Water through a ceiling, a boiler losing pressure or damp with no clear cause: in a Gorbals (G5) flat, Giffnock-based engineer Hamaad Janjua from ADI Leak Detection traces the leak behind it and marks the place before any floorboard, tile or plaster is touched. He can also mend it, if the leak is on the water mains, central heating or plumbing.
The original leak detection company, est. 2011
From Hamaad Janjua's base in Giffnock, Google Maps puts the Gorbals 5.2 miles away by its shortest route, which goes via Cathcart Road. In the area National Records of Scotland calls Gorbals and Hutchesontown, 96% of homes were flats in its 2017 count, and Scottish Water lists flats among the homes whose water supply pipe is usually shared.
Hamaad's ADI profile says his background in heating and pipework means "he can read how a system is behaving", which helps in blocks where several flats share one supply pipe. A Trustpilot reviewer listed as Customer wrote that Hamaad phoned ahead to discuss the issue and "located the leak from a neighbouring property quickly".
The Gorbals (G5) lies on the south bank of the River Clyde, and the wider Gorbals takes in Laurieston and Hutchesontown, next to Tradeston. Much of it, Hutchesontown most of all, has been rebuilt since the late 20th century with private and social housing, and four of its 16 tower blocks from the 1960s and 1970s still stand in the Waddell Court area. In a block of flats, water showing in one home can start in another, at a pipe, bathroom or appliance, so the first job is to find where it begins.
A visit goes in the engineer's diary only after you have spoken to ADI Leak Detection's office team.
Hidden leaks in Gorbals flats give themselves away through seven signs: a ceiling that drips, sags or browns; a drip in the room below when the shower runs; a boiler pressure gauge that keeps dropping; damp that returns to one spot; weak taps or hissing pipes; a wet patch high up in stormy weather; and slow drains. Each row below gives what the sign usually means and which ADI investigation looks into it.
| The sign | What it usually means | The investigation |
|---|---|---|
| A ceiling that drips, sags or turns brown in patches | A leak above it, in a neighbour's pipework or bathroom, or in the roof if the flat is on the top floor | Ceiling leak detection |
| A drip in the room below when the shower runs | Damaged shower seals or a leaking waste pipe, both found in the case study below | Bathroom leak detection |
| A boiler pressure gauge that keeps dropping | A radiator or heating pipe letting water out of the sealed system | Central heating leak detection |
| Damp that comes back to the same wall or floor | A seeping joint on a hidden hot or cold pipe nearby | Hot and cold water pipe leak detection |
| Weak flow at every tap, or a hiss in quiet pipes | A leak somewhere on the owners' supply pipe, often shared between flats | Water mains (supply pipe) leak detection |
| A wet patch high on a top-floor wall in stormy weather | Wind-driven rain working past the tiles, the flashings or a gutter | Roof leak detection |
| Sinks and a shower that drain slowly | A blocked waste pipe under strain, which can leak on and off | Drainage leak investigation |
Each of the seven ADI Leak Detection services below covers one part of a home, with its main kit listed on the card.
Tracks a leak along the owners' supply pipe, from the stop valve indoors back to the boundary stop cock, through soil, gravel, concrete or tarmac if the pipe is buried.
Equipment: acoustic ground microphones and tracer gas
Identifies the radiator, pipe or underfloor heating circuit that is letting water out of a heating system.
Equipment: tracer gas, thermal imaging and pressure testing
Hot and cold water pipes hidden in walls, floors and ceilings are tested until the leaking length is found and marked for opening.
Equipment: acoustic listening, thermal imaging, tracer gas and borescope
When the room below gets wet after the bathroom is used, each fitting is checked in turn: shower, bath, sink, toilet and the pipework concealed around them.
Equipment: thermal imaging, moisture meters and borescope
Finds whether water marking your ceiling comes from a bathroom, upper-floor pipework or the roof.
Equipment: thermal imaging, moisture meters and acoustic methods
Roof repairs are for a roofer. ADI Leak Detection's part is finding where the rain gets in, by checking the roof covering, flashings and gutters, and reporting it.
Equipment: thermal imaging, moisture meters and drone inspection
Covers foul and surface water drains, using a CCTV camera to find the cracks, failed joints and blockages behind a drain leak.
Equipment: CCTV drain survey and acoustic listening
Nothing is opened up until ADI's non-invasive methods, five in all, have shown where the leak is. The Balornock case study further down shows Hamaad using tracer dye, thermal imaging, a pressure test, an endoscope camera and a moisture meter.
Tracer gas pumped into an isolated pipe leaves by the same hole as the water and is picked up by a detector above it.
Water forced out of a pressurised pipe makes a noise that microphones on the surface can home in on.
A thermal camera turns heat into colour, so a leaking heating or hot water pipe shows as a warm smear.
Pressed against plaster, timber or screed, a meter gives a moisture reading; spot by spot, the readings map the damp.
An inspection camera on a narrow probe looks into floor and wall voids through a small hole or a lifted board.
Yes, for leaks on the water mains, central heating or plumbing: ADI Leak Detection repairs those and guarantees the work. Or the repair can go to a plumber you choose yourself. If the roof or the fabric of the building is letting water in, ADI finds the entry point and reports on it, and a roofer or builder makes the repair.
Ask ADI for the repair and the engineer who found the leak can carry it out, already knowing exactly where it is and how it was traced.
A plumber of your choosing can work from the mark the engineer leaves at the leak and from the report, which records where it is. The engineer also explains the leak to you on site before any repair is discussed.
Paying for a leak in a Gorbals flat comes down to whose pipe it is on. Working outwards from your home, the supply pipe runs from the stop valve indoors to the boundary stop cock, and Scottish Water says property owners are responsible for it. Scottish Water's part begins with that stop cock and runs back through the communication pipe to the water main in the street. In its words, "Flats and older or terraced houses usually have a shared water supply pipe".
Trace and access cover comes with many buildings insurance policies, so check yours: it helps pay for tracing an escape of water and getting access to it, up to a cap that differs between policies.
Your claim can lean on the report: it carries photographs and video, comes from the engineer who did the investigation, and uses the format insurers expect for "Trace and Access" and "Escape of Water" claims.
Ring 0141 363 0314 and the office team will help you choose between these seven investigations.
Call 0141 363 0314Each Trustpilot review here names Hamaad and is copied letter for letter.
Hamaad phoned ahead to discuss the issue and arrived in good time. He was very thorough and located the leak from a neighbouring property quickly. Would not hesitate to recommend Hamaad to others.
Read on TrustpilotHammad was excellent and a true professional that communicated the issue really well and successfully identified the leak. He was extremely polite and punctual. A credit to the service.
Read on TrustpilotHamaad was excellent. Very helpful and thorough. Also very knowledgeable about the problem we had. Fully recommend his services
Read on Trustpilot
