Geyser & hot water
A ceiling stain is not the leak. It is the end of one.
By the time water reaches a ceiling board it has usually been escaping for weeks — from a relief valve, a union, the cylinder seam or a hot-water line under the tiles. We find which, before the ceiling comes down.
REYDS field instrumentationWarning signs
What a failing geyser looks like before it fails.
Estate homes often hide the geyser in an insulated roof space above a garage, far from the rooms it serves. The first evidence is usually a stain in a room nobody was using.
- A brown ring or damp patch on the ceiling below the geyser
- Water dripping from the overflow pipe and never stopping
- Hot water running out far sooner than it used to
- A hissing or bubbling sound in the roof, or at the geyser
- The electricity bill climbing alongside the water bill
- Warm patches on a tiled floor or wall above the hot-water route
What we check
Four candidates. One gets proven.
Pressure and relief valves
A failing pressure control valve or vacuum breaker is the most common cause of a geyser that drips constantly — and it is also the cheapest to fix.
The cylinder and its unions
Tank seams, element gaskets and inlet unions are inspected for corrosion and weeping, with the supply isolated first.
Hot-water pipework
Lines cast into slabs or buried behind tiles are traced and thermally scanned so we open one small area rather than a whole wall.
Tray, overflow and drainage
A blocked or misrouted tray overflow sends water into the ceiling instead of outside. We check where the water was supposed to go.
While you wait for the technician
- 01
Switch the geyser off at the distribution board before anyone touches the installation.
- 02
Do not climb into a ceiling void with water and live electrical fittings in it.
- 03
Isolate the water at the main valve if the ceiling is bulging or water is running down a wall.
- 04
Move furniture and electronics out from under the affected ceiling.
- 05
Call us — a geyser loss escalates quickly once the ceiling board saturates.
Never reset a relief valve that keeps discharging. It is doing its job — the problem is upstream, and forcing it closed turns a plumbing repair into a cylinder failure.
Most household policies treat a burst geyser as a specified peril. Our report documents the failure mode so the claim is assessed as a sudden event rather than wear and tear.
Direct line
Water coming through the ceiling?
Switch the geyser off at the board and call us. We are on the road 24 hours a day across Pretoria East.