finding a leak under my floor

[soccercelt]

I have a leak in my bungalow floor. Only bought it last sept but was away in the states for awhile. Looked behind my dishwasher and noticed a ft up the wall is damp and it stretches right around the kitchen. I also noticed my grout lines in my dark tiles aren't dry either. This stretches right out my back hall to my patio door. I would say there's a leak in a pipe somewhere but how do I go about finding it. Would a pressure test locate the exact place or is there another method I can use or is it a case of ripping up the floor to find it.

 

[Staffy85]

I would try and find a company that specializes in leak detection before ripping stuff out, sounds like your probably have to do that anyway by the sounds of it, sounds like a lot of damage has already been done,

 

[stani]

Is it a new bungalow? I would be looking more at a failed or non existent DPC rather than a leak.
A leak would be more localised.

 

[joni os]

Check you don't have a leak on spindle of the stopcock, after being turned off and on, leaks at this point are common, can be severe and if behind units go unnoticed.

 

[soccercelt]

This is the situation now. I hired out a thermal imaging camera to check for any heat pipe leaks, couldn't find any!
Noticed my footpath was sloping up to my door and the top part was sloping into my house!
In the bungalow, it didn't have any heavy gague dpc under the insulation and screed so this could well be the cause of the damp.
Also tied up the stopcock on hating tank and it's dropped an inch over a week so now thinking I have a leak as well.

I lifted the screed in 75% of pipe runs and couldn't find a leak but I've found more isolated spots of damp at back of the house and most of the sub floor is wet underneath the insulation.

I'm wondering what my next option to rule out is seeing as I've did these. I'm thinking let it sit for a month and see if the sub floor dries out more and keeping the heater tank ball cock tied to see if it drops anymore.

 

[Best]

Also, have you considered the water mains pipe coming in below floor? Is the stopcock in the kitchen? Pipe could have a leak and would spread, even if it only enters building and immediately up through floor. Or it could be the mains beyond the stopcock. I saw exactly this on a job where I had to bypass the underfloor mains to stop a full flow leak somewhere, which was causing same symptoms as you have.
If you have a water meter you could see if reading changes when no water used. Or sometimes you will hear the water constantly passing.

 

[soccercelt]

Turned mains water off for a few weeks and tied stopcock in heater tank. Heater tank dropped few inches and the main tank(gravity fed) emptied. Now it's looking more like I've definitely got a leak from a pipe. Can't see that much water evaporating over a few weeks. Have most pipes exposed but is it now a case of lifting rest of floors to check rest of pipes or would pressure testing be my next option! I can't see no damp patches on plasterboard or walls above me.

 

[Radioman]

I assume that the property has insurance as this is nearly always required on exchange of contracts and by any lender? I sincerely hope you have as it will now be every difficult to insure until the problem is sorted professionally. I would contact your insurers and get them on the job ASAP.
Also did you have a survey done prior to purchase? If so I would be knocking on the surveyors door too!!!
It does look as if you have a serious leak in your internal pipe work. You don't state the age of the property but there is a known issue with copper pipe used in the 70's developing leaks due to corrosion. It may be beneficial to consider disconnecting the existing pipe work and complete re plumb. If your boiler is not a condensing type you may consider replacement with a condensing Combi. This would make sense if a re plumb is undertaken.

 

[soccercelt]

I assume that the property has insurance as this is nearly always required on exchange of contracts and by any lender? I sincerely hope you have as it will now be every difficult to insure until the problem is sorted professionally. I would contact your insurers and get them on the job ASAP.
Also did you have a survey done prior to purchase? If so I would be knocking on the surveyors door too!!!
It does look as if you have a serious leak in your internal pipe work. You don't state the age of the property but there is a known issue with copper pipe used in the 70's developing leaks due to corrosion. It may be beneficial to consider disconnecting the existing pipe work and complete re plumb. If your boiler is not a condensing type you may consider replacement with a condensing Combi. This would make sense if a re plumb is undertaken.

House insured but haven't phoned them. Didn't want them to void the house because of damp problems/ leaks. Was hoping to fix it up thinking it was a small job. Was thinking maybe pressure test might find the leak but it's something Im not that clued up on. I have experience with plumbing, can plumb houses if gravity fed systems and have done many times throughout the years helping times served plumbers when they needed help but this is one thing that has me baffled

 

[Radioman]

Your insurers will not "void" the house due to a water leak. Obviously any rising damp issues would have been raised by the survey, unless you didn't have a survey, in which case caveat emptor. This doesn't sound like a small job to me.

 

[soccercelt]

Your insurers will not "void" the house due to a water leak. Obviously any rising damp issues would have been raised by the survey, unless you didn't have a survey, in which case caveat emptor. This doesn't sound like a small job to me.

Yep, survey paid but didn't pick this up. To late now thou because have some of my floor ripped up already

 

[Radioman]

Doesn't make any difference, if it was me I would be jumping all over the surveyor for not pointing you towards possible failure of damp proofing, taking legal advice, calling in the insurers, getting a qualified plumber and builder to do estimates to back up the claim. Don't tell the insurer the property was empty for more than 21 days continuously. I don't get why you would not do this after all it's why you pay for expert advice and accidental cover.

 

[Riley]

Exactly as radioman says this is why you have insurance they may even help you with the legal side of it i.e. chasing up with the surveyor

 

[Leonardo]

I agree.

 

[Dan Brown]

I agree with staffy85, i would get a good company or someone to come in to take a proper look at it before tearing your bungalow up, unless anyone else has given any great advice for you ^^.

 

[Nishikigoi]

Get leak detection done, it helps support an insurance claim and is normally included if you have Trace and access cover

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