Pipework leak in ceiling, how to locate?

Is it a house insurance engagement nonetheless, at that expense ?

had a leak beneath ensuite that soaked ceiling which needed to be cut away and replaced, anyway ... so test holes through that, if above flooring is less accessible may not create uncecessary damage.
 
adam cool dude said:
Can imagine op with a new post. "Help I have drilled through water pipe"
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Good point :o

Turn off water and isolate elec before drilling, use a pipe/wire detector, only drill as deep as you need to, drill very slowly, if you want to be super safe stop near the end of the ceiling board and poke through the last bit with a blunt object etc. I suspect it'll be 12.5mm in depth?

Or leave it to a 'professional'.
 
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I just take a hole saw to the ceiling, large enough to pop my phone in so I can use that to find the leak. Benefit of the hole saw is you can keep the cut out hole to put back in when repairing the ceiling (provided it's not soaked the plaster to mush.
 
sigma said:
Good point :o

Turn off water and isolate elec before drilling, use a pipe/wire detector, only drill as deep as you need to, drill very slowly, if you want to be super safe stop near the end of the ceiling board and poke through the last bit with a blunt object etc. I suspect it'll be 12.5mm in depth?

Or leave it to a 'professional'.
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Ceiling boards often 9.5mm to save weight :)
 
I think I've decided the bedroom floor is coming up, I can make it good far easier then walls or ceiling, apparently my insurance wont cover it, wont be using them again... I do have additional insurance that will come and fix the leak but I have no confidence that they will do anything but butcher the place to get to the leak, they're booked to come on the 28th so I may very well start lifting the bedroom floor before they come and give them no choice on how to approach it. Thankfully with the central heating off it's drying out slowly. Time to sort out the spare room so I can sleep in it lmao :D
 
Dano said:
The local plumber reckoned it would be easiest to go in through the ceiling downstairs but I have reservations due to it being open plan and there would be a need to make it good with the rest of the kitchen and lounge.
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Any artex on the ceiling? If so you've got another problem going that way (whether asbestos is present or not).

If any artex is wet and starting to come off, time to get your insurers involved.
 
Harnser said:
Any artex on the ceiling? If so you've got another problem going that way (whether asbestos is present or not).

If any artex is wet and starting to come off, time to get your insurers involved.
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A blessing really though because artex is hideous and this would be a good chance to get rid!
 
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Harnser said:
Any artex on the ceiling? If so you've got another problem going that way (whether asbestos is present or not).

If any artex is wet and starting to come off, time to get your insurers involved.
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No, the house is only around 9 years old so had better be free of asbestos and artex :D
 
Mason- said:
Surely copper ‘waste pipes’ are far more likely to have corrosive substances put down them. Not really a fair comparison to cooper used in central heating.
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Thats what I thought, along with 57 years is probably not too shabby a lifespan, they guy who installed them will certainly be retired, most likely dead. I'd like to think that work I do these days would last until I'm retired, but with the standard of some modern materials I'm not sure about that one!

I also remember working in a school and the caretaker telling me that they were having issues with the science lab links, because teh wase was in copper.... not that certainly doesn't sound like the best idea, that place was built late 50s so just a bit older, although that must have been at least 10 year ago I was being told about that
 
All sorted, Homeserve had me covered, they came and went through the bedroom floor, I now have two small access panels lol, weight off my mind for sure :)
 
Participant said:
What was it then? A single leaking joint? What type? Any cause identified?
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Was a joint that had either not been fitted correctly or had come apart, the initial hole he made didn't show it but he had a borescope and was able to see it almost immediately using that, it looked like it had simply been badly fitted but even after refitting it still leaked so he replaced it, was here about an hour and a half a good thirty minutes of which was waiting for a colleague to bring him a battery for his saw lol :)
 
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