Heater off/Floor Warm
Does anyone know if this is normal? Our heater is off but the floor remains warm some areas where the pipes run through. If not, what needs to be done?
Thanks,
Brian
You could have a leak of the warm water from a pipe that goes to the kitchen or bathroom. One way to check for this is to look at your water meter on the side of the house or in the street, and to see if the meter is moving. Of course, make sure that the sprinklers, dishwasher or washer are not on, and that no one else in the house is using any water. If the meter is slowly running, you might have a leak.
Other clues suggestive for a leak are the soft sound of running water, and/or a shorter time before the water in the shower turns warm.
We have had two leaks of the warm water pipes in our floor in the past 8 years. Both times I could hear the water run, see the water meter move, and we had almost no waiting time before the water turned warm in the shower.
Both times a plumber was able to fix it. The first time he located the position of the leak, drilled a hole in the concrete floor and fixed it. The second time he was not sure where the leak was exactly, and he made a "bypass" in the wall and our bathroom vanity.
Good luck!
We have a leak in our bedroom floor just under the concrete along the wall separating it from the bathroom. Does not appear to be related to the radiant heat and our shower pressure is low. In the past I have used Anderson Radiant Heat to repair a similar leak. They are not available to repair this immediately. Does anyone have any other suggestions of reliable plumbers who have done such repairs on their Eichlers in the past?
you should be able to isolate the heat/potable pretty easily to determine which is which. a small leak should not effect the shower pressure too much, though -- odd... and a big leak (would cause a host of other problems). the previously mentioned radiant-repair company is the best you can hope for -- perhaps you wait for them (and turn the water on/off as needed in the garage... not as much of a pain as it sounds unless you work at home). otherwise, you might think about protecting the line -- manifold to manifold -- with e-pipe. links available on the blog linked below. before we isolated one of our many leaks, we had a plumber put ball-valves on each of the potable runs. made sleuthing much easier and gave us the ability to shut off a leg when/if it leaked... sometimes on and off when we needed water before a fix was made (better than turning off the entire house in the garage).
