Cold water feed pipe leak

[BobbyJoe]

Hi everyone,

Recently all the water tanks in the attic were disconnected to connect to the mains water supply (mine was already on mains but the other 5 flats in the building needed to be connected to mains water) and the company were also going to fit PRV's and isolation valves to the pipework in the attic.

A day after the work was completed the cold water feed pipe in my flat which comes from the attic was leaking and a plumber came out and tightened the gland. Anyway fast forward a few days and I could smell damp from the small cupboard where the pipe is located and once again it was seeping/sweating water from the pipe, I touched the ceiling and the wood on it is damp and the pipe going up to the attic is also damp.

Any ideas what could be causing the wetness on the pipe/ceiling as my thoughts are does the red gate valve need replacing?
Is there a leak coming from the attic pipe work and then going down the CWF pipe in my cupboard?

Any ideas what it could be and what should be done, as I am not paying a penny to the factor until the issue is resolved as everything was fine up until they decided to change the system for everyone.

Thank you and I would appreciate any advice you wish to share.

 

[fowlerboi]

You need a plumber there, not a lot we can do from behind a computer. They obviously need to put it right.

If that was my job I wouldn't be leaving old gate valves in when its been converted to mains but you may struggle to convince them to remove that if its not leaking.

You may find some is condensation if the flats supplies are fed up to the attic and then back down to the flat. Lagging the pipes would get over that.

 

[Ric2013]

What I can't quite understand is why the gland would suddenly start leaking like that if the flat was already on mains pressure (as stated in the opening post). Could be a coincidence : they do happen.

 

[BobbyJoe]

Thanks for the replies and tomorrow someone is coming out to inspect the pipe works in the attic as the job still has to be signed off.
@Ric2013 my thoughts exactly were the same that if nothing was done regarding my mains water pressure why did I have a leak on the pipe, the area surrounding the pipe is wet but I suspect there was water spillage at some point and it could possibly be the case.
As soon as I find out the root cause I will update and lastly regarding the red gate valve, should I change it to a WRAS approved full bore lever valve or will it not make a difference? Thank you

 

[Ric2013]

If the gate valve is required for isolation, replacement as you suggest may be a good idea if that is mains pressure water, also probably worth replacing it if it is leaking. Tightening the gland isn't normally a solution to leakage as, if it's caked with limescale, it might need repacking and that would probably cost much the same as a new valve (due to the labour charges).

 

[BobbyJoe]

Hi everyone and thank you for the replies. It turned out that the leak was indeed not a leak after all, the nut gland was tightened and the water on the ceiling was due to the pipe being cut in the attic and water managed to come through because the tank was just above my airing cupboard.

It has been a few weeks since the job was done and the small airing cupboard still smells of damp and it is drying very slowly.
Any ideas how I can get rid of or speed up the odour and dampness as the company said it may take a while to dry but the odour is stronger and I never had issues or dampness in my property at all.

Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Dehumidifier will speed it up

 

[BobbyJoe]

Hi everyone,

My earlier post above was about the dampness in the airing cupboard well today I opened the cupboard and took pictures of what I saw, the old before pictures and present ones might help as I am not sure if it is mould. There are no leaks but I don't know how to get rid of the white stuff on the wall near the pipes or does the plaster area need to be replaced any advice would be really appreciated.