Water ingress investigation, Melbourne.
Find the real source of a building leak — not where it shows up inside. We inspect and test the façade up close by rope access, trace the entry point, and rectify it so the leak actually stops.
Water rarely enters where it appears.
A wet patch on level 12 might be entering the façade three floors up and two bays across. Patching the interior never works — the water keeps coming. 360 Access investigates the way that actually finds it: close inspection and testing of the façade by rope access, across the whole elevation, to trace the entry point. Then we rectify it — resealing joints, repairing sealant and flashings, sorting failed glazing or cracks — so the leak stops at the source.
It's a natural companion to façade repairs and concrete remediation, since water ingress is what drives much of that damage in the first place.
Trace before treat — how the source gets found.
Most failed leak repairs fail for the same reason: something got sealed before anything got proven. Our investigation runs the other way — no remediation until the entry point is demonstrated:
- Controlled water testing. We reproduce the leak deliberately — directed water testing of suspect details, one at a time, while a spotter watches inside. When the leak shows, the entry point is proven, not presumed.
- Staged isolation. Details are tested in sequence up the elevation — the glazing joint, then the frame perimeter, then the cladding junction above — so when the leak reproduces, you know exactly which detail did it, not just which wall.
- Thermal imaging and moisture mapping. Inside the building, thermal imaging and moisture-meter readings map how far the water has travelled from entry point to wet patch. That sets the search area on the façade before anyone goes over the edge, and baselines the drying-out after the fix.
The finding is documented — photos, the tested details and the confirmed entry point — which is the evidence an owners corporation, insurer or builder needs before spending on remediation. For why leaks behave this way, see our guide to water ingress in Melbourne buildings.
One crew from investigation to rectification.
Because the crew that traces the leak is the crew that repairs it, nothing gets lost in a handover between an inspector's report and a repairer's assumptions. Depending on the confirmed entry point, rectification usually lands on one of four details:
- Sealant joints — the most common culprit. Failed runs are cut out and replaced end to end, not smeared over: see caulking and sealant replacement.
- Flashings — cappings and flashings that have lifted, split or been fixed short of the detail are re-dressed, resecured or replaced so water sheds past the junction instead of into it.
- Membranes — localised membrane repairs at balconies, planters and podium junctions where the waterproofing has been breached or terminated poorly.
- Glazing gaskets — perished or displaced gaskets reseated or replaced, with the surrounding frame drainage checked as part of broader façade repairs.
Rectification works carry a 12-month workmanship warranty: if the detail we repaired leaks again within the year, we come back.
400+ leaks traced and resolved in Docklands.
Docklands is Melbourne's hardest water-ingress precinct: wind-driven rain straight off the bay, tall exposed towers and complex façade junctions. Over eight years working its residential and commercial buildings, 360 Access has traced and resolved more than 400 individual leaks there.
That history compounds. The same façade systems, details and failure patterns recur across the precinct — so diagnosis starts from pattern knowledge, not from zero, and the testing sequence gets to the entry point faster. It's also why building managers there call us back: the fix from the last investigation is still dry.
Water ingress FAQs
Can you find where a building leak is coming from?
Yes — that's the core of the job. Water often enters the façade well away from where it shows inside. We inspect up close by rope access, test suspect areas, and trace the entry point rather than guessing from the interior damage.
Do you fix the leak as well as find it?
Yes — once the source is confirmed we rectify it: resealing joints, repairing sealant and flashings, addressing failed glazing or cracks, so the leak stops, not just the symptom inside.
Why use rope access for leak investigation?
The cause is usually up on the façade. Rope access lets us examine and test the exact areas directly, across the whole elevation, without scaffold.
How do you confirm you've found the actual entry point?
By reproducing the leak, not theorising about it. We water-test the suspect detail in isolation until the leak shows inside — which proves the entry point before any remediation is priced. After rectification we retest the same detail: if it stays dry under the test that made it leak, the source is confirmed fixed.
Do you warrant the rectification work?
Yes — rectification works carry a 12-month workmanship warranty. If the detail we repaired leaks again within that period, we come back. The warranty covers our workmanship on the repaired detail; a separate leak elsewhere on the façade is a new investigation.
Got a leak you can't pin down?
Tell us where it's showing and the building — we'll respond within one business day.
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