Leaking pipe in ceiling

[Paulus]

I'm back with another question.

I'm going to repair a leaking 10mm heating pipe tomorrow. Water has rotted the plasterboard ceiling so will be accessing the pipe through the ceiling. It's a big system in a 5 bed house so don't really want to drain the system.

I can't decide whether to bung the feed and expansion pipes before cutting into the leaking pipe with a bucket underneath or freeze. I would appreciate any advice from anyone who has dealt with a similar challenge.

 

[Mike Jackson]

If it's leaking it won't freeze unless you can temporarily stop the leak.

 

[Paulus]

It is only a tiny weep. Apparently there was a wet spot on the ceiling last winter which the customer painted over and it has taken until now to come through again. As it's only 10mm pipe I reckon it may freeze ok.

 

[Destroyer2813]

What flooring is underneath the ceiling is be tempted to bung it and do it live depends on access the potential to do more damage to carpets etc though, how many pairs of hands u gonna have ?

 

[Paulus]

The floor is carpeted and it's just me, though I do have a full pair of hands.

 

[Destroyer2813]

Black water will make a mess fast, what's your gut feeling on how to do it? Is be tempted to do it live with a extra thumb to go over the ends of the pipe

 

[Paulus]

I was going to use bungs, turn off upstairs rads, get some sort of container under where I cut the pipe and have a couple of stop-ends to hand just in case.

Obviously I would cover the carpet with sheets and probably polythene underneath.

Do I feel lucky or am I tempting fate?

Any better ideas anyone?

 

[Paulus]

Thanks to both of you for your advice. After removing about a square foot of ceiling it was obvious that there were no pipes there at all, but there were two rsj's supporting a cavity wall above. To cut a long story short it turned out to be a leaky roof and a job for a builder. The moral of the story is not to jump to obvious conclusions.

 

[Destroyer2813]

Opps, least they found the source of their problems