Leak detection in Edinburgh
Caledonian Leak Detection finds hidden water leaks in Edinburgh flats, houses and listed buildings across the EH postcode area, so any opening is small and in the right place.
Illustration: a New Town terrace, with a leak showing on a basement wall.
Which parts of Edinburgh does Caledonian Leak Detection cover?
Caledonian Leak Detection covers the whole EH postcode area, 54 districts in all, each listed below with its post town.
The area stretches well past the city boundary: east to Musselburgh, North Berwick and Dunbar, west to Livingston, Bathgate and Linlithgow, and south to Dalkeith, Penicuik and Peebles. Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and Falkirk, for example, belong to other postcode areas, KY and FK, and sit with every other covered town on the areas covered page.
EH: Edinburgh
- EH1 Edinburgh
- EH2 Edinburgh
- EH3 Edinburgh
- EH4 Edinburgh
- EH5 Edinburgh
- EH6 Edinburgh
- EH7 Edinburgh
- EH8 Edinburgh
- EH9 Edinburgh
- EH10 Edinburgh
- EH11 Edinburgh
- EH12 Edinburgh
- EH13 Edinburgh
- EH14 Edinburgh, Balerno, Currie, Juniper Green
- EH15 Edinburgh
- EH16 Edinburgh
- EH17 Edinburgh
- EH18 Lasswade
- EH19 Bonnyrigg
- EH20 Loanhead
- EH21 Musselburgh
- EH22 Dalkeith
- EH23 Gorebridge
- EH24 Rosewell
- EH25 Roslin
- EH26 Penicuik
- EH27 Kirknewton
- EH28 Newbridge
- EH29 Kirkliston
- EH30 South Queensferry
- EH31 Gullane
- EH32 Longniddry, Prestonpans
- EH33 Tranent
- EH34 Tranent
- EH35 Tranent
- EH36 Humbie
- EH37 Pathhead
- EH38 Heriot
- EH39 North Berwick
- EH40 East Linton
- EH41 Haddington
- EH42 Dunbar
- EH43 Walkerburn
- EH44 Innerleithen
- EH45 Peebles
- EH46 West Linton
- EH47 Bathgate
- EH48 Bathgate
- EH49 Linlithgow
- EH51 Bo'ness
- EH52 Broxburn
- EH53 Livingston
- EH54 Livingston
- EH55 West Calder
How are leaks traced in Edinburgh's listed and historic buildings?
Leaks in Edinburgh's listed and historic buildings are located with non-invasive methods first, so any opening in old plaster, timber floors or stone is limited to the spot that needs it.
That matters here. Three in every four buildings in the Old and New Towns are listed, and each hole cut in the wrong place is original fabric that then has to be put right.
Thermal imaging shows a warm patch where water from a hot pipe or the heating escapes behind a finished surface. Moisture mapping (meter readings taken across a wall, floor or ceiling) shows how far the wet has spread, and acoustic listening picks up water escaping from a pipe under pressure. Where those fall short, tracer gas can find a leak too quiet to hear. A thermal camera cannot see through a thick stone wall, which is why no single method decides the spot, and the mark on the surface is where the joiner or plumber opens up. The same steps apply to hidden leak detection for water pipes in a newer house.
What should you do about a leak from the flat above in Edinburgh?
If water is coming through from the flat above, City of Edinburgh Council advises contacting your neighbour in the first instance, and leaving a note if they are out.
Where the upstairs flat has its own stopcock and nobody is home, turning it off can stop the water while you wait. If the flat is let and you cannot reach the tenant, the National Landlord Register lets you trace the owner. Once the water has stopped, the leak itself still has to be found.
Which leak detection services are available in Edinburgh?
Caledonian Leak Detection carries out four investigations in Edinburgh: leaks on hidden water pipes, leaks in the central heating, leaks on the buried supply pipe and leaks traced for an insurance claim.
Hidden pipe leaks
Under the floor of a Georgian flat, a leak on a hot or cold pipe can be located from above with hidden pipe leak detection, so only the boards over it need lifting rather than the whole floor.
Central heating leaks
When an Edinburgh boiler keeps losing pressure, the escaping water may be on a radiator run boxed in behind panelling, and central heating leak detection tests the circuit before any panel comes off.
Underground supply pipe leaks
Edinburgh supply pipes run under front gardens, basement areas and paths, and underground water leak detection finds a leak on that buried length without digging up the lot.
Leaks traced for an insurance claim
Insurers differ, and some require their agreement before work starts; once an Edinburgh owner's insurer agrees, trace and access leak detection records the leak, the access needed and photographs for the claim.
The home page shows how leak detection in Scotland works and who owns which pipe.
Where does Edinburgh's water come from?
Edinburgh's water comes mainly from the Borders reservoirs at Talla, Fruid and Megget, treated at Glencorse and Marchbank, and Scottish Water looks after that network up to the stopcock.
Past that valve, the supply pipe into the building and every pipe inside it are the owners' to maintain, and that is the part a leak investigation normally deals with. For a wet patch in the garden or the basement area, read who is responsible for an underground leak before calling anyone out.