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Heating, Anderlecht
Suspected heating leak: the water was coming in through a window frame
Flat
Soaked ceiling
Pressure test
Thermal imaging
RESULT
Heating ruled out without breaking anything: the water was coming in through a window frame.
Location
Anderlecht
Building type
Flat under renovation
Problem
Soaked ceiling, suspected heating leak
Methods
Pressure tests, smoke test, thermal imaging
Conclusion
Source confirmed
The problem
In a flat under renovation, the ceiling of the open-plan kitchen on the 1st floor was soaked: a crack across much of the ceiling, sagging and traces of mould. The owner and the contractor suspected a leak on the heating circuit of the 2nd floor, on a 26 mm multilayer pipe.
Our intervention
1. Moisture readings on the 1st-floor ceiling: 80 on the ceiling and 88 in the corner, very heavy wetting.
2. Pressure tests of the plumbing circuit and then the 2nd-floor heating circuit: no pressure loss.
3. Smoke test on the waste pipes: no smoke escaping.
4. Thermal imaging with the heating turned up to maximum: no radiator or pipe involved, but cold areas in the corners of the front wall.
5. Hot water spray test around an external window frame on the 2nd floor: the water went straight inside, at the corner of the frame and the floor. Thermal imaging confirmed the path.
The result: no heating leak, a window frame to blame
The heating was not to blame. The source is confirmed: a sealing defect around an external window frame on the 2nd floor.
Opening floors and partitions to follow the heating circuit would have been expensive for nothing. The pressure tests ruled out the pipes, without breaking anything.
Our recommendations
• Redo the perimeter seal of the two external window frames on the 2nd floor.
• After the repair, check the seal and monitor the drying of the ceiling and walls.
• Take a new moisture reading once dry.
• For sealing external joinery, your joiner can rely on the guidance published by Buildwise.
