burst pipe help

[no2number2]

here goes i have lived in my house for 4 years and there is a cold water pipe that goes from the house to the garage underground. over night we noticed the water pressure in the house had dropped, being late at night thought nothing of it .
got up in the morning to find the garden flooded and water coming through the concrete floor my question is do i need to replace the garage floor or just let it dry out but i would say there was an awful lot of water under the floor.

 

[leakydave]

Do you NEED water in the garage? If not you could isolate supply and cap pipe inside your house where it feeds water to garage.

You could find that the water flow has created a void under the concrete floor, and the next time you put your car in the garage, you and your car disappear into a hole!

 

[no2number2]

cheers i need the water for my jet wash ah the hose and stuff is there a way of checking without putting my car in lol

 

[digdilem]

IME, big voids only really happen in very soluble soil OR the leak has been going for years. Personally I'd ignore it until the car disappears - at least then you've saved the trouble of digging out the concrete to check.

Sorry Seriously, the risk is small. Some might suggest doing an echo test by hitting it with a hammer, but 100+ mm of concrete fixed to the sides isn't going to echo a great deal even with the Albert Hall underneath.

For remedials - maybe look at an alternative pipe run to replace what's blown to save digging up and replacing, but this time put in a stop cock and try and remember to drain it down for the winter.

I don't know if this heavy and long freezing is going to continue. Last Jan was the worst I've ever known in South Devon (-15c) but the past month has been longer and colder. We've personally had around 20 burst pipes/joints this month (including one three times, each with more insulation than the last!) and two properties still without water. Certainly I've seen pipes bursting now that have been happily enduring winters for decades.

 

[leakydave]

Ditto... pipes that have been happy for years now popping all over the place.

 

[leakydave]

I was exaggerating the chance of you and your car disappearing but just be careful and check your car insurance for subsisdence clause before parking in it!