The toilet cistern
A worn flush valve lets water run silently into the pan all day. Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern: colour in the bowl after 15 minutes means it leaks.
A hidden leak rarely shows where it starts. Water runs along a pipe or a slab and appears metres away, which is why guessing costs tiles. We test the pipework in sections first, then open the one spot that needs repair.
Signs of a hidden leak
Before you call anyone, this tells you whether water is escaping somewhere.
If your supply runs through a tank and pump, do the same test at the pump: with every tap closed it should stay silent. A pump that starts every few minutes is feeding a leak or a faulty toilet cistern.
A worn flush valve lets water run silently into the pan all day. Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern: colour in the bowl after 15 minutes means it leaks.
Concealed hot and cold lines to basins and showers. Look for bubbling paint or a damp patch on the other side of the wall.
A warm strip of tiles, hollow-sounding tiles or damp grout lines point to a hot pipe leaking below.
When it sticks open the tank overflows, often at night, and the water runs unseen down an outside wall or drain.
Flexible hoses and angle valves weep for months before they fail. Check inside the cabinet for swollen board.
A patch of ground that stays green or soft with no watering usually has a supply pipe leaking under it.
We narrow it down in steps. First the meter and pump tell us whether the leak is on the supply side at all. Then the pipework is isolated in sections, hot and cold, floor by floor, using the valves already in the property.
The section that will not hold pressure is the one with the leak. We test it with a gauge, check its fittings and outlets, and look and listen along its route for the damp or the sound of water.
Only then is a surface opened, and only at that spot. You see the leaking joint or pipe before it is repaired, and the line is pressure-tested again before the wall or floor is closed.
Not every damp patch is plumbing. Knowing the difference saves a wasted visit.
Water pouring, not seeping? Close the main valve and go to burst pipe repair. Water around the heater is covered on the water heater page. Everything else is listed under our plumbing services.
If your usage has not changed, water is being lost. The commonest causes are a toilet cistern that runs constantly, a roof tank that overflows at night and a leaking pipe under the floor or garden. The meter test above tells you in 15 minutes whether it is a leak.
Yes. Once the leak is located, only the tiles over that joint are removed. Keeping a few spare tiles from the original batch makes the patch much harder to see.
A drip that fills a cup in ten minutes wastes more than a thousand litres a month. It also soaks the screed and the wall, lifts tiles, rusts the steel in the concrete and feeds mould long before any water is visible.
Almost certainly a loss of pressure somewhere: a leaking pipe, a dripping tap, a running toilet or a faulty non-return valve at the pump. Close the toilet inlet valves one at a time and listen for when the pump goes quiet.
A simple case, such as a running cistern or a leaking hose, is found in minutes. A leak in concealed pipework can take a few hours of isolating and testing. We tell you what we have ruled out as we go.
Yes. The flush plate on the wall is the access hatch. The valves and seals inside can be changed through it without removing tiles.
Water leak detection in Doha starts with a free first visit. If there is no leak, we tell you that too.
