I have a very strange issue... I live in a block of flats and the flat directly above is having an issue with heat rising up through the soil pipes, causing water damage to their flat and their mains drainage pipes are extremely hot to the point of venting steam. The general consensus from them is that it's an issue from my end, as neither me or the flat directly below me are having any issues, however at present the flushing mechanism of my toilet is not working (en suite) so I am using the other toilet I have in my flat. Does anyone have any idea what would cause this? Thanks in advance.
I don't understand how heat rising through a soil pipe can cause water damage in a flat above yours. Where is the water coming from? The only thing I can think of is that there is a large flow of hot water from one of the flats into the soil pipe - but this would have to be large enough to exceed the drainage capacity of the soil pipe (or the drain is blocked somewhere) so that the hot water builds up in the pipe and gets to the upstairs flat where it backs up into toilets and basins. Is that what is happening?
Hi Chris, thanks for your response. I don't know where the water is coming from, they haven't expanded much on that other than a conversation at the door and a note advising what I have put above in my original question. As far as I know, their toilet isn't being backed up at all, it is just extremely hot behind the toilet bowl. My theory is that they don't know the exact issue, other than what their landlord has advised upon a brief inspection - so all I know is that their is some serious heat being omitted and apparently water damage being caused. Naturally, I don't want to ask a plumber to come out if it is not an issue with my toilet, which I don't believe it is - and I cannot imagine my toilet being out of use would have any impact.
Are your heating bills normal? Where is your boiler in relation to your bathroom? Has your boiler been losing pressure? The heat must be coming from your boiler unless you live in the Icelandic town of Grindavik and haven’t been paying attention to the news.
My bills are normal, the boiler is around 11-12 feet to the right of my toilet (in another room of course), and the boiler has not been losing pressure.
In that case, it doesn’t look like the source of heated water causing the damage is your apartment. But, just to confirm, if yours is a combi boiler, does it run only when supplying the radiators or otherwise when a hot tap is on? If you switch off the heating with the taps off, does the boiler remain off?
Hi Ryan Bizarrely I have the exact same issue in a 2nd floor flat. My tenants en suite bathroom has red hot soil pipes at the back of the toilet. I have had a plumber look at it and there are no leaks. It appears heat is rising up the soil and vent pipe, up the branch pipe. The whole room is now dripping with condensation. The flat doesn't have a boiler. Water is heated via immersion heaters. I think the heat is coming from below. If anyone has any idea what might be causing this I would be grateful for assistance.
Hi Harry, the boiler in my flat is only for hot water. I’m not sure what type of boiler it is but my radiators are storage heaters, which I’ve never got on with so I don’t use them, but that’s another story!
If there is such bad condensation then there must be a leak into the room of hot water vapour, presumably coming from the hot soil pipe. As for what's causing the heat in the soil pipe - I'm afraid I've no clue - but it must be possible to trace the source of the heat by following it back down ther soil pipe. Somewhere there has to be a boiler or fire working hard to supply all this heat.
Hi Ryan. I found out the problem this afternoon. The electric hot water cylinder was going overheating in the top flat. The water was boiling over into the tundish which is connected to the soil pipe. Heat super hot water was running down the the pipe and hot vapour was running up the branch pipe below to the back of the toilet causing the problems. This has been running for about 2 to 3 weeks and costing the tenant about £200 per week
Ahh - so the heating wasn't rising through the soil pipe as first reported - it was falling. It's good that the cause has now been found. Strange that the upstairs tenant didn't hear any boiling noises from the overheated water though
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