A considerable issue with any construction works to an existing building, whether residential or commercial, is the pre-installed services that must not be affected. Underfloor heating is one service that cannot be seen or accounted for, and therefore any construction works being carried out involving drilling into a floor, run the high risk of compromising the piping network. As the majority of underfloor heating is installed in a random pattern and very rarely will a floor plan of this ever be made, it is all but impossible to guess how the piping has been laid out. GPR however, is highly effective at locating void space within a solid material such as a screed base. Whether the heating pipework is metalliferous or plastic, our GPR surveyors will be able to assess the subsurface data presented and ascertain where heating pipes have been laid down.
As every underfloor heating network will be unique as to the material of the pipe and how it has been laid out, initially a Vision GPR surveyor will spend some time isolating the signature displayed for the pipe in GPR data. They can then draw out the pattern of the heating network on the floor in either chalk or ink allowing for construction works to proceed with confidence in knowing where pipes are located. Alternatively, or additionally, GPR data collected can be saved and processed to produce a 2D CAD floor plan with the pipework presented. This would allow an architect in the planning stage of a project to design alterations sensitive to the location of pipework.
To find out more about the different types of GPR services, contact us: 01293 223435 or sales@vision.co.uk.
