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We purchased an incomplete house 2 years ago. It was a bargain so we were prepared for possible unpleasant surprises. So far the only major problem we are having is the heating system. In Ireland during the big freeze there was issues with central heating pipes bursting. Our house was a vacant unsold property and now it seems it has this problem.
We installed our heating system last July and have since found several small leaks and one big leak. As far as I can tell all of our leaks are contained to downstairs where the flooring is concrete. The concrete expanded during the freeze and caused leaks. My plumber also found shitty plastic fittings and this is where we are having most of the leaks appearing. Apparently plastic and concrete isn’t a good marriage!
Since July the heating went on, and some leaks appeared really quickly, ie water springing up flooding sections of the house which were easily identified. Then others showed up over the course of a week or more. These were slow drips that were hard to identify. At the moment I have 10 holes in my flooring where each leak was found and then fixed. Then with each hole fixed the heating would be put back on only for the pressure to slowly drop over the course of 2 weeks proving that we have more leaks to be identified.
My plumber is a good guy and has tried to fix the leaks in the most cost effective way possible. He has been digging up each small section with a kango, with an educated guess as to where the new leak is. My issue now is that he has totally lost interest in the job, which is understandable as it’s a total pain!
He has shown me how to put the pressure back on the system and I know how to bleed the radiators but this problem needs to be resolved fully. My plumber was keen for me to fill in the holes we have but I’ve kept them as they could possibly be a window to where dampness is appearing. I can put the pressure on the system and run the heating for weeks without any water appearing. As the pressure is dropping the radiators aren’t fully hot and as you move further away from our grant boiler system the radiators get less warm.
Our plumber got a guy in with special sound equipment but he can only really detect big leaks not slow drips.
We have lovely wooden flooring upstairs and I’m hoping the problem is contained to downstairs, as I am assuming with the heating running constantly if there were leaks upstairs (even slow ones) they would show on the ceilings pretty quickly?
My question is what would you advise at this stage. I’m tempted to get a kango in myself and take up the remaining area of flooring where there are any pipes (expensive tiles and all) just to get the job complete. We have had endless “it should be OK now” only to be disappointed to see the pressure drop again. Is the warmth of the radiators any indication of where to start looking for the new leak? Or do you have any advice on how to start looking for the leaks like isolating areas some how?
Where we are based in the midlands of Ireland it seems fecking impossible to get a plumber so we are kinda at his mercy. Should I just open the floors myself find all possible leaks and then get him in to fix them?
Do you think there may be another problem that I am over looking?
I am obviously very frustrated and would like this job to be complete.
We installed our heating system last July and have since found several small leaks and one big leak. As far as I can tell all of our leaks are contained to downstairs where the flooring is concrete. The concrete expanded during the freeze and caused leaks. My plumber also found shitty plastic fittings and this is where we are having most of the leaks appearing. Apparently plastic and concrete isn’t a good marriage!
Since July the heating went on, and some leaks appeared really quickly, ie water springing up flooding sections of the house which were easily identified. Then others showed up over the course of a week or more. These were slow drips that were hard to identify. At the moment I have 10 holes in my flooring where each leak was found and then fixed. Then with each hole fixed the heating would be put back on only for the pressure to slowly drop over the course of 2 weeks proving that we have more leaks to be identified.
My plumber is a good guy and has tried to fix the leaks in the most cost effective way possible. He has been digging up each small section with a kango, with an educated guess as to where the new leak is. My issue now is that he has totally lost interest in the job, which is understandable as it’s a total pain!
He has shown me how to put the pressure back on the system and I know how to bleed the radiators but this problem needs to be resolved fully. My plumber was keen for me to fill in the holes we have but I’ve kept them as they could possibly be a window to where dampness is appearing. I can put the pressure on the system and run the heating for weeks without any water appearing. As the pressure is dropping the radiators aren’t fully hot and as you move further away from our grant boiler system the radiators get less warm.
Our plumber got a guy in with special sound equipment but he can only really detect big leaks not slow drips.
We have lovely wooden flooring upstairs and I’m hoping the problem is contained to downstairs, as I am assuming with the heating running constantly if there were leaks upstairs (even slow ones) they would show on the ceilings pretty quickly?
My question is what would you advise at this stage. I’m tempted to get a kango in myself and take up the remaining area of flooring where there are any pipes (expensive tiles and all) just to get the job complete. We have had endless “it should be OK now” only to be disappointed to see the pressure drop again. Is the warmth of the radiators any indication of where to start looking for the new leak? Or do you have any advice on how to start looking for the leaks like isolating areas some how?
Where we are based in the midlands of Ireland it seems fecking impossible to get a plumber so we are kinda at his mercy. Should I just open the floors myself find all possible leaks and then get him in to fix them?
Do you think there may be another problem that I am over looking?
I am obviously very frustrated and would like this job to be complete.
