Water leak :( Nibbled water tank?

[Neil]

Hi,

I went to bed last night, to the sound of dripping and found out it was from just alongside my loft hatch - set out a drip-catcher and went to bed. This afternoon I took a closer look. It seems that the wet patch (or the only one I can see) is on one bottom corner, a corner where the loft hatch might rub on the tank and where it is definitely dripping from.

I've taken some pictures:

6,7 are the best of what seems to be the 'hole'.

Any idea whether this looks rodent-caused? and perhaps more importantly whether the tank should be replaced in a situation like this, or whether I could just get some gungy stuff to fill the hole? (maybe even while full of water?)

Friends/family are shouting at me to get a plumber out, and while I can't see the rest of the loft very well, this seems to be the only noticeable problem.

Thoughts?

[keith_765]

Defiantly the work of a rodent

[shaun]

Patch it up, lay some poison (possibly rat - difficult to appreciate the size of the gnawing marks), when the poison is being no longer taken consider replacing the tank. Don't replace it until you've eradicated the pest.

Leave poison up there permanently.

[Neil]

[...]

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This seems sensible, since that's two votes for rodent so far...

However are there any ideas for patching, especially ones that don't involve draining the (I think, heating 'header'?) tank? Someone I know has just suggested putting a plastic bag inside to stop the water getting out (held in place by water pressure, in theory) and then patchingn the corner with fibreglass sheeting as used for cars - which admittedly I've never used.

Does that sound reasonable, or way OTT? ATM the problem is I can't really get up high enough to see in the tank, let alone get an arm in :(

[Alex]

do not even try to patch as it is unlikely to be successful,and if the rodent does come back and gnaws the hole bigger you are in real shit ,especially if he does it when you are out.

Get the tank replaced and by all means lay bait.You do not want the damage that can be caused by all that water this side xmas.

Your house insurance may cover the damage,but you will need to check your cover

[vortex2]

Well I have a cracked/ leaky loo cistern which I "repaired" years ago with a line of Silicone held in place by Duct tape. I never have replaced the cistern and it's still waterproof. You might try that and see if it works temporarily BUT the solution is to replace the tank or better still get rid of it by upgrading to a sealed system.

.........and of course kill the rodents.

If you could hear the dripping i'm surprised you could not hear the rodents. We had a similar problem years ago which was only properly solved by getting a cat.

David

[Phil L]

Rattus Norvegicus trying to get a drink, I assume it has a lid? only proper solution is to replace tank...and of course put down poison, which should be refreshed every day for a week, or until it stops being taken. After that you'll need to put poison down every six months to keep them away, I usually use the blue square wax blocks, they are cheaply available from agricultural suppliers

[Terry]

But don't get a cat like ours! We now have mice for the first time ever and have had to resort to good old fashioned traps (baited with some of the chocolate they got at - and it works!)

Problem is that Lucy brings the mice inside to play with them - and then loses them!

Terry

[Vortex]

Our cats were "rescue" cats 10 years ago so we don't know how old they are.

These days they've given up all forms of hunting and their territory has shrunk to the point that the end of our garden is completely "controlled" by at least 2 alien cats. No mice have been caught for several years (but fortunately none in the house/loft either).

In fact our cats spend almost all their time in "power saving mode", only arising to the telltale sound of ringpull cans being opened.

David

[Neil]

Hmm, well I was just going to patch in short term, to give me some time to figure out long-term changes/fixes. I think changing my CH isn't quite what I had in mind today ;) That, and I'm not sure another mega discussion on CH systems is a good idea :)

Going to dig in local Grocer type shop tomorrow morning, need to get this sorted ASAP! Already have one trap, which I've put up there with some lovely chocolate...

Well I haven't heard any up there, but this is above a bedroom... so once I'm asleep then I don't tend to notice such things ;)

My gf has cats though, but she's not moving in just yet...

[Pete C]

Hi,

Some underwater epoxy putty _may_ fix it, you'd have to find a way to press it against the tank while it sets.

And check the tank has a close fitting lid - in case ratty has fallen in!

It shouldn't be too hard to turn the water off and siphon the water out of the tank into a sink/bath/shower etc.

cheers, Pete.

[Dave Liquorice]

Definately rodent and probably rat but difficult to tell without anything of known size to scale the gnaw marks by, could be squirrel I guess as well. You've had a lucky escape, so far, in that it's slow leak and not a proper hole...

Replace, they are cheap and whilst you are at it fit a proper Byelaw 30 kit, or at the very least an insulating jacket and lid.

[Roger R]

The concensus here is for a rodent and that is probably the case, but I would have thought you would see some droppings around the area on top of the fibre fill.. Can't see any in the pictures. The size of the droppings and the teeth marks will tell the size of the culprit.

Many here have suggested poison, but consider that if taken the creature may crawl into some inacceesible cranny and die subsequently producing a very unpleasent and hard to elimnate smell. Better to find some way to get him out or someone to capture him alive to make sure he is out. NOT speaking from experience.

Roger R

[Terry]

Lucy, like most of our previous cats, is also a "rescue" cat, but a young cat, having been rather stupidly introduced into a family with very young children as a young kitten with obvious, disastrous, results!

She is, however, not averse to the idea of "power saving mode", particularly during the day, which, of course, means a very lively puss when her people are trying to rest!

[Clint Sharp]

In message , Alex writes

However, if he does patch it and the rodent returns, there's a good chance that a sudden catastrophic failure of the patch will drown the offending creature, so there is a bright side.

[Neil]

I might take another pic with a scale marker...

Insulating jacket against the extremes of hot and cold in a loft, one assumes? (this being a cold water tank afaict)

[Dave Liquorice]

Mice marks are two parallel channels about 1mm wide each. Rat each channel 2 to 3mm wide, don't know what squirel damage looks like.

Yes, the lid is probably the most important to stop moisture entering the roof space and condensing on cold areas.

[Dave Liquorice]

Agreed, but catching rats (a live or with a killing trap) isn't that easy, they are very wary of the new and learn quickly about the bad. Mice are much easier to live capture but remember that the release of vermin on anothers property is illegal. So handling and dispatch of live captured rats or mice can be a problem, even if the dispatch doesn't bother you the handling without getting an injury or three exists. Both rats and mice are very quick, have very sharp teeth/claws and don't obey Queensbury rules.

[Neil]

Neil wrote: [...]

One rodent down...chocolate does seem to work, even mint chocolate ;)

[The Natural Philosopher]

rats. squirrels are rats with tails.