from both sides. Contaminants in the concrete of that era, chloride-based set accelerators among them, can corrode unprotected pipe from the outside, while Bracknell’s South East Water supply, hard at somewhere in the 260 to 290 mg/L band, drives pinhole corrosion from the inside.
A pinhole under a solid floor is the perfect hidden leak. There is no ceiling stain and no drip to hear, just a fine jet of water spreading beneath the screed. By the time it surfaces as a warm patch, lifting floor tiles or a musty smell, thousands of litres may already have gone into the slab.
How professional leak detection works
The principle is find first, then fix once. Standard industry methods include acoustic listening equipment to hear water escaping under pressure, thermal imaging to reveal the heat signature of a leaking hot pipe, moisture mapping to trace how far water has spread, and tracer gas where a leak is especially stubborn. Used together, they narrow a suspected leak from “somewhere under the ground floor” to a specific point.
That precision is what protects your home. Instead of excavating a trench across the lounge to follow a pipe, one small, targeted opening exposes the failed section for a single clean repair. TrueFlow backs those repairs with a 6-month guarantee, and the exact price is agreed with you before any work begins.
One more thing worth doing before you book anyone: check your buildings insurance. Many policies include trace and access cover, which can pay towards the cost of locating a hidden leak and making good the access, though usually not the pipe repair itself. Cover varies between policies, so read yours or ask your insurer first.
Leak detection FAQs for Bracknell homes
Why is there a warm patch on the solid floor of my 1960s Bracknell house?
A persistent warm spot that does not follow radiator positions is a classic sign of a leaking hot water pipe buried in the screed, common in Development Corporation-era homes. It is worth investigating promptly, because the leak is heating the slab with water you are paying for.
Will you have to dig up my floor to find the leak?
No. Detection itself is non-invasive: acoustic, thermal and moisture-based methods locate the leak from above. The floor is only opened at the pinpointed spot, once, for the repair.
Will my insurance pay for leak detection?
Possibly. Many buildings policies include trace and access cover for locating a leak, but not every policy has it and limits vary, so check your documents or call your insurer before assuming.
A hidden leak only gets more expensive. Call TrueFlow on 0808 175 7440, day or night, and a plumber in Bracknell based here in town will find it first and fix it once, with your exact price agreed up front.