Leak detection and repair in Sheffield

The first question is whose pipe it is. In Yorkshire Water's area you own the supply pipe from your property boundary to the house, plus any stop taps on your land and all the plumbing inside. Yorkshire Water owns the main and the communication pipe up to your boundary, according to its pipework guidance.

If your meter is out in the pavement, Yorkshire Water advises that your plumber digs at the boundary first and does a "cut and cap" to prove the leak is on your side before replacing anything. That advice is on its supply pipe leaks page, which also says a good contractor should offer you options: a clamp or seal, a new section, or a whole new pipe.

Older terraces in Walkley, Crookes and Hillsborough often have a shared supply pipe running under several houses. Yorkshire Water says owners of a shared pipe are jointly responsible for it, so one leak can involve the whole row.

Homes built before 1970 may still have lead supply pipes. Lead is soft and joints between lead and newer copper or plastic are a common leak point.

On the west side of the city the water is very soft. Yorkshire Water's 2025 figures put the Fulwood zone, which covers Crookes and Walkley, at 9.5 mg/l calcium. The Drinking Water Inspectorate notes that soft water can be more corrosive to pipework. Old copper there can thin and pinhole, often where pipes run through damp cellars or under concrete floors.

If your boiler pressure keeps falling, the water is going somewhere. It might be a weeping radiator valve, a pipe under a floor or the boiler's own relief valve dumping water outside. We check the heating side separately from the mains side because the tests are different.

Old Sheffield villas in Nether Edge and Broomhill often have heating pipes buried in solid floors. Finding those with thermal imaging while the heating runs saves a lot of lifted floorboards.

If you are on a meter and the leak was on your supply pipe, you may get a one off allowance from Yorkshire Water. The leak must be repaired, or reported to them, within 28 days and not caused by negligence. Customers on Yorkshire Water's financial support schemes may qualify for a free supply pipe repair. Keep the invoice and photos.

A lot of Sheffield terraces have a cellar under the front room, with the supply pipe coming through the front wall. Water on a cellar floor is not always a leak. It can be ground water after heavy rain, especially on a hillside. The test is simple. If the meter moves with every tap off, it is a pipe. If the water appears after rain and the meter is still, it is more likely ground water or a drain.

Under suspended timber floors, a leak can run for months before it shows as a damp smell or lifting boards. In homes with solid concrete floors, often 1950s and 1960s semis in Handsworth or Hillsborough, the heating pipes may be buried in the screed. Thermal imaging is the quickest way to find those.