Fault
Water leaks in Aalsmeer
Supply pipes, waste pipes, roofs and heating systems
Call-out charge
Monday to Friday, 07:00 to 18:00, including Dutch VAT (btw)
Availability
07:00 to 22:00, every day
Arrival time
counted from the phone call
A damp patch on the ceiling, a skirting board that stays wet, or a water meter that keeps ticking while every tap is closed. With a leak the first question is never where you can see the water, but where it comes from: it runs along a beam or inside a pipe duct and surfaces metres away from the actual break.
Close the main stopcock and call. The main stopcock is the valve next to the water meter, which in Dutch houses sits in a narrow built-in cupboard by the front door called the meter cupboard (meterkast). We trace the source with a moisture meter and, where needed, a pressure test on the supply pipe. Nothing gets chased out of a wall or floor until we know what is leaking, which saves you the repair work afterwards.
Not an emergency, but you have a question?
Send a photo of the connection or the meter cupboard and we know which part to bring. Or leave your details in the form at the bottom of this page.
Leaking supply pipe
The post-war houses in Aalsmeer and Kudelstaart still have a lot of galvanised steel pipe (verzinkt staal) buried in the floor screed. It rusts shut from the inside and then fails at the thinnest point. A repair coupling holds for a while, but replacing the run in plastic or copper is usually the cheaper answer over any real length of time.
Leaking waste pipe
A waste pipe is not under pressure, so the leak can be found by filling it and watching. The two that come up most often are the rubber sleeve under a shower tray and a cracked trap under a kitchen unit.
Leaking heating system
If the pressure gauge on the boiler keeps dropping back, something in the system is losing water. Sometimes a radiator valve, sometimes a joint in the floor. We look for it before topping up again, because repeated topping up brings oxygen into the system and that is what eventually costs you the boiler.
Questions about water leaks
How can I tell where the leak is myself?
Close every tap and look at the small dial on the water meter. If it still turns, something in the pressurised supply pipe is leaking. If it stands still while there is water on the floor, it comes from a waste pipe, a roof or the heating system.
Does the floor have to come up?
Not straight away. We locate first, with a moisture meter and a pressure test. Only if the source turns out to sit in the floor and cannot be routed around does anything get opened up, and then only at the spot that is needed.
What does leak tracing cost?
Tracing falls under the ordinary hourly rate, plus one call-out charge. There is no separate leak detection fee. If the leak cannot be found without breaking work, you hear that first, together with what the next step costs.
Can I close the main stopcock myself?
Yes, and please do. It sits next to the water meter in the meter cupboard (meterkast) and closes clockwise. If limescale has seized it, do not force it: put down a towel and a bucket and mention it when you call.
Where we come out for this
A plumber working on leaks in Aalsmeer works on peat meadow ground (veengrond), and it shows. The subsoil settles, and in the older houses along the Oosteinderweg and in the Hornmeer district that puts strain on the joint between the house and the sewer. A leak that would be rare on a clay or sand subsoil is ordinary work here.
We come out for leaks in Aalsmeer, Kudelstaart, Rijsenhout and Aalsmeerderbrug. The call-out charge and the hourly rate are on the rates page, so you know the amount before you dial.
Not urgent? Ask for it here
For water leaks that can wait. If it is urgent, calling is faster.