Potential leak - anything I can do to diagnose?

Working_in_pyjamas

I’ll start by setting the scene... I have a small box room where the litter trays live (I have two cats). I noticed tonight a wet patch up against the skirting board under the radiator and my immediate thought was that one of them had an accident. They’ve never gone outside the tray before but there’s a first time for everything.

I went to clean up and on blotting with kitchen roll the liquid has no colour to it, I don’t have the best sense of smell but it smells of nothing, no hint of a wee smell.

If I have a leak I’ll obviously need a plumber but didn’t want to call one out if it turns out to be a pet accident! So was wondering if there’s any checks I can perform to work out if it’s a leak? Does the sort of area it’s in look logical to be a leak? 

Pic attached
it’s just the dark bit that can be seen on the carpet by the skirting board, the kitchen roll is only placed in front of it to highlight it, it’s not wet underneath the kitchen roll 

grumbler

Working_in_pyjamas said:

 Does the sort of area it’s in look logical to be a leak?

It doesn't to me.

Tigsteroonie

My first thought would be to put a piece of dry kitchen roll at the suspected spot, run the heating, and see whether you get any fresh drips.

Thenonameleague

Put something over that wet patch and see if its a leak.

Run your finger or a dry cloth along the bottom of the radiator to see if it is a leak.

Working_in_pyjamas

Thanks all, the radiator seems bone dry and the heating was last on this morning. I just turned it on for a few minutes and no drips - didn’t leave it on for long as it’s absolutely roasting in this room!

neilmcl

Leave a small tray or dish under the radiator there for a few days and see what happens. Personally my bet is one of your cats.

Working_in_pyjamas

neilmcl said:

Leave a small tray or dish under the radiator there for a few days and see what happens. Personally my bet is one of your cats.

Thanks, I’d actually rather have a leak than a weeing cat but at least I don’t have the embarrassment of calling a plumber out for a pet accident!

Weird that one of them would not use the tray but I’ll keep an eye on both the cats and the radiator 

FreeBear

If it is the radiator leaking, you'll probably find some blistering paint and spots of rust along the bottom seam - It looks like a pretty old radiator, so there might be some rusting (I have one more radiator to replace of that style).

Belenus

Water can travel some distance from the source of a leak.

What is on the other side of that wall behind the radiator?

Is there a potential source of water there?

Also, what is above that area? We had water pooling on the floor in a first floor bedroom that was coming from a leak in a sloping roof several feet above. The water was travelling down the cavity in the wall. The wall was unaffected and didn't show damp marks.

Paula_Smith

What sort of central heating do you have? If it is a pressurised system (combi boiler?) you "could" have a pinhole leak from a pipe under the floor, which "could" be pointing upwards and wetting the carpet through a gap between floorboards.

Apodemus

With the right sort of food colouring, you could probably do a leak test...on the cats!