Underfloor pipe causing damp

[Davegt]

Hello

I've browsed the forum a number of times for info (which has saved me a fortune over the years) but this is the first time I've had to post

I moved into my current house a year ago, after moving in I noticed that the bottom of one of the door frames was rotten and had been "cleverly concealed" only revealed by the wife hitting it with the hover.

This job has been on the "to do" list for some time so I cut it out yesterday, there is a central heating pipe running below the point where the frame is so I've cut back the lower part of the frame and chopped out the concrete to investigate, The wood was mostly dry but warm (from the hot pipe I'd guess) with a slight hint of moisture when rubbed between my fingers but there is no obvious signs of a leak. There is some staining on the block work behind the door frame but there's no signs of damp anywhere else in the wall

Could this have been caused by condensation or do I need to dig further, if there is a leak I suspect it'll be where the pipe bends up to the radiator which means more concrete has to come out icon_eek.gif

 

[chantelle]

Looking at the pipe it looks like it has been laid beneath the concrete without any form of protection,concrete will eat into your copper pipe over time causing pinhole leaks, have dug up many a floor because of this.Do you have a combi boiler? are you topping it up constantly? this may point to a leak. If it`s a pinhole leak, may be hard to detect,dry off the pipe,check boiler pressure then get back.

 

[Davegt]

Thanks for the reply

The pipes have been in there since the house was built 40 years ago, I've had the floor up in the longue to remove one set and move a radiator and they looked to be in good condition with only the usual discolouration.

Yep it's a combi installed about 6 years ago, I haven't suffered any pressure loss and it was in fine health when serviced last week.

I'll leave the hole for a week or so and keep monitoring, there was a gap between the floor and block work so I wonder if water has got in there from cleaning the floor over the passed x amount of years and that possibly the warm area has just increase the moisture in the wood.

Really don't want to chop out any more floors