Damp hardwood floor question/advice?

I'm working on a house for resale. After removing the entryway carpet I found hardwood floors in pretty good skape. However, the are two strips where the seams and butt joint are damp to the touch and the only water source close by is a hot water baseboard heating register. But the copper pipe from the heater goes down under the floor. I can only assume that there might be a pin hole leak in the copper that when under pressure releases some water.

Problem is... the ceiling below is completely finished in so there is no access to the heating pipes. In fact I can't even be sure this is the cause but its my assumption.

I'm writing for suggestions as to what the best method for repair would be?

I'm thinking if I cut one end of the wook strips which are in a hall closet I might be able to pull up the two wood stips. But, there's got to be a subfloor unther the flooring stips. I supposed I could cut out a section of that to see if I can see the pipes, etc., etc., etc. You get the picture b now.

Any suggestions as to how I could approach this problem? Thanks

Reply to
r.mariotti
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Unless there is a waterproof barrier between the underneath surface of the possibly leaking pipe and the finished ceiling of the room below, wouldn't you assume that a leak from the pipe would show itself somewhere on the finished ceiling, even if the pin hole was facing upward and capillary attraction of the subfloor captured the majority of the leak? Also, what is the likelihood that the subfloor is sitting directly on the pipe? I would guess low.

Therefore, I'd be skeptical that there was a pinhole leak in the pipe directly under the hardwood locagtion that is damp. More likely there is a leak in the baseboard heating register or in one of the vertical copper pipes that penetrate the hardwood floor to service that baseboard heater and the water is running almost but not quite horizontally to the damp spot. Enclosed leaks are notorious for not showing themselves directly below (much less above) their actual location. Good luck!

Reply to
Peter

Thank you for the info, Peter. After looking at it today I believe I came to the same conclusion: the water must be coming from the baseboard register connection, perhaps an elbow which has a small leak. I'll have to track it down much more closely.

Thanks for the advice.

Reply to
r.mariotti

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