Heating and pipework leak detection for shops
A commercial heating system that needs topping up every week is losing water somewhere: a radiator tail, a joint under the floor, a run behind the fit-out. We find the break with tracer gas and thermal imaging, with the heating still installed and the floor still down.
Sealed heating systems are supposed to hold their pressure. When the gauge on the boiler creeps down and someone keeps opening the filling loop, the water is leaving through a hole you cannot see. In retail units the pipework is usually buried in the screed, boxed in behind display walls or run above a suspended ceiling, so the leak can go on for months while the boiler locks out at the worst possible moment.
Our engineers trace heating leaks by warming the system and reading the temperature difference through the floor with thermal imaging, then confirming with tracer gas where the picture is unclear. The same approach works on underfloor heating loops, plant-room manifolds and the hot-water pipework feeding staff areas. The result is a marked spot and a report, rather than a floor lifted along the whole pipe run.
Signs you have one
- Boiler pressure drops between visits and needs topping up to keep the heating running
- The boiler locks out on low pressure, often first thing on a cold morning
- A warm patch on the shop floor that customers or staff notice underfoot
- Radiators that need bleeding again and again, or that stay cold at the bottom
- Discoloured, lifting or soft flooring in a straight line between two radiators
- Rust staining or wet insulation on pipework in the plant room or ceiling void
- An energy bill that has climbed while the heating works harder to keep up
- A musty smell from a boxed-in pipe run or ceiling void with no other explanation
What we do
Pressure test the system
We isolate the boiler and pressure test the circuit to confirm the loss is on the heating pipework rather than the boiler, the hot-water cylinder or the mains cold feed.
Scan the pipe runs
With the system running warm, thermal imaging shows the pipe routes through the floor and picks out the hot spot where water is escaping into the screed or the void.
Confirm with tracer gas
The circuit is drained and charged with a safe hydrogen and nitrogen mix. The gas escapes at the break and rises through the floor to a detector, pinning the location where thermal imaging is inconclusive.
Mark it and put it right
We mark the spot, photograph it for the report and, where the repair is a straightforward pipe section, aim to complete it on the same visit and refill the system.
Retail considerations
Heating off for the shortest time
The survey needs the system warm for thermal imaging and drained for tracer gas. We sequence it so the heating is off for hours rather than days.
Fit-outs and display walls
Heating pipes in shops are often behind display panels and joinery installed after the plumbing. Thermal imaging reads through most boarding, so the fit-out stays in place and the borescope goes through a small hole only if we need a look.
Landlord’s system, tenant’s problem
In centres and parades the heating plant is often the landlord’s while the branch feels the consequences. Our report names the failed section and its location, so responsibility and the repair can be agreed quickly.
Questions
Do you have to lift the floor to find a heating leak?
No. Thermal imaging reads the temperature difference through tiles, vinyl and timber, and tracer gas rises through screed and concrete to the surface. The floor is only opened at the marked spot for the repair.
Is tracer gas safe in a trading shop?
Yes. The mix is mostly nitrogen with a small proportion of hydrogen, which is non-flammable at that concentration and leaves no residue. It is the standard method used across the industry for buried pipework.
Can you find leaks on underfloor heating?
Yes. Underfloor loops are one of the most common heating leaks in refitted retail units. Thermal imaging maps the loop and shows where the heat is pooling, and tracer gas confirms the break. Floor finishes and opening-up are covered on the under-floor and slab page.
Could it be the boiler rather than the pipework?
It could, which is why the survey starts with a pressure test that separates the boiler from the circuit. If the boiler is the culprit, we tell you, and there is no point paying us to scan the floor.
Will the heating be off during the survey?
For part of it. The thermal stage needs the system running; the tracer gas stage needs it drained. Most surveys keep the heating off for a few hours, and we tell you beforehand when that will be.
Other services.
Most engineers arrive with the full kit, so if the leak turns out to be a different kind, the survey carries on.
Water mains & underground
Supply pipes under car parks, service yards and slab floors. The usual suspect behind a water bill that has quietly doubled.
See the serviceRoof & ceiling leaks
Flat roofs, rooflights, box gutters and drips from the unit above. We trace the water back to where it gets in, which is rarely where it shows up.
See the serviceUnder-floor & slab
Pipes buried in screed beneath tiles, vinyl and timber. Located from above, so the shop floor stays whole.
See the serviceWashrooms & staff areas
Customer toilets, staff kitchens and cleaners’ cupboards. Small rooms with a lot of pipework, and the source of most damp patches next door.
See the serviceDrains & CCTV surveys
Blocked, cracked or leaking drains in service yards and beneath units, surveyed with CCTV drain cameras and pressure testing.
See the serviceDamp & structural ingress
Penetrating damp, basement stock rooms and party walls. Moisture mapping shows what is a leak and what is condensation.
See the serviceWhere this comes up.
Speak to the team about your leak.
One call gets a leak engineer moving. Our methods are non-invasive, so there is usually nothing to dig up, and you get a written report ready for your insurer.
Engineers across England, Scotland and Wales. £5 million public liability insurance.