DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Heating Engineers…The Sequel

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In our last visit to this Manchester flat as highlighted in a previous Cowboy Of the Week Award we were on the hunt for a rogue leak. The flat had stains on all ceilings throughout the four floor new build terraced properties which were all aligned with the properties main waste pipe. We sorted out a previous issue with a constant flowing Pressure Relief Valve and still suspected a leak in the pipe work within the walls even though everything had dried up. We new that if the system ever became over pressurised that the leak would show up again.  So it was time to become a detective.

The property has an access panel above each loo so there is a limited view behind the walls. We still couldn’t see a leak and we couldn’t see beyond the main waste pipe which blocked our view to more pipe work. We took an educated guess based on the previous water we had seen and cut an access through the wall and BINGO! We found the 28m copper pipe work from the tundish on the next floor up was no longer sealed to the waste manifold hidden behind the wall. It would seem that the installer thought he had planned for every eventuality when he used crimped copper connection behind the walls. Unfortunately for the home owners he used only one nail in pipe clip directly int breeze block which probably lasted an hour and he didn’t terminate the pipe work into the hopper in a secure manner.

So here how it all worked. The boiler pressure went up to high because the expansion vessel was not functioning, the pressure was relived through the pressure relief valve, the scalding hot water starting flowing through the 28mm copper pipe. The constant flow of hot water for a long period caused the rubber gasket to soften and the unclipped pipe sprang out of the manifold. As the pipe was still slightly aligned with the manifold most of the water probably flowed out like it should have but a lot didn’t make it outside and has caused substantial damage to the ceilings and walls below.

Now if all of this weren’t enough there is still more! After repairing the aforementioned pipe work we flushed the local loo several times to make sure no water was escaping via out new connections and everything looked good for about a half hour. We were packed up and ready to go with the proviso that we would leave all access hatches open for a few days at which time we would make our final inspection. Just before we departed we noticed a drip of water from the ceiling in the kitchen (just above where we were working) but could not find the source of the leak. We decided to cut another access hole in the kitchen ceiling. We certainly found a lot of damp dry lining in the first plunge of the cut. When we pulled down the dry lining it was infested with  black mould spores and something else growing an inch above the surface of the board. The  plywood flooring above the ceiling was soaked through. We still couldn’t see a source of leak so we made an educated guess and pulled the well sealed toilet away from the wall and BINGO! We found yet another leak caused by the improper insertion of the offset pan connector; it was too short and from the look of things had been leaking since it was installed.

So with that mess now cleared up we have again left all access holes open and will revisit next week when it has dried up a bit. With any luck we’ve now found all of the hidden leaks in the property and can replace the damaged dry lining and get the place put back together.

And the lesson here is that even if ninety nine percent of a job is good that last one percent can cause everything you’ve done turn to crap. In this case literally!

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