Hi,
We bought a bungalow, a year ago from an elderly neighbour, they had just fitted an air source heat pump system and had the old boiler removed in the utility room and the ASHP cistern put in its place.
Last week week we noticed a whooshing sound coming from the utility room and noticed a lot of condensation pouring from the ASHP cistern. We called a plumber who told us to turn off the mains. He came a day later, and as we lifted up the laminate floor in the utility room we noticed black mould and a horrible smell, the plumber had to cut a hole in the floor to look under our suspended timber floor.
He fiddled around and brought out a bit of 15mm pipe with a split in it telling us this was the cause of the leak and it might have been there for a while.
Do copper pipes just suddenly split?
We don't understand why there is black mould on the surface of the chipboard, underneath the laminate flooring, and none underneath in the cavity, is this a surface leak he might have missed?
Incidentally, there has been a mouldy smell in the house for at least 2 months and our clothes have been really mouldy too. Doors don't open properly in the house and the back door is really stiff. We have no idea why this is happening. We assume this has something to do with the leak, the plumber is telling us about, under the house. But have no clue how did we not see the damage sooner and why we did not put 2 and 2 together?
Where would the condensation come from dripping from the ASHP, is there another leak possible?
Any ideas?
We bought a bungalow, a year ago from an elderly neighbour, they had just fitted an air source heat pump system and had the old boiler removed in the utility room and the ASHP cistern put in its place.
Last week week we noticed a whooshing sound coming from the utility room and noticed a lot of condensation pouring from the ASHP cistern. We called a plumber who told us to turn off the mains. He came a day later, and as we lifted up the laminate floor in the utility room we noticed black mould and a horrible smell, the plumber had to cut a hole in the floor to look under our suspended timber floor.
He fiddled around and brought out a bit of 15mm pipe with a split in it telling us this was the cause of the leak and it might have been there for a while.
Do copper pipes just suddenly split?
We don't understand why there is black mould on the surface of the chipboard, underneath the laminate flooring, and none underneath in the cavity, is this a surface leak he might have missed?
Incidentally, there has been a mouldy smell in the house for at least 2 months and our clothes have been really mouldy too. Doors don't open properly in the house and the back door is really stiff. We have no idea why this is happening. We assume this has something to do with the leak, the plumber is telling us about, under the house. But have no clue how did we not see the damage sooner and why we did not put 2 and 2 together?
Where would the condensation come from dripping from the ASHP, is there another leak possible?
Any ideas?