How to determine the source of a leak

bigugh_4

mentally see your home. One story or two? Vents pipes? There are many "vents" definitions. A picture could do wonders. hot water BB is a pressure system. Therefore there is a make up water shut off on the system, and a gauge on the boiler. Make sure the shut off valve is shut off tight (leak free), mark the gauge at the pressure point on the glass face with a marks a lot, and wait a day or so. If it falls from the set point the Hot water system is leaking. If NOT leaking, the tiny drip maybe condensation from some place. I once opened up a ceiling where the customer was certin a leak was occuring. Found nothing but dry 2x4's framing and dry plaster. and a comma between www and site name had my computer down for a day! Placed in the period and walla internet came back up. And an ole plumber had an old lady who swore that her toilet leaked, He finally showed her (with his pants up) exactly how to sit upon the pot, such that she could get the water into it! Good luck!

Dave_79

How to tell if our baseboard heat is leaking

Our house is 5 years old and a Cape Style house with baseboard heat. I just noticed a couple of weeks ago water in the basement dripping down one of the vents pipes. We checked the vent pipe in the attic that was dry, put dyes in all sinks/tubs/toilet, water dripping was still clear. Shut off water in the whole house, water still dripped. That is leading up to believe it's our baseboard heat. Of course it's not the downstairs but the upstairs. Is there a way I can perform the compression test on the line myself? Or is there another way to determine if the heat upstairs is leaking? I felt all rugs/floors upstairs and didn't feel anything wet. I even cut a hole in the closet floor to look at the heat that goes under the floor to the bathroom and it was dry. Any help at all would be appreciated. The largest amount of water we've seen in 24 hrs is about a cup...most of the time it's less than a tbs for 24 hours.

Big Ed

System leal

Shut off the water feed to the boiler and take note of system pressure. If ther is a leak in system, pressure will drop....

Dave_79

It is a 2 floor cape. I think it's a vent pipe because we drilled a hole in the basement floor and we could see that pipe pick up the bathroom sink vent pipe and then make it's way up the wall, we are guessing to the second floor.

Also is it ok to have the water supply shut off to the boiler and the heat still on, we are in Mass. and the nights are starting to get cold and we have 2 small children.

I've attached a picture of the pipe that the water is dripping from. The water isn't dripping from the pipe it's following it down the outside of the pipe into the basement, not sure if I mentioned that before. The wall that the pipe comes down also had heat in it for the downstairs but I'm thinking that if that heat was leaking we would either see it on the tile floor or coming down the copper pipes that go into the basement.

Dave_79

It is a 2 floor cape. I think it's a vent pipe because we drilled a hole in the basement floor and we could see that pipe pick up the bathroom sink vent pipe and then make it's way up the wall, we are guessing to the second floor.

Also is it ok to have the water supply shut off to the boiler and the heat still on, we are in Mass. and the nights are starting to get cold and we have 2 small children.

I've attached a picture of the pipe that the water is dripping from. The pipe on the right is the one that's wet, the pipe on the left attached to our downstairs sink. The water isn't dripping from the pipe it's following it down the outside of the pipe into the basement, not sure if I mentioned that before. The wall that the pipe comes down also had heat in it for the downstairs but I'm thinking that if that heat was leaking we would either see it on the tile floor or coming down the copper pipes that go into the basement.

Empire_2

roof

Maybe a possible flashing leak on roof. I had this in my new built house. Took a while to pinpoint but that's what it was. DOnt run the boiler just in case the water is comming from the system. You will notice a pressure drop as explained above probably within that day.
Hope This helps. Mike T.

Dave_79

checked the roof

I went up on the roof and poured red dyed water in and around the vent pipe. Also went into the attic where the vent pipe comes in and it and everything around it was bone dry.

Dave_79

shutting of the water supply

I'm going to try shutting off the water supply tomorrow. We have 3 zones in the house all with their own shutoff valve. If the pressure does drop can we then do some sort of tests to determine which zone is leaking? I really appreciate all the help I've already received.

jerry scharf_3

roof leaks

Dave,

I've seen roofs leak is rain that were flood tested for 20 minutes with a garden hose. Just because you don't see the dye doesn't rule out a roof leak.

jerry

Dave_79

We were hoping for a flashing leak because that would be easier for me to fix. We got over 7" of rain in one day. I went up into the attic 5 times that day and everything was dry. Also the 2 days that we got the most water in the basement it had not rained out in over a week. I've been trying to run tests but the leak doesn't really follow a set pattern, just when I think I've figured it out it throws me for a loop. Right now it's been dry for 2 days, the weather has been warm so the heat has not come on, also I've been using the shower on the 1st floor to see if that's the problem. It's supposed to go in the low 30's tonight so I'll see what we have tomorrow morning.

bob young

call a plumber

if you can't find the leak, call a professional plumber. his job is finding leaks and fixing them.