Case Study:Emergency Leak Investigation and Essential Pipework Maintenance

Spectrum was called to investigate and resolve an unknown leak at a residential building in the Marylebone district of Central London.

With time against us, discover how we located and solved the issue via rope access while utilising our specialist leak investigation and pipework maintenance services. 

The Logistics:

After taking the call for an emergency leak investigation, our team had to respond quickly to the requirements and ensure further damage would not occur internally and externally because of the leak. Despite the leak causing issues inside the property, no one could identify the source.

During our pre-site assessment, we quickly established the following problems and subsequent requirements for logistical purposes: 

• Uncertainty about the cause of the leak occurring somewhere at the back of the property.
• Access to the back of the property had restricted access, unsuitable for a machine hire or scaffolding.
• No permanent anchor points were available on the building.

Our pre-site visit revealed rope access provided the ideal solution for finding the cause of the leak and resolving the issues. Rope access for leak inspection also kept costs low with minimal disturbance at our client's convenience.

The Project:

With no permanent anchor points available on the residential building, we began the project by establishing a safe system of work. Through a portable deadweight anchor, we could install protective rigging before starting the leak investigation to provide us with abseiling advantages.

Our team of rope access technicians then began abseiling the building to search forthe cause of the leak. After finding multiple possibilities, the team identified an area of failed pipework.

The team recorded this issue, plus brick repointing defects as evidence and concluded the thorough investigation.

Due to the urgent nature of the leak, our team performed an immediate temporary repair to stop the leak from causing any more damage or disturbance to our client.

Alongside the thorough investigation, the temporary fix allowed us and our client to process the report and decide what permanent repairs were suitable. Accounting for the other defects in the leak investigation, our team:

• Replaced two rainwater gutter elbow joints and the adapter with new pipework.
• Raked out and removed the defective mortar and re-point.
• Removed and replaced the old mortar with a matching mortar.
• Ensured a clear flow of rainwater would proceed with no blockages of the downpipe.
• Redecorated all external pipework with corrosion-resistant paint to protect and prolong the pipework condition in the future.

The Site:

The site at Wyndham Place in the Marylebone area of Central London is a tall and traditional residential brick building on a residential street with attached houses nearby. Due to the nature of the 

properties, we had limited access out the back where the leak was reported.

Investing in scaffolding would have caused inconvenience to the client and their neighbours. While hiring an elevated work platform (cherry picker) was unsuitable due to the restricted access to the rear of the property.

Therefore, rope access was the ideal means of access, offering greater mobility and causing minimal disturbance to the surrounding residents.

Despite the challenging conditions of the site, our vast expertise gained while working on similar emergency leaks in London enabled us to work quickly and efficiently.

Challenges:

The challenges we initially discovered were the restricted access at the rear of the property and the fact there were no permanent anchor points for abseiling.

However, our team worked quickly to establish portable deadweight anchors and anchor points to set up a safe system of work for protective rigging.

The next challenge was locating the leak on what was a large and old property. Despite finding the major failed pipework as the main cause, we stayed vigilant to locate any other defects and potential leak causes. 

After temporarily fixing the pipework, we successfully replaced the failed pipework and ensured a clear flow of water flowed without leakage within days.

When investigating the pipework, we noticed severe corrosion. To solve this issue and avoid any unnecessary leaks in the future, we covered the entire pipework for the property with corrosion-resistant paint.

The Result:

The emergency leak and pipework maintenance project took just four days to complete. Within this time, we located and fixed the leak (temporarily) as the priority before performing the permanent pipework replacements, repairs and finishing touches.

Our extensive range of services included:

1. Establishing portable anchorage for safe rigging and rope access.
2. Locating the source and cause of the leak.
3. Finding additional defects in the piping and mortar.
4. Replacing two rainwater gutter elbow joints and the adapter with new pipework.
5. Removing and replacing the old mortar.
6. Making sure there was a clear flow of water through the downpipe.
7. Painting the entire external piping with corrosion-resistant paint.

Overall, the client was relieved that we solved the leak quickly and took extra precautions to minimise the likelihood of any potential issues arising in the future.
 
Thanks to our expert rope access technicians, we caused minimal disturbance and helped our client save over £6,000 (otherwise spent on scaffolding). 
 
To find out more about our leak inspection services for your property,  get in touch today.