Thermal imaging camera helps to check for water leaks

The discovery of a leaking central heating pipe in a solid floor is not good news for a home owner. It is costly and time-consuming to trace, then invasive, messy and highly disruptive to repair. The route of the pipework can often be difficult to predict and rarely can the plumber be certain of the full extent of the problem.

This was the situation facing builder Mick Day when he was called to fit a slate floor in a renovated kitchen. Having removed two layers of earlier floor covering he found a water leak in the corner of the concrete floor. The leak was clearly coming from a pipe feeding a radiator that had been removed.

Working in tandem with plumber Garth Bendall, Mick chiselled out the floor, exposing the suspect pipe and, at a distance of about 30cm from the skirting, revealing a leak - which Garth duly repaired. However, within minutes a second and worse leak became evident.

Garth explains: "Water started spurting up from a crack in the floor and we thought we had a serious problem on our hands." Further investigation revealed a 20cm split in the pipe close to the kitchen door, so a second section was replaced.

Having discovered two leaks, it posed the question, were there more? With a fixed laminate floor in the hall adjoining the kitchen, the prospect of more leaks was daunting. Fortunately for Mick, however, he was able to take advantage of thermal imaging to perform the necessary investigation.

Using a Flir Systems ThermaCAM, Mick and Garth traced the route of the pipework under the Amtico floor. Mick says: "In most cases we have some idea of where the pipes go but, by and large, we are working blind. This gave us important second sight as clearly I did not want to start tiling the kitchen while the prospect of further problems remained."

The ThermaCAM clearly showed the central heating pipes - even the flow and return systems. Mick concludes: "The technology gave us a very good indication of the integrity of the heating pipes. It certainly provided sufficient information to give the customer peace of mind and I was also able to provide visual proof of what we found."

For more information about Flir thermal imaging cameras, go to www.flir.com/thg.