I'm now 100% certain that the leak in my c/h system is somewhere in the concrete subfloor. Simple question, how the heck do I find it short of digging up the entire house?? There are no visible signs. I've seen a few things on the net about infra red cameras being used to find leaks but does anyone out there know who I'd go to that might have one of these? Not in the toolkit of the average heating engineer! Any suggestions (other than move house) gratefully received.
How to find leak in floor?
- Thread starter paulski
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try fernox leak sealer,at tenner a bottle got to be worth a try
Already tried it I'm afraid - pressure held up for a while (at least it only fell slowly) but it's worse now than it was before.
before taking up the floor I would pressure test the pipework with a hydraulic pressure tester to be certain the underfloor pipe was leaking, these can be hired. With some "bits and pieces" you could access the pipework at the one end with the radiator and cut into the pipe to fit a stop end at the other.
Air pressure testers can be bought fairly cheaply and used with a foot pump but less usefull in this situation.
Air pressure testers can be bought fairly cheaply and used with a foot pump but less usefull in this situation.
For practical reasons (time), a hydraulic tester is your only option. Even with a relatively big leak under concrete, if there's anything more than a tiny total volume of pipe it will take too long to detect an air pressure drop. If the pipe is full of water, a pressure drop on a hydraulic tester will be virtually instant.
Infra-red cameras are only useful where there's an easily-detectable temperature difference. Acoustic detectors are potentially useful, especially to localise the leak to a few feet (by correlation) but only if there's detectable noise. This is the technique used a lot by water companies for leaks in street mains. Unfortunately, if the leak is completely surrounded by concrete there won't be much noise to hear - you need a void to really get a good signal.
Infra-red cameras are only useful where there's an easily-detectable temperature difference. Acoustic detectors are potentially useful, especially to localise the leak to a few feet (by correlation) but only if there's detectable noise. This is the technique used a lot by water companies for leaks in street mains. Unfortunately, if the leak is completely surrounded by concrete there won't be much noise to hear - you need a void to really get a good signal.
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If you can hammer the floor, ie not ceramic tiled, you may be able to hear a change in note as the hollow under the floor is bashed. As solid floors usually have a concrete slab base with a 2"-3" screed over the top in which the pipes are laid, if there is no sign of damp it could be because the leak is near the edge of the house where the slab is discontinuous.
Have you tried a surveyor's damp meter on the floor or low on the walls?
Have you tried a surveyor's damp meter on the floor or low on the walls?
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