Plumbing — Leaks
Where the water appears is seldom where it comes from. I begin by isolating and testing the system, and open up only once the cause is located — sparing you needless demolition.
Method
Isolate, test, then open
Priority
Active leaks dealt with urgently
Area
Paris 6th, 7th, 14th, 15th, 16th
The most common situations, and what I check in each.
The water often comes from the floor above: a shower waste, a bath seal, a trap. I trace the water's path before touching the ceiling.
Everything is off and the meter still moves: the leak is on a pressurised supply. I work section by section, valve by valve, to pinpoint it.
Tap connections, flexible hoses, waste seals: the slow leaks that damage a cabinet or a parquet floor unseen.
A waste pipe only leaks when water is flowing through it. I run water through it to observe the fault: a joint, the fall, an ageing solvent weld.
The diagnosis establishes where the water comes from and for how long. That is what you need for your insurer and the building's managing agent.
Once the leak is found, I replace the section, seal or fitting at fault, and restore the water in your presence.
From the workshop's other trades
Fault-finding and electrical repairs · Finishing work after renovation
Opening a ceiling or a wall on a hunch often costs more than the leak itself. Isolating, testing the pressurised supplies and then the waste pipes in flow finds the source and keeps the work to what is strictly necessary. All work is covered by ten-year liability insurance (garantie décennale).
Five arrondissements — the Left Bank, and the 16th just across the river — covered neighbourhood by neighbourhood. It is the area I can reach quickly, which matters when water is running.
Paris 6th Luxembourg · Rue de Rennes · Saint Sulpice · Mabillon · Raspail · Notre Dame des Champs · Odéon · Montparnasse · Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Paris 7th Invalides · Champ-de-Mars · La Tour-Maubourg · Saint-François-Xavier · Rue du Bac · Saint-Germain · Solférino · Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin · Ecole Militaire · Gros Caillou
Paris 14th Brune · Didot · Montsouris · Denfert Rochereau · Mouton Duvernet · Plaisance · Pernety · Montparnasse · Alésia
Paris 15th Necker · Saint Lambert · Vaugirard · Croix Nivert · Lecourbe · Convention · Commerce · Javel · Beaugrenelle · Grenelle
Paris 16th Trocadéro · Passy · Auteuil · La Muette · Victor Hugo · Porte Dauphine · Chaillot · Ranelagh · Exelmans · Porte de Saint-Cloud
Beyond these five arrondissements: elsewhere in Paris and the Île-de-France, depending on the project.
Tell me about the situation, with a photo if you have one. I reply the same day.