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Leak in Hot Water Pipes Concealed In Floor

I have been told that there pipes related to our hot water heating system under a concrete floor that are leaking. Just wondering if there is any additive that can be used to plug the leaks in the same way that you can buy chemical additives to stop small leaks in auto coolant systems. Has anyone ever dealt with a problem like this by bypassing that section of the pipe and running a new pipe (or baseboard) around the perimeter of the room? Wouldn't that be easier and less expensive than ripping up the floor and replacing the pipe? Thank you -

Comments

  • Leon82
    Leon82 Member Posts: 684
    That's stuff is not good for a boiler you want to keep using

    Is it radiant slab heat?

    You can run another pipe above but if it's radiant you will need to add some type of heat if you abandon it
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,160
    Don't put a stop leak type additive into the boiler. It will ruin it. I might add, don't put one into an automotive radiator, either; if the radiator is anywhere near sized to the engine (and most are, these days) you will overheat the engine someday on a heavy load.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,418
    No easy fixes here... sorry
    Depending on the age of your system you could jackhammer up the floor or abandon.
  • lchmb
    lchmb Member Posts: 2,997
    If the pipes are only under the floor to get from point a to b and you can reconnect to them, then yes..abandon the pipes in place (foam them to seal off) and reroute somewhere else.. If as other's have said it's radiant, you could try and use a thermal camera to locate the leak and jack hammer that area in an attempt to repair it...
  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,366
    What type of piping is in the floor? How old is it?
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • jumper
    jumper Member Posts: 2,226
    Abandon. More leaks may be coming. Ceiling radiant is nicer anyhow.