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Author:
ankan (Non-US)
First time posting on any kind of forum.
We have a gas fired boiler for radiant in floor heat, and a separate hot water tank, also gas fired, for household hot water. House was built in '94 and we purchased it in 2011. It is slab on grade with rock underneath. The sequence of events went as follows:
- 3 weeks ago water at the shower was instantly hotter than usual. Due to the length of travel from hot water tank to upstairs bathroom, it usually would take close to 2 mins before getting to temp. But all of a sudden, turn the tap on, and it was hot. The rest of the house seemed normal.
- Temperature was variable day by day, and inconsistent throughout the day. Pressure has always remained normal.
- Over the next week, water got progressively colder. We called a plumber to investigate & check our hot water tank.
- Plumber who installed the tank ( 60 gal in 2012) suggested the hot water line was leaking somewhere in the house. In the mechanical room, and throughout one side of the house, you could easily hear water running thru pipes. When the hot water valve from the tank was turned off, and only the main water line was left on, the sound stopped. BUT, we had no signs of a water leak anywhere in the house. We turned off the hot water tank at this point.
- Within this overall time frame, we turned off our thermostats for the in floor heating, but have left the boiler on.
- Called restoration company to help locate the leak. Nothing.
- We called a radiant heat specialist plumber to investigate. We turned the hot water tank back on and he also said it was a leak from the hot water tank and that it was unrelated to the radiant heat/boiler.
- The following morning my wife and I felt a cold spot on the floor that was usually slightly warmer than everywhere else in the house (it's in a doorway between main hall & dining room, and could be a junction). Right at that point we heard and saw water pouring into our main entry (5 steps lower that the main floor) from the closet. I shut off the water main and we mopped up the flooded area. The water was cold.
- Called insurance & they sent another resto company. We opened the wall and found the source of the flood/outflow which was a water pipe in the slab but the pipe was dry. The concrete below it was wet, suggesting this was the waters escape route, not the pipe itself. We flushed upstairs toilets and the water ran down, but pipe remained dry.
- Resto company couldn't find source of the leak. Assumption is it must be a burst pipe somewhere within or under the house, on the same side as the location of the flood, and the water is going underneath the house, but finally rose to a level where it needed to escape.(?)
- We turned everything on to try and replicate the problem but no luck.
Any insights or suggestion would be most appreciated. Apologies for length of post. Thanks in advance.
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Author:
packy (MA)
abandon all the hot water pipes in the slab and run new pex lines above somewhere. too much time and effort already expended with no result...
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