how would you fix this?

[andekoch]

Just been asked to do a quote to fix this leak. it is under the shower tray and appears to be in the CH flow or return pipe. The pipes are quite close to the floorboards and dont seem like I can get a pipe slice in although that may change once I have cut the 22mm.
I am leaning towards doing it from below since it looks like a lot of work to break out the tray and refitting whic will also probably entail retiling the bottom row of tiles if I can get a match.
I am thinking about quoting 3 days to do this in case I have to abandon the plan and work from the top.

the attached pictures are from below and the tray above (tray seems to be acrylic on stone or something else solid). Obviously more ceiling can be removed since it will be replaced anyhow.
Seems I can only upload the pic from below. Will try an edit and upload the above pic, done seem able to.
the pipes with words between them are the hot and cold to the shower above, this makes me think the others are CH flow and return, also from the 22/15 reductions feeding rads.

what do you think is the best approach and how long should I allow, It is an insurance job so needs to be a fixed price.

 

[Phil]

I may be missing something but are you saying one of those pipes in the picture is leaking (flow/return)?

If so why 3 days work, and why gain access above when its all exposed underneath?

 

[andekoch]

correct phil. one of the ppes is leaking, cant tell which one but it seems to be one of the 2 going over the beam.

It seems to me that I need to cut the 22mm and the 15mm and most likely deepen the notch slightly and then refit the pipes. Since I cant tell which one is leaking I will have to do both. I suspect the leak is due to excess flux not cleaned off or a weak spot that was work through on the beam (unlikely to be a nail/ screw from above since under the shower (even though there are a few screws that just missed the other pipes).

I agree that this seems simple but the pipes are almost touching the floorboards so it will be hard to cut them with a slice. My plan is to use a junior hacksaw on the 22mm pipes and hopefully that will create enough slack to use a slice on the 15mm pipes and allow me to debur the 22mm pipes. Then a resolder and test. Hopefully it will be that easy.

I am allowing 3 days in case I need to remove the shower tray above to get access.

My first guess was for a few hours but when the home owner said he needs the price fixed regardless of what happens I suspected it is bigger than it looks.

 

[REDSAW]

geeeeeeeeeeeez!!!!!!
is my first opinion, but anyway,

first cut back p/board to next joist to give proper access, you will have to do that anyway to fix new.

cut the 22mm well back-4'' or so from x-over,

chop out 15mm,

replace with p-ex.

while your at it do the h/c to shower as there shot too.

2 hours work = £200 (less plaster)

where is this job, i could come and take a look at it with you?.

 

[andekoch]

thanks. I will be going with my first guess of a few hours work in that case. Agreed that the plaster can be done by a plaster.

I assume you would use p-ex for the following reasons:
1) no heat
2) easy to use
3) no flux to be flushed out of the system.

 

[NickH]

From what i see the pipes are going over a noggin, not a joist, and they look to have a thickness of timber above them so I dont think they can be tight to the floor. Cut back the plasterboard to the next joist and cut out the noggin so that you can get some movement on the pipework. The noggin can be replaced afterwards.

PS. be ABSOLUTELY sure where the leak is, you seem a little vague at the moment, is there not a visible leak from one of those pipes. I've seen plenty of crusty pipework like that which wasn't leaking. Are you sure its not coming from the shower tray/area, thats always the most likely cause of a damp patch below a shower. You definately dont want to be cutting holes in a brand new ceiling.

 

[Alanka]

I would get the shower going full blast (shower door closed of course!) and then stand underneath watching closely for leaks with me torch and dental mirror (not joking - these are very useful). You may find the leak or find that it's not coming from the copper pipes, but the waste (?) If it only leaks when running it's probably not the feed pipes at all.

 

[andekoch]

To close this off.

Did the repair today. It was a screw through the CH flow pipe that caused the leak, looked like it had been there a while.
Did the job from below and was a right pain to do as the pipes were hard up against the floor above. Needed to use a lever to get them far enough off away from the floor above to just get the slice onto them to do the cut.
Did the repair using hep fittings and pipe in the end with bonding across the plastic. Dont like putting a plastic fittign onto copper like this when I cant see the condition of the copper above so gave it a good clean to make sure no scratches or nicks that could cause a leak. Tested fine to 2bar.