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cleverdick · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 43

Have just found to my horror that I have a small water leak from a pipe buried in a concrete floor. My guess is it's the hot feed from the airing cupboard to the bathroom. Luckily it's in the spare bedroom and only affecting a 10 foot span. The floor is finished in 'vinyl-type' tiles which are original from the late '50s when the bungalow was built. Having removed the carpet tiles, the leak seems to have subsided completely and dried up - for now at least. I called the insurance company, and a contractor eventually turned up. He said that "there was nothing he could do", as the floor tiles "might contain asbestos" (bearing in mind that they'd likely be damp and come up easily), and that "if they did contain asbestos, then the room would have to be sealed and a polythene tunnel run through the house with a decontamination tent etc. etc." So basically, they're saying that they want to turn my house into something from the movie 'ET' just for a few vinyl floor tiles. (BTW, I removed all such tiles from the kitchen floor myself some years ago with no trouble at all. They came up easily.) I really think somebody's lost their sense of perspective here, or could it be that money's no object if the insurance company are paying? I'm inclined to run the pipe elsewhere if the problem persists, as we're moving soon so to hell with what it looks like. But ultimately somthing will have to be done. Comments/suggestions? Are they taking the p**s?

thescruff · Moderator Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 4605 Location: Bath

Yep there taking the mike.

Was working at my local school and the tiles had to be lifted and placed in a sealed bag clearly marked contains asbestos.

There is very little asbestos in the tiles, and provided you use protective clothing and breathing mask then its fine.

Some community depts will take the bags from you but do ask first.

Have a chat with you local building control officer.

As for the leak just run a new pipe, I don't agree with all this hiding stuff in walls anyway.