Home improvements: Can I trust a double-glazing salesman? - Telegraph

Home improvements: Can I trust a double-glazing salesman? - Telegraph

A COMBINATION OF PROBLEMS

Q We have a pressurised gas central heating system. The boiler is a Vaillant, 17 years old but in good condition and serviced regularly. However, the heating pipes are probably 40-plus years old and the ground floor of our house has concrete floors.

Over the past few months we have been experiencing a drop in pressure and have to top up the system regularly, up to three to four times a day. This was required more often when the weather was very cold, up to every two hours during the December cold spell.

We have been told the concrete has probably corroded the copper pipes, resulting in a leak. Our heating engineer recommends digging up and replacing the downstairs heating pipes room by room – a fairly horrific proposition, especially as he is not sure where the pipes are laid.

We were wondering if there is an easy way of finding the leaky pipe without going from room to room digging up and replacing the pipes, or possibly another solution altogether? We have discussed bringing the pipework down from upstairs, but this is not an easy or aesthetic solution either. BS, by email