Copper pipe pinholed in screed. advice please

[mpooley]

Hi
I have just had a very bad leak in utility room floor which was found by a very expensive leak detection service. They also repaired the pipe with a new 8inch section of copper.

There was bad corrosion on the outside of the mains pipe even though it was wrapped in insulation.
I couldn't work out what else was wrapped round it because it was so wet it fell to pieces!
The corrosion seems to be limited to just in a doorway.
There is a hot water pipe next to the leaky one that looks just as bad so I'm thinking I will have to replace that as well.
All the pipes in the house are about 32years old.

How should I protect the new pipes please?

thanks

Mike

 

[oilboffin]

Wrap it in insulation

 

[JohnD]

rerun it in plastic pipe.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Either, run new pipework in plastic trunking under/through the screed, use plastic pipe, or protect the copper adequately. In saying that, I have had issues with copper, sleeved as required, corroding in the space of a few years to the point it collapsed and soaked the screed and everything above it!

Replaced with plastic run through trunking, allowing easier access and/or replacement if ever required in future.

 

[mpooley]

Don't think I can face digging up the floors in the whole house.
Would be a massive job.
would be cheaper to move

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Cheapest solution would be to rerun all the required pipework on the surface, and abandon the old underfloor sections. Not aesthetically pleasing though probably.

 

[KenGMac]

mpooley, good evening.

Possibly too late in your case unless the event is on-going? you could make an insurance claim on your Household Insurance under the heading of "An Escape of Water from a Fixed Domestic System"? OK the Excess could be anywhere between £ 50 and £ 500

But given the [in my estimation of such jobs I have seen] the Excess is the least of your on-going expense?

At one time it was common practice [about 30 Years ago] to wrap copper in "Denso-Tape" in a concrete screed?

Ken.

 

[Ian H]

This was plastic coated copper that rotted:

 

[KenGMac]

That coating is not Denso-Tape

And it appears from the scour marks it has been leaking for a considerable time?

 

[Ian H]

Yes, it would originally have been a pinhole that expanded to that. Luckily this was outside and easy to find and fix.

 

[mpooley]

I might just replace the pipes in the Utility room, I know its not the best solution but at the moment I can't face doing everything as all the heating pipes would need replacing as well I assume.

 

[Nige F]

, I know its not the best solution but at the moment I can't face doing everything as all the heating pipes would need replacing as well I assume.

They may not need replacing, depending on why the pipe failed - heating pipes are a separate system - either a F+E cistern or pressurised vessel. The point being the water stays the same unless drained out

 

[mpooley]

The heating is a normal low pressure system.
the Faulty Mains pipe was corroding badly. now the screed is very wet, will that water encourage more corrosion in all of the pipes?

 

[muggles]

The heating is a normal low pressure system.
the Faulty Mains pipe was corroding badly. now the screed is very wet, will that water encourage more corrosion in all of the pipes?

Possibly, if you leave it like that, but presumably you have an enormous dehumidifier in there now drying everything out?

 

[KenGMac]

Would it be possible to abandon the embedded pipework and re0rout pipes above floor level?

Ken