Hydronic baseboard heating pipes froze and leaked water, costs?

Question

I am looking at a split level single family house foreclosure. Upon inspection the inspector notes that all Hydronic baseboard heaters have busted pipes. It appears that the water was off before the pipes busted but everywhere there was a heater there is wet flooring. This is especially true in the basement and near the water heater. I'm assuming they have been wet for a couple months since they weather warmed up. The inspector also noted that there is moisture in the walls detected by his tool. We didn't notice any visual signs of mold, and ceilings have no visual signs of water damage. The pipes appear to be copper from the ones we can see.

I guess my question is what could I expect here? How much should I be allocating for repairs?

I'm not sure what happens when water lines freeze, could there be multiple breaks, could there be breaks in the wall? Should a budget for a complete re-pipe?

How worried should I be about this problem?

I guess my question is what could I expect here?  How much should I be allocating for repairs?

I'm not sure what happens when water lines freeze, could there be multiple breaks, could there be breaks in the wall?  Should a budget for a complete re-pipe?

How worried should I be about this problem?

Pat L. · Answer

Hydronics...I'm an expert on it now. In fact I've upgraded 90% of the dinosaur rads & piping with Pex in one of our multi unit buildings. But as mentioned if its buried in the floors or walls you need to find a bypass, I built our baseboard floor runs. Mine leaked because of age & poor copper soldering joints & then I found a lot of old buried shutoff valves leaking.

Then don't forget to add the required air vent valves, (if you can find them) . Most get corroded & fail giving you the infamous air locks that cause havoc to effective heating, then you have the occasionally failing $118 solenoids & that expansion tank replacement every 3-4 years. Boiler maintenance is another must learn fast experience that will test your patience or just add a lot of coin to your HVAC guys pocket.

If I could, I'd replace the hydronic system ASAP!!!

John Warren · Answer

@Sean Keating I have quite a few apartment buildings with this style of heating, and you can pretty much always make repairs as necessary. In addition, if you have a good plumber they can drain the system and pressure test it to make sure there are no leaks. The only big problem I have run into is when you have radiant heat where this stuff is buried in the floor. On one of my buildings here in the Chicago area I did end up abandoning the radiant heat and installing all new baseboard. I would avoid this scenario if at all possible.