How to fix aircon pipe infiltration in cement / wall ? Neighbour wall is wet !

[thailandbeachisland]

hello,

 

I'm having a problem and looking for the best solution.

Neighbour complains that his wall is wet and it seems to be because my aircon pipe is leaking on the cement, do you think that it's true ?

 

even if it's not the cause of the problem, should I fix this and connect the aircon pipe to the big balcony pipe ? how would you do ?

 

thank you so much for your help and ideas !

 

 

[JAFO]

Honestly, would need to see a much broader picture to understand the issue.  Looks normal to me, all AC's have drain down spouts. 

[johng]

Yes it could be possible that the aircon water is the problem as concrete is porous so can soak up water and

"wick' or transfer it to some  places you wouldn't think  where possible.

So firstly extend the blue PVC pipe fully into the drain pipe  so that the surrounding concrete is not constantly wet, it will maybe take a while, days  for the  concrete to dry out so ask your neighbour if the problem is better after about a week.

If not then its some other leak  those PVC pipes buried in the floors and walls !!!  what a nightmare.

[Crossy]

Yeah, it definitely needs sorting, shouldn't be a massive job to chip out back to the pipe then add a suitable extension.

 

Whether that's actually the source of the damp, who knows, but fixing it eliminates one of the potential sources.

[KC 71]

Had the same problem in Spain.Pretty much explained as above.Dont leave it too long though.We had to put it onto Insurance as both us and the neighbours weren't there at the time.

[johng]

Here is an example of what can happen  the person in the apartment above had no idea what

was happening until someone came to look at buying the unit below.

 

the water damage also spread down to the ground floor 3 floors down.

Edited November 21, 2020 by johng

[thailandbeachisland]

Thank you, I will replace the aircon pipe but I would also like to extend the big balcony pipe, seems possible ?

the big pipe is too short and does not reach the top of the balcony drain hole

or anything else that I could do to make the cement (in the hole) waterproof ? because even if aircon water drains to the big piple, rain and any water on balcony will see leaves by this drain and wet the cement ?

I understand that I should wait that it dries, but then what could I do to make the wet part on my photo, waterproof ? (I am not sure to be able to extend the blue pipe ?

thanks again.

[johng]

23 minutes ago, thailandbeachisland said:

anything else that I could do to make the cement (in the hole) waterproof ?

You could use some epoxy to make the hole waterproof  then put a drain cover over the hole to help stop the leaves blocking it up, normally the balcony floor is tiled and sloped towards the drain  to deal with water on the balcony

extending the blue pipe should be quite simple  just a blue PVC union,short bit of appropriate diameter PVC pipe 90 degree elbow sold at all the hardware stores  you will probably have to  remove some of the concrete surrounding the existing pipe to make the connection.

[ChouDoufu]

16 minutes ago, johng said:

You could use some epoxy to make the hole waterproof  then put a drain cover over the hole to help stop the leaves blocking it up, normally the balcony floor is tiled and sloped towards the drain  to deal with water on the balcony

extending the blue pipe should be quite simple  just a blue PVC union,short bit of appropriate diameter PVC pipe 90 degree elbow sold at all the hardware stores  you will probably have to  remove some of the concrete surrounding the existing pipe to make the connection.

 

if possible, maybe make it a T-fitting with a screw-on cap so he can clean out the 90-degree bend when it inevitably gets blocked by a glob of green gunk, filling the drain pipe and resulting in water dripping out of the inside unit.

[uncleP]

You can chip the existing cement back 50-100mm get fresh cement and add waterproofing to the cement and paint it on the existing cement. I sealed my balcony this way. There are many products to do this.

[thailandbeachisland]

5 hours ago, johng said:

You could use some epoxy to make the hole waterproof  then put a drain cover over the hole to help stop the leaves blocking it up, normally the balcony floor is tiled and sloped towards the drain  to deal with water on the balcony

extending the blue pipe should be quite simple  just a blue PVC union,short bit of appropriate diameter PVC pipe 90 degree elbow sold at all the hardware stores  you will probably have to  remove some of the concrete surrounding the existing pipe to make the connection.

 

hello, do you know where to buy an epoxy kit in thailand ? i only see the small epoxy glue at shops around.

 

[johng]

You can get epoxy for "fixing rebar into concrete" at all the large hardware stores and many of the small mom and pop hardware stores

i've used this epoxy for almost eveything except fixing rebar into concrete.

[The Theory]

"i've used this epoxy for almost eveything except fixing rebar into concrete." 

 

yee, right. Especially works great with wet concrete.
????????

[The Theory]

Need more photos and sizes. Thickness of concrete from floor to small pipe.

[Paul DS]

Before any of this you should check the large pipe is not blocked, pour a large amount of water down the pipe and see if it drains easily. If it is parly blocked  I have used draino powder with success, if not then it needs clearing professionally.  Good luck.

[johng]

On 11/22/2020 at 5:58 PM, The Theory said:

yee, right. Especially works great with wet concrete.

Yes it works well on wet concrete    just remove as much dust/particles , dirt and water as possible before applying the very sticky goop... warning it goes everywhere   but can be quite easily removed  with  a rag and lots of washing up liquid before it sets.

 

 

 

[bodga]

Looks  like "yet another" quality install, did they forget the glue, thats  common

Edited November 24, 2020 by bodga

[johng]

They "forgot"  to  put anything but sand  into the bored hole in the concrete floor  where the arrow is pointing

that hole drained directly into the next floor down apartments bathroom !!

 

There was also a hole in the blue PVC pipe  buried in the wall but a bit of aluminium foil tape and more epoxy fixed that too ????

[thailandbeachisland]

On 11/24/2020 at 11:46 AM, johng said:

Yes it works well on wet concrete    just remove as much dust/particles , dirt and water as possible before applying the very sticky goop... warning it goes everywhere   but can be quite easily removed  with  a rag and lots of washing up liquid before it sets.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you !

so epoxy is cheap and available anywhere ?

I will put some on the cement all around the hole as a way to extend the large blue pipe and have all water from balcony going through the epoxy / blue pipe.

 

 

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

21 hours ago, thailandbeachisland said:

so epoxy is cheap and available anywhere ?

Epoxy is not cheap but is available everywhere.