It doesn’t matter how clever you think you are, or how much building experience you have, you need specialist kit to help you get fast and correct diagnosis when it comes to leaks. This property had been recently renovated and waterproofed by a developer. The waterproofing should have been a Type C system really rather than a Type A, and had failed because damp issues were visible. On opening up the building we noted the works were not carried out by an averagely competent specialist, and it appeared that there were issues with drainage etc. On checking with our drain cameras we noted the connections were leaking, when the new pipe met the old, and there was a leaking old galvanised water pipe. These pipes were replaced with new, as in the longterm we needed to be sure this property would be free from issues like this again.
As you can imagine when there has been an escape of water, or a flood at your property it can be very upsetting for the whole family. Sometimes people have forgot to pay the insurance premium, or for some reason the insurance won’t pay out. Sometimes the insurers will just pay flat rate for drying equipment to a specialist drying company, which means they will put the cheapest kit into dry the property, which i’ve known to take months.
Where does Complete Preservations service differ?
Well we use the Corroventa ESX range which is well known to be the leading Company when it comes to drying equipment. The days of huge refrigerant dehumidifiers, and air blowers trying to evaporate and capture moisture for weeks on end are over. The system we use is a tented desiccant system, which basically means we tent the area off with plastic sheeting as tight to the floor or wall as possible to reduce the actual area in size. So instead of drying the whole room, were just drying the wall, or floor that is wet. The system we use also comes with real time data loggers where we can control the dehumidifiers remotely from our office etc, or even our mobile phone. The insurance company can also be a guest on the system so they can see how the area in question is drying down, which is a completely transparent service. The below picture shows the Corroventa desiccant with a 50mm pipe blowing warm dry air into the plastic sheeting covering the kitchen floor where a leak occurred because of a defective cold feed.
The below pictures shows the plastic sheeting that is essentially reducing the size of the area thats being dried. This is the tenting off, over the concrete floor.
We normally dry buildings down on a fixed price. This means we want to get it dry as fast as we can to get you back into your property ASAP.
Have you been told you need to move out of the property whilst the drying is being carried out? Can you not put up with the constant noise of the fans and dehumidifiers? With our systems in place you can still live in the property most of the time. Even if the floor needs to be dried we can lay ply floor boards over the floor, and as long as there is a small gap we can use this to dry your floor. Perhaps this doesn’t seem ideal, but many people choose this over moving into a hotel or temporary accommodation. Our drying equipment is very quiet, we also have quiet modes that slow the desiccant down, and we can even set it be quiet at certain times like night time when you need some sleep.
If you need help with getting your house dried down fast give us a shout.
Have you got a damp problem that you can’t figure out? I find many people don’t even consider a leaking pipe buried within a solid floor. Most people are under the assumption that the alleged damp is just simply rising damp. I have also found that home owners have had a number of free surveys and are convinced they actually need a new chemical damp proof course. It’s not until naive people have spent several thousands of pounds on damp proofing that they they contact us to help them out, as they still have a problem.
Locating Water Leaks using advanced electroacoustic ground mics
When a pressurised water pipe leaks the water flows out which causes the pipe and surrounding material (mud, concrete tarmac) to vibrate. This sound, or vibration, is transmitted along the pipe (structure borne water leak noise) and through the surrounding material (ground borne water leak noise).
With the Aquaphon A200 ground mic set listening for these water leak noises is now easier than ever before.
If you have a possible leak and need some help give us a shout…..
