Leak Detection Guides & Advice
Practical guides from MCR Leak Detection: finding hidden water leaks, trace and access insurance, boiler pressure problems, and what Scottish homeowners, landlords and businesses need to know. New guides are added regularly.
Microbore Central Heating Pipes: Why They Leak and How We Find Them
The pencil-thin 8-10mm heating pipe fitted from the 1970s to the 1990s kinks, silts up and hides its leaks under floors. Why microbore fails, the signs to watch on the boiler gauge, and how tracer gas pinpoints a leak without lifting the lot.
Pipe Corrosion: Why Pipes Eventually Leak
Corrosion is the slow chemistry behind most pipe failures, and Scotland’s soft water gives copper no protective scale. How pinhole leaks form, the early warning signs on visible pipework, and when a weeping joint means repair, treat or replace.
Plastic vs Copper Pipes: Which Leaks More (and How)?
Copper leaks through corrosion pinholes and splits when frozen; plastic pipe rarely fails itself but its fittings do. An honest comparison of how each material leaks in Scottish homes, and why the material changes how a hidden leak is found.
Rodent Damage to Pipes: The Leak Cause Nobody Suspects
Rats and mice gnaw constantly, and modern plastic pipe is soft enough to chew through. Why rodents attack pipework, where the damage happens in Scottish homes, and how a chewed pipe in a hidden void gets found without demolition.
Leaks on Private Water Supplies in Rural Scotland
On a private water supply the owner is responsible for every metre of pipe, from spring or borehole to the kitchen tap. How leaks show themselves on rural Scottish supplies, and how they get found on long, unmapped runs without trenching a field.
Holiday Homes and Empty Properties: Managing Leak Risk
A leak in an empty house has all winter to work, and in unmetered Scotland no bill ever raises the alarm. How unoccupancy clauses change your insurance, the heat-or-drain decision, the key-holder routine that protects a distant property, and what to do if you arrive and find water.
Property Factors and Leak Detection: How Repairs Get Organised in Scottish Blocks
When water starts moving through a factored block, repairs stall until someone establishes whose pipe failed. How factors, title deeds and the Tenement Management Scheme fit together, who instructs the detection survey, and why an independent report unlocks stalled repairs.
A Scottish Landlord’s Guide to Water Leaks and the Repairing Standard
Water leaks in Scottish rented homes come with legal duties attached. What the Repairing Standard requires of private landlords, how to respond when a tenant reports a leak, what the First-tier Tribunal can do, and the evidence that keeps insurers and tribunals on your side.
Leak Detection in Old Stone Houses: Why It’s Different
Solid stone walls soak up and spread moisture, so leaks in traditional Scottish homes rarely show where they start. How thermal imaging, moisture profiling and tracer gas adapt to mass masonry, and why period fabric should only ever be opened once, at the confirmed leak point.
Lead Pipes in Older Scottish Homes: Leaks, Health and Replacement
Homes built before 1970 are the most likely to still drink through lead pipes. How to identify lead pipework, what the 10 microgram standard means, who owns which section of pipe in Scotland, and why a leaking lead supply pipe should be replaced rather than patched.
Smart Water Leak Detectors: Are They Worth It?
Smart sensors and auto shut-off valves catch bursts early, and some insurers give the devices away free. An honest review of what they catch, what they miss, and why unmetered Scottish homes benefit more than most.
10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Leak Detection Company
The difference between a good leak detection firm and a poor one only shows when a floor gets opened. Ten questions to ask before you book, the answers a genuine specialist gives, and the red flags that should warn you off.