Identifying a water leak - insulation

[mo7]

Got a potential headache on my hands.

I have recently had my house refurbished- we went all the way back to the joists and I saw all new central heating pipes and electrics going in - as well as the floorboards and a layer of hardboard on the upstairs floor and plywood in the bathroom go on top of the floorboards.

I took photos of everything so was reasonably sure I knew where all pipework was as I saw it all and referred to photos.

The boiler has been working fine for about 3 weeks.

Last night I had to install some doorstops which meant screwing down into 3 floorboards - 1 bathroom and 2 bedrooms. 30 minutes later we see a drip in one of the rooms below at the light fitting.

I drained the central heating system and left it at that because it was late and I couldn't make any nosie to distrub the neighbours at 3am. I have opted not to lift any floorboards yet as we have a wedding party on Monday and I would rather leave the house as it is and just have no hot water than make a mess.

Now the leak does not appear to be directly under where I screwed a doorstop in so it is not immediatley obvious where the problem is. I am guessing that as there is hardboard and plywood ontop of the floorboards this is stopping the water squirting back up into the room which I have experienced previously.

I also have fairly rigied Rockwool insulation between all of my floor joists. This is likely to be absorbing water.

Now, when I was having my boiler installed my installer left a tee off for my bathroom sink (under the boards) and accidentally left this one uncapped and put the water on - what happened was a little bit of water leaked through the ceiling below - but the lesson was that is travelled via the insulation and came down further down the room where than where the leak was. I am not sure if this would happen all the time or whether this was because of the insulation.

Coming to my problem - I have no idea which of the screw has caused a leak but one is more likely than others - but based on my photos there is no pipe there! I will open this floorboard up next week because it is under vinyl and in the bathroom so easier than lifting carpet.

If there is no pipe underneath, then the leak has come from one of the other 2 places or worse still it is (unlikely) a leak that has just sprung somewhere else in the system - which I am guessing would be very hard to trace esp as I have insualtion in the joists.

One of the other screws is roughly in the same joist line as the one I suspect has caused the leak - but it is about 2 meteres away and is seperated by a steel (and obviously laods of insualtion) - I would have thought it unlikely the water would travel that far.

The other screw is about 5 joists away and I suspect it wouldn't travel across joists.

I had an emergency plubmer come out which was sent by some insurance I had - he was just there to ensure no further damage would be caused and basically said the water could be coming from anywhere - it coudl be running along pipes, along the steel and even move across joists so if I don't pintpoint the problem then it would be hard to find.

I spose my question is, does anyone know of any good methods to detect leaks and have anyone dealt with the scneario of insualtion and leaks with the insualtion making it harder to identify where the leak is coming from?

It is too much of a conicidece that the leak happened last night so it must be from a screw but as I say I have photos. Only other thing I can imagine is that my impact driver caused vibrations which has made another connection come loose.

I think in my case it would be easier to take ceiling down than floor up but my worry is that if the leak is coming from far away it will involve more than one room and a huge amount of work.

 

[JCplumb]

Go through the floors rather than the ceiling. The screws in the floorboards will tell you where the joists are, and that's where you cut through. If needed - stick some noggins in before making good the floor. Start with the most likely site and hopefully you'll find it straight away.
If the ply or hardboard stops you from seeing where the joists are then cut a hole in that bigger than you need, you're just going to put it back down later and rescrew it, so won't get any movement after it's done. Use a circular saw set to the depth of the boards you're cutting and finish with a chisel if needed.
It's a lot easier than getting a ceiling replastered.
And the visible site of the drip is often not where the leak is, as your plumber said it can run all over the place before getting through the plasterboard in the ceiling, it often comes through a nearby light fitting.
You probably have gone through a pipe as you say, but there's only one way to find out
Let us know how you get on.

 

[mo7]

Thanks.

Will be a nightmare to take the floor up especially because its all boarded and the floorboards are glued and screwed.

If worst came to worst I think replastering a whole ceiling would bd easier - especiall if it was a case of lifting up laods of sections of floorboards.

I will have a go at checkign the questionnable sites next week.

I am wary of evening lifting a carpet as it will be difficult to put down again.

 

[Best]

It might be possible to cut an inspection hole in the areas you screwed.
A multitool is a very handy tool for that job if you use it properly and can cut a very neat square/rectangular piece out without damage at all.

 

[lame plumber]

not being a smart bum but you installed door stops and a drip appears!!! fairly bleedin obvious where the leak has come from, so whip up floor covering and floor in the area to do a repair.

 

[CP1111]

Surely you used screws only long enough to go into the boards

 

[Radioman]

Simple method I have used before is to whip out the screw and push a long piece of wire coat hanger or electrical screwdriver down the hole. It's sometimes possible to feel the bottom of the pipe. It feels sort of hollow when compared to a hole in timber that has a definite bottom. You will then need a bigger hole than you think to do the repair.
This is a useful tool [DLMURL]http://www.cannonelectrical.com/Solid+Board+Access+Cutter/0_CAAA208_CAAA253/PRAA714[/DLMURL].


eBay item 151452774844

 

[dean.diy]

Good tip from Radioman. The other week a feller told me he located a hidden (by the tiler)
iso valve by drilling a hole big enough to take the camera/light probe his mechanic pal
lent him. ( They're small enough to go through spark plug hole). Could save a lot of indoors
grief.

 

[Radioman]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181861089403

Flexible Endoscope for laptop or android tablet. Same as the one the Doctor uses[emoji16]

 

[dean.diy]

I feared the Doctor had borrowed that same camera after it had
been up the Ford Mondeo's bottom.
Thanks for sharing that link. Just ordered one now.
Dean.

 

[mo7]

tried the coat hanger trick by drilling a slightly larger hole and either felt a joist or clear air - so no obvious hitting of a pipe.

 

[Radioman]

tried the coat hanger trick by drilling a slightly larger hole and either felt a joist or clear air - so no obvious hitting of a pipe.

Unless you went straight through the pipe and out the other side, or just nicked it.