Water leak detection in Paris

7 days a week, 24 hours a day: +33 1 89 70 15 36, a photo on WhatsApp (reply in under 30 minutes) or a quote request. Paris, 92, 93, 94. Many of our plumbers speak English and can handle the whole job in English.

What we do

1. Leak detection on supply pipes, exposed or built into walls and floors
2. Leak detection on waste pipes: shower, bath, toilet, washing machine
3. Tracing the source of a damp patch, seepage, or water damage in the flat below
4. Repair on the spot when the leak is accessible, otherwise a temporary fix to make it safe
5. A leak detection report with photos, for your insurer, landlord or syndic
6. Help putting together your insurance claim

How we find leaks without breaking walls

The plumber picks the method to suit the leak, not the other way round, and always starts with the simplest.

1. Meter test and visual check: with every tap closed, the meter should not move. The plumber then checks fittings, seals, flexible hoses, traps, the toilet cistern and the water heater safety valve.
2. Moisture readings: to map the damp area on a wall, floor or ceiling.
3. Thermal camera: spots a leaking hot water or heating pipe inside a slab or partition through the temperature difference.
4. Acoustic detection: a leak under pressure makes a sound that electronic listening equipment picks up through the floor or wall.
5. Tracer gas: for a tiny or deeply buried leak, a harmless gas is injected into the depressurised pipe and detected where it escapes.
6. Inspection camera and dye test: for waste pipes and places you cannot reach, such as under a shower tray.

Leak detection prices in Paris

Finding a hidden leak: €250 excl. VAT for non-invasive detection, €450 to €560 excl. VAT for invasive detection, €680 to €740 excl. VAT under tiles. Repairing a visible leak: €115 to €155 excl. VAT for a small repair (seal, float valve, dripping tap), €230 to €320 excl. VAT for a copper pipe repaired by brazing. The price is given before any work starts; the full list by type of leak is further down and on our prices page.

How the visit works

1. You call or send a photo of the stain, the leak or the meter. We book a slot based on how urgent it is.
2. You are given the price before any work starts.
3. The plumber locates the leak with the right method, opening up only what is strictly needed.
4. If the leak is accessible, it is repaired there and then; if not, it is made safe and the repair is scheduled.
5. You receive a photo report (findings, repair, advice), ready to forward to your insurer, landlord or syndic.

Where leaks hide in Paris buildings

In older Paris buildings, Haussmann-era or pre-war, hidden leaks turn up in the same few places:

1. The shower tray: a worn waste seal or silicone joint lets water run under the tray and come through the ceiling of the flat below (leaking shower tray).
2. Hoses and fittings under the sink: slow drips that swell the cabinet and end up on the ceiling downstairs (leak under the sink that keeps coming back).
3. Shared risers and soil stacks, often old cast iron or lead.
4. Pipes built into partitions or under wooden floors, where water can follow the joists for metres before it shows.

So a stain on the ceiling is not necessarily under the leak. A methodical search avoids opening up the wrong place.

Your flat, the neighbour's, or the shared pipes?

Most Paris flats are in a copropriété (a co-owned building) run by a syndic (the building's managing agent). Who acts depends on where the leak is:

1. Inside your flat, after your own stop valve: the search concerns the occupant and their home insurance.
2. On a shared riser: it is the syndic's responsibility. Tell the syndic and the gardien (caretaker) as soon as you can (leaks in a Paris apartment building).
3. Before or after the water meter: responsibility is not the same (who pays, before or after the meter).

If the leak comes from a neighbour or a shared pipe, the plumber tells you plainly and says so in the report.

Who pays for leak detection?

Tenant or owner, leak detection is covered 100% by your home insurance in the vast majority of cases. Réseau Tubulure works directly with insurers and prepares the claim with you; you only pay once your insurer has transferred the funds. The repair itself may not be covered, depending on your policy. If water has reached a neighbour, fill in a constat amiable (the standard French water damage form) together (leak detection and insurance in Paris).

Need a leak found? Call us

Call +33 1 89 70 15 36, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, or send a photo on WhatsApp. You can also request a quote. Many of our plumbers speak English.

Our guides on this topic

1. Hidden water leak: find it without breaking walls
2. Leak detection and insurance in Paris: who pays what
3. Leak before or after the water meter: who pays?
4. Leak in a Paris apartment building: riser, syndic, who pays
5. Water leak emergency in Paris: who to call, what to do
6. Leak under the sink that keeps coming back: causes, fixes
7. English-speaking plumber in Paris, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day

Service area

1. Plumber in central Paris
2. Plumber in Hauts-de-Seine (92)
3. Plumber in Seine-Saint-Denis (93)
4. Plumber in Val-de-Marne (94)