Locating a leak in a water pipe under the floor.

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[m3jappa]

I'm no plumber but im sure if its burst you will know about it, i would imagine its just the cold weather making the main run a bit slower.

[Gingerbread Man]

You can get leak detector men in with infra red cameras. But I vote that you isolate the hot in one way or another, and let it sit un-used to see if it drops/ air in pipe when you turn it on?

[993AL]

Im not a plumber but FWIW it sounds like your HW pipe has been on the verge of freezing but by running the hot water you've thawed the ice blockage in the pipe, I would think that as it wasnt totally frozen that it probably hasnt damaged the pipe.

You could check your header tank (if you have one) to see if it is still filling even though the hot taps are turned off.

If you have a combi boiler I think it would be firing up if you had a leak and it was big enough, even though the taps were off.

Good luck

[Gingerbread Man]

Hi again, I'll try and cast a bit more information than my rushed answer before - I was on my iphone on the way to work!

Soooooo....... after not using the hot tap for a while, when you turn it on, is there any air that comes out, or does water start to trickle straight away?

To check if you differently have a leak, would be to isolate the hot and leave it for a while. Either via the feed to the cylinder or on the boiler (combi).

Is there any way that you could lift a floor board and have a peak? Might be pipes on the verge of freezing, either way they should be lagged.



The other more expensive option is a leak detector bloke who can 'see' hot pipes with an infra red gun. We had a guy come out to a find a leak on a central heating system in a village hall. With his hand held gizmo, he could follow the pipes behind boxing in and under floors. He found a leak in the screed where a fitting had come apart. He was millimetre perfect and we then fixed the leak.

This approach works a lot better in solid floors than suspended floors though.