Paronoid or Dodge a Bullet

[steveoelliott]

So, whilst dealing with a couple of loose floorboards, old school tongue and grove type, I lifted one to find this joint which looks to be corroded / leaked at some stage in it's life. It's probably ~15 years old given that was when the previous owners renovated. I've asked my plumber to come take a look and redo that joint. It's on the CH system. Whilst it's not leaking now, i'd rather deal with it before getting the carpet laid and room back together.

[steveoelliott]

Also whilst I am at it, to replace a cracked 18mm T&G board, what should I use? I have 18mm MDF but apparently this isn't suitable.

[ProDave]

The pipes are probably okay, lazy plumber did not wipe flux off after soldering and it is corrosive.

[saveasteading]

51 minutes ago, steveoelliott said:

cracked 18mm T&G board,

Can you glue it and cramp it tight? then replace?. the tongue will be gone presumably, but it will match.

[Nickfromwales]

4 hours ago, steveoelliott said:

So, whilst dealing with a couple of loose floorboards, old school tongue and grove type, I lifted one to find this joint which looks to be corroded / leaked at some stage in it's life. It's probably ~15 years old given that was when the previous owners renovated. I've asked my plumber to come take a look and redo that joint. It's on the CH system. Whilst it's not leaking now, i'd rather deal with it before getting the carpet laid and room back together.

 

 

Is the plumbing all sealed and pressurised, eg no gravity systems present?

 

That joint looks like it has weeped and just sealed itself with the crud, as both joints should look similar, they don't.

 

Only fear would be if they were gravity (low pressure) atm and then you convert to a pressurised system downstream and then this becomes a problem.

[steveoelliott]

 

6 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

 

 

Is the plumbing all sealed and pressurised, eg no gravity systems present?

 

That joint looks like it has weeped and just sealed itself with the crud, as both joints should look similar, they don't.

 

Only fear would be if they were gravity (low pressure) atm and then you convert to a pressurised system downstream and then this becomes a problem.

It’s on a central heating system with pump. Pressurised system. I’ve asked my plumber to come and redo that join. Might be being paranoid but I can’t ignore it lol.

[TerryE]

As @ProDave says they are probably OK, but I personally would (i) check immediately under the joins for any evidence of dripping / water damage, and if so bite the bullet and replace them. (ii) don't disturb them unless you are going to fix them properly.  The last time I got burnt by a joint this bad was about 40 years ago (I am not a professional plumber but only have done the plumbing on my own houses). In this case I left it but the joint then failed after I replaced the CH pump.  I couldn't resolder because it was at a low point and I couldn't drain it down. I ended up cutting out a section and managed to put in a small insert with two new end-feeds.  When I got the failed bit out and looked I found that the plumber had never actually soldered one side: the flux and gunk were all that was sealing the joint!

 

Nick is the expert on this. He is my Sensei. 👍

[Nickfromwales]

34 minutes ago, steveoelliott said:

 

It’s on a central heating system with pump. Pressurised system. I’ve asked my plumber to come and redo that join. Might be being paranoid but I can’t ignore it lol.

Amen.

[steveoelliott]

@ProDave @Nickfromwales @TerryE

 

My plumber came around today and was all geared up to swap the join but upon looking at it up close, was convinced this was only superficial corrosion caused by the plumber who installed this system not cleaning the flux off this join. He went as far to clean it up and it looks a lot better. Some other joins I showed him were also green around the joints (not as bad as this one) and he said he sees it all the time. He said it wouldn't worry him.

 

Given how bad it looked before, it's clear that this corrosion hasn't seemingly eaten into the pipe. I was expecting it to all look very pitted / rotten etc. I was nervous when he was cleaning it, I must admit.