Right to start off I've gone through I pipe on a water type UHF system on the first floor of a doctors, we were using 6mm ply and 18 mm staples and 20 mm nails,the ply were fixed to a 2 mm skim of existing screed. we were told that the pipes were under a 25 mm chipboard but it turns out that the chipboard were some type of white board(not made of wood), from the plan were were looking at of the UHF system the pipes should be 17mm and the screed they were set into should be 45 mm minimum then the boarding on top, is there any regs on the minimum depth the pipes should be set? Also the builder went bust through the build of the doctors so if he's to blame it's not going back to him, also is it a easy fix?
The pipe can be easily fixed if you know where abouts you've hit it but obviously you need to get to it. Chipboard comes in 18 or 22mm not 25 I believe not sure what these white boards are but if there same as chipboard widths you shouldn't have penetrated them unless you've countersunk them a bit to much ? Builder going bust isn't a good indicator of quality of workmanship so pipies could be right at the top of the screed ? Last UFH I did the pipes where under 50mm of fibre reinforced screed & I screed it again.
On the the sheet it looks like the pipes should have been set in a 45mm of screed, the subfloor is concrete then the UHF pipes on top of that, the leak were detected in the light fitting on the ground floor, it looks like he must have skimmed over the pipes and stuck the white boarding over the top.
regs are very sketchy. However they should not notch the board out and depending on joist width will dictate what thickness of board should be over the top as its structural. With the staples / nails you was using you should not of hit a pipe so this would be incorrect install of underfloor heating.
Leak were detected just after I finished the job, forbo marmoleum were fitted! It's going to need to be ripped up! Nightmare
Sounds like s yeehaa job to me ? Those pipes should be totally encapsulated not skimed over but if there's no one to take responsibility except you I think you need some exact speck info from the UFH manufacturers so you can charge for it IMO
For me to have hit a pipe the boarding must be only 10 mm depth, does anyone know if I claim on my public liability will they pay for the repair and new floor covering?
Surely common sense says that as it is a newly installed UFH system then the person installing it incorrectly is to blame, that the builder has gone bust is not your problem seems like a very grey area to me, if it was an old system then it would be classed as accidental damage but as its new then surely its negligence on the builders behalf, for which he should carry the can even if he has gone bust. Id be getting legal advice over the situation as im imagining its looking like costing you a pretty penny even though you have done nothing wrong, its gonna look like you are trying to wriggle out of it to the dentist but its not your fault.
There's a building surveyor who did snagging on the doctors after the main builder went bust, he's going out Monday to have a look, he says depending on what system it is the leak could be isolated and fixed rather easily, don't know how but hope he's right.
Just my opinion but whether is a easy fix or not, stand your ground on this. If you come good for the easy fix you could make yourself look like your accepting responsibility. So then something else happens in a fortnightly time, who they gonna call?? I know it sounds harsh towards the customer but you've got to think about yourself first.
