After ignoring a leaking joint on a badly soldered copper heating pipe, a domestic property owner in the United Kingdom was spurred into seeking a repair solution when it was noticed that escaping water had begun rotting through wooden floorboards and a joist below.

Case Study Overview

Site Domestic property
Location UK
Pipe Type 22mm copper heating pipe
Repair Type Leak repair
Products Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape

Pipe Defect

The 22mm copper heating pipe had been boxed in behind a grill. Poor soldering had caused the pipe to leak at a joint, but the property owner deemed the water escaping to be so minimal as not worth the trouble of attempting a repair themselves or hiring a plumber to fix the problem.

After a prolonged period of time, it was noticed that enough water had escaped to rot away wooden floorboards beneath the pipe, with a wooden joist further down now being impacted.

To prevent the leaking copper pipe joint causing any further deterioration to woodwork around it, the time had come for the property owner to make a repair.

SylWrap Solution

The property owner was still keen to minimise costs and so they contacted Sylmasta seeking a straightforward method of repair that could be carried out without the need for a plumber.

Once the pipe had been cleaned up, Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was applied over the joint, creating a watertight seal to permanently repair the leak.

Wrap & Seal is made from self-amalgamating silicone and stretches by 300 percent, fusing to form a solid rubber over holes, cracks and leaking joints.

Multiple Wrap & Seal Tapes can be used to build a repair with pressure resistance up to 30 bar. The Tape is temperature resistant to 200ºC, making it more than suitable for use with a domestic heating system.

Outcome

The repair was completed by the property owner in under 30 minutes, preventing any more escaping water from causing damage to wood surrounding the pipe.

After completing the application, the property owner told Sylmasta that had they known fixing a leaking joint could be so easy, they never would have left the problem unrepaired for so long.

Follow Up

Sylmasta regularly refer to this case study as a means of highlighting the problems that can develop if a seemingly minimal leak is ignored and left unrepaired.

Had the property owner sought a means to fix the leaking copper pipe when the issue with the badly soldered joint first became noticed, then the damage to the floorboards and the wooden joist could have been avoided.

Products Used

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self-fusing silicone repair tape with temperature resistance to 200ºC and pressure resistance to 30 bar.

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