LEAKING HEATING PIPE IN CONCRETE

[sspaul121]

Hi All

In the planning stage of a family house renovation.

Had 1 plumber visit to advise on some work last Wednesday and he noticed the pressure on our 1 year old Worcester Bosch combi boiler was showing zero. He bled all the air in the existing radiators and then corrected the pressure. He then told me to keep an eye on it.

I vsisted the house yesterday and it come down by 0.75 bar from 1.5. He said that this points to a leak. Unfortunately all the existing pipework for the radiators is buried in the concrete flooring.

Would it be easier to locate the leak and repair or replace all existing copper pipes with Polypipe and expanding foam, or copper pipes that are sealed in Denso tape?

If so would the new runs be created in the concrete, or should the existing pipe channels be located and existing pipe be replaced?

We are having the boiler moved anyway, but would this extra work be an expensive job?

Any advise around this would be much appreciated

Thanks Paul

 

[Nige F]

It would be better to re run the pipework above the floors - period ( as they say in USA)But you`ve got to find a plumber - you won`t find a gas fitter- to do a neat job of facework or put them in some asthetically pleasing trunking Get a non gas plumber for the pipes and a Gas Safe bod to do the boiler change after the pipework has been sorted . The pipes that are buried will be poorly insulated @ best .

 

[sspaul121]

Hi Nige

Thanks for the advice.

What you say is logical expecially from a maintenance perspective.

One thing I did forget to mention is that the house is a bungalow and brick on the ouitisde and timberframe/studs internally.

I have someone in mind who can do the pipework. As the house is Timber frame/stud inside my suggestion to the Gas Engineer was to run all pipes through the existing studwork by going into the loft and running them down vertically between the studs and then horizontally across to the radiators. This would result in a neater finish

But the gas engineer mentioned that if you start to run the pipes up and down the walls from room to room, then the boilers pump may struggle with 14 radiators to supply, and hence it may result in a dead radaitor/s that pump was unable to reacch due to this configuration.

Is he correct?

What are the options in terms of running the pipes above ground.

Thanks again,
Paul

 

[Agile]

Most bungalows with solid floors have the rads supplied by copper drop pipes from the loft. Properly sized that should give no problems with flow when its properly balanced.

I can see no benefit in piping in the concrete but if you did that then use plastic pipe with no buried joints and encase in foam pipe insulation to allow monement and to insulate them.

My preference is for NOT burying pipes in walls but in some walls thats not so bad. I fitted a new system like that in a house with a single brick skin and the 150m of uninsulated gap to inside cladding which gave space for the CH drop pipes.

Tony

 

[Nige F]

might find some noggins ( crossmembers) in the walls that would stop pipes running down to the rads - put them on the surface maybe hidden behind curtains etc. have done loads in the past and it can all look neat - takes time tho` and that isn`t cheap now . If I was still on the tools a bungalow with a nice empty loft and drops to the rooms would be a pleasure to do. some nice facework and wood blocks on the ceiling rafters to get the pipes rising to vent etc. Finished with thick wall foam lagging - so much easier than wrestling with floorboards etc. You can get straight lengths of capping for 2 pipes with clips etc. in the DIY sheds , that can cover the vertical drops

 

[electronicsuk]

might find some noggins ( crossmembers) in the walls

That would make it a bit of a pain, but not impossible. I fitted GCH to my (new to me at the time) house just over three years ago now with all pipework drops to the rads concealed in pre-existing stud walls. All had noggins, but this is easily resolved by removing a small square of plasterboard which you can save and replace later on. That leaves only a little plastering and painting, then jobs a good'un. I wouldn't fancy it in non-flexible (i.e. copper) pipe, mind!