Leak

brightspark

I have a leak...somewhere.

The concrete in the immersion cupboard is wet, I can't see any obvious leaks but a couple of the pipes are buried in the concrete and show signs of corrosion just as they enter the concrete.

But a friend has suggested the waste pipe just outside may be leaking and not the water pipes.
(The waste pipe is also buried under concrete )

As the water in the cupboard appears to be clean (no smell anyway) I still think it may be the water pipes.


Is it possible for the water to be 'clean' even though it comes from the toilet waste pipe?


Either pipe leaking will involve digging up some concrete any advice on what to do first??

dev100

brightspark wrote: »

I have a leak...somewhere.

The concrete in the immersion cupboard is wet, I can't see any obvious leaks but a couple of the pipes are buried in the concrete and show signs of corrosion just as they enter the concrete.

But a friend has suggested the waste pipe just outside may be leaking and not the water pipes.
(The waste pipe is also buried under concrete )

As the water in the cupboard appears to be clean (no smell anyway) I still think it may be the water pipes.


Is it possible for the water to be 'clean' even though it comes from the toilet waste pipe?


Either pipe leaking will involve digging up some concrete any advice on what to do first??

Thered be one hell of a smell of pee Id reckon. Dont use the the loo if at all possible try and dry out area for a while if the leak persists Youll know the culprit. Depending on your water type its more than likely to be your copper piping thats leaking.

brightspark

Hi Dev100

There is no smell, but even if we were to stop using the toilet all the bathroom water and some water from the roof goes down a drain that appears to feed into the same waste pipe.

Water is relatively 'soft' with little or no limescale apparent.

dev100

brightspark wrote: »

Hi Dev100

There is no smell, but even if we were to stop using the toilet all the bathroom water and some water from the roof goes down a drain that appears to feed into the same waste pipe.

Water is relatively 'soft' with little or no limescale apparent.

Im no plumber just an ordinary Jo soap I wouldnt have thought roof rain water would be in the same waste water pipe as your sewage pipe? I assume if I pick you up right your waste rain water runs into the pipe on the outside of the house?

In my family home the water is soft but nearly all the piping going into rads have been replaced because of leakage and the copper cyclinder had to be replaced for a stainless steel tank and we are on council water supply

Insurance Works

I would suggest in this case to call a plumber, but do not let him dive in and start digging up your floors immediately. Speak to the guy in detail over the phone and tell him that he may need to do a number of visits prior to actually getting started on the job. You may have to make payment for him to call out but it will certainly be cheaper than immediately starting to dig up the floors.

This type of leak should be able to be sourced by a process of elimination, you need to find out first and foremost the following items:

Is the water coming from a feed pipe or a waste pipe ?

Is the water hot or cold ?

Is the water part of the heating system or the plumbing system ?

There are simple tests that should be able to be done to determine these factors prior to digging up your floor. If for example you find that the leak is coming from the waste pipe from the sink, you can re-route the waste in to another pipe.

Another example would be if it was coming from the feed pipe to the cylinder from the attic, you could simply take a new pipe from the source and feed it in in to the cylinder.

I was involved with a project recently where there were 5 pipes running up a wall behind a fitted kithen and bathroom towards a hotpress, due to a process of elimination we found which pipe that was leaking and simply disconnected it at both ends and inserted a new flexible pipe between the plasterboard and the wall.

To remove the old pipe would have been a nightmare altogether and more expensive than the rest of the work combined.

firemansam4

Just a quick point i might add is that sometimes leaks appear to be coming from somewhere but can be coming from a completely different source, could it be possible the water is running down a pipe or the cylinder and appearing as if its rising from the concrete?

The only reason i say this is because in the past i have worked at finding and repairing leaks in apartments and houses and I have had times where i was almost sure a leak was coming from somewhere and found that a came from somewhere completely different