From the top of a ladder, a hospital maintenance worker is able to seal a hairline crack in a cast iron U-bend located within a cramped roof space above a corridor in under 15 minutes using a SylWrap Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit.

Case Study Overview

Site Hospital
Location United Kingdom
Pipe Type Cast iron waste pipe
Repair Type Leak repair
Products CrackSeal Sealant, SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage

Pipe Defect

Damp patches were noticed in ceiling tiles above a busy corridor in the hospital. A maintenance worker climbed a ladder, removed the tiles and accessed the roof space to investigate.

They were confronted by a complex network of cast iron pipework. One waste pipe came down through the ceiling, into a U-bend followed by a 90 degree elbow, before connecting with two other pipes via a Y-joint.

The worker found a hairline crack across the U-bend, located directly above the Y-joint. Wastewater was seeping through, corroding the three pipes which met at the Y-joint and dripping further down to damage and discolour the ceiling tiles.

To replace the cracked U-bend, every pipe connected to it – including the Y-joint – needed removal to gain access. Unable to afford taking the entire system out of operation, the cash-strapped NHS trust responsible for the hospital researched alternatives.

SylWrap Solution

The maintenance team were led to the SylWrap Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit, which is already used by several NHS trusts for making fast, straightforward and cost-effective repairs to leaking cast pipework on hospital estates.

From the kit, CrackSeal Pipe Sealant was extruded directly into the crack using a standard sealant gun. As a moisture-curing sealant, CrackSeal hardened almost instantly. Within 10 minutes, it had formed a skin to leave the pipe fully sealed.

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage was then applied for reinforcement. The resin in SylWrap HD was activated with water and the bandage wrapped and smoothed around the U-bend.

Despite the difficult geometry, the worker was able to cocoon the entire repair area with SylWrap HD. Once set, it provided a rock-hard sleeve capable of containing wastewater should the weakened U-bend become breached in future.

Outcome

Thanks to the lightweight, easy-to-apply products within the Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit, the single maintenance worker was able to seal the cast iron U-bend from the top of the ladder in under 15 minutes.

There was minimal disruption to the hospital whilst the repair took place, other than the corridor being out of use with the maintenance worker up the ladder – a far cry from dismantling and replacing the system.

Follow Up

The SylWrap Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit contains enough products to seal multiple cracks and holes in different types of pipework.

With a kit now kept on site, the hospital have CrackSeal, Superfast Steel Epoxy Putty, SplitFill Epoxy Adhesive and SylWrap HD Bandages ready and available when future leaks occur.

Products Used

CrackSeal Sealant
Specialist sealant which hardens instantly inside cracks and splits in cast iron pipes

SylWrap HD Bandage
Water-activated wrap reinforces repairs by forming a rock hard protective outer sleeve

Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit
Kit with enough products to repair multiple cast iron and plastic drain, waste and soil pipes

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