Finding leaks in concrete

Plumdog_2

I have a job where pex has frozen and burst in several locations in or under a concrete slab. Anyone have secret method of breaking up slab without doing further damage to the tubing? Luckily it wasn't my installation! I picture a long painstaking hammer and chisel ordeal like an archealogical dig.

[Deleted User]

Jack hammer surgery...

is akin to picking your nose with a sharp axe. Seems like regardless of how careful you are, there WILL be some bleeding...

It's not a question of whether you are going to hit the tube, it's a matter of where.

Do you know exactly where the leaks are at? If not, and there is still enough integrity for the tubing to take on some low pressure high temperature water, you can get a pretty good and accurate idea of the tubing location using a good quality infrared camera, otherwise, the whole slab may be a candidate for complete replacement.

Winter's a comin'. Better git'erdone...soon.

And watch yer nose:-)

ME

Supply House Rick

Plumdog, try this

Check with Mark & Darin at Comfortable Home Technologies, they ran into a similar problem. They bought a Locator/Pinpointer and performed a much less invasive surgical excavation. Worh a shot before you rip it all out...

Rick

Mark Hunt

Yep


No leak detection services within 300 miles of us.........until we bought our leak locator.

Cost us $1700 and Darin was able to find and fix the leaks.

Darin has all the details.

Mark H

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Gene_2

Plumdog

I can't say it will be an easy fix but it CAN BE fixed. We bought the " Leak Pro " locator. I ran air through the affected circuits and you listen like a Navy sonarman ( but with no decibel protection for your ears, so set the tip of the probe down easy and DO NOT drag it on the floor. ) I had one last leak(9 in all) that bled off EXTREMELY slowly, so slow that you could not hear it underground and I ended up using a product by Hercules for sealing hydronic leaks in radiant tubing. That fixed it. Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Unknown

questions

From the pictures that shown, its new contruction job, what caused the leaks? Frozen? Or wheelbarrowing over the tubings? The equipment u brought looks good but it won't work on me as I'm hearing impaired... I've used dogs to find the leaks for me...

Rob_37

Dumb/newbie question

I have only been in the radiant business for about one year and have yet to see any tubing damaged from wheeling concrete over the tubing. Am I just being stupid? Also, would the pex tubing in the concrete slab have enough room to expand and break from freezing, and wouldn't it crack the concrete also?

Rob

Plumdog_2

Poster Child

This is sad in more ways than one. This property is a vacation home left unnattended all winter. The owner, a mature lady, suffered a stroke and as a result the electric bill went unpaid long enough that the power was turned off. Then the temperatures went down to -20F. You know the rest. No low water cut-off. One of the leaks in the pex, just above the concrete, looks almost as though it melted.
By pressurizing the tubing in the slab, I get two obvious points where fluid bubbles up through stress cracks in the concrete. Preparing for surgery at this time.
By the way, how are you getting along after your neck thing? I had the nose thing twice already so I know what you mean about the axe.

Plumdog_2

No such thing as a dumb question

I don't think it's a good idea to run heavy wheelbarrows over tubing. Most experienced concrete finishers would gladly hire a pumper truck to expedite the pour and the result is better integrity of the slab. The pressures created by freezing can break just about anything.

hr

I'd wonder how many

repairs you would make before a fresh start. How big an area? How many loops? Did you isolate loops to determine how many are bad.

Really not an attractive way to cut and patch a finished slab. I tend to sawcut for a neater patch. Also be sure to use the concrete products designed for patching. A two part non shrinking type cement work well.

hot rod

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[Deleted User]

Spearing...

That's when they go to stand the wheelbarrow up on it end to dump the load. They spear the tube with the cross bar on the front of the barrow.

Also, unfortunately, most tubing ends up on the bottom of the slab, with some of it not being completely covered in cement, and that is where it usually freezes and bursts.

No such thing as a stupid question. Just stupid mistakes made by people unwilling to ask questions for fear they will look stupid...

ME

scott w.

another dumb question on pex

Is there pex tubing that can expand when frozen and not break the pex? I was told the pex tubing used in my radiant floor pour over with gypcrete had the strenth to expand if it got froze and not break,

Gene_2

Scott

The problem is that the pex is in an enclosed area. It will destroy itself inorder to get the expansion room. I do not believe I have ever seen any manufacturer say anything other than that the pex is freeze RESISTANT. In our case the pex froze and split with no rhyme or reason. A radiant mans worst nightmare!!

Darin