Hi. Got a plastic water tank in the loft that seems to have a slow leak, but over time it has soaked the wooden platform it is sitting on, and I am worried that it may collapse soon. It currently has strips of wood sitting on the rafters either side of the tank (to raise the height), and a wooden board sitting across them which the tank is on.

2 questions
1) are there any rules about how to support this tank (ie could I put metal bars underneath, or should it be wood a certain thickness etc)

2)I will need to drain the tank (not a problem) but will need to refit the pipe that is leaking at the place where it joins the tank, is this easy, how do I go about it

can anyone advise?

Thanks Handymac. It is actually the pipe coming out from the bottom (of the side) of the tank, so I guess it's an outflow to things like the bathroom taps etc. The leak seems to be from the actual connection, so hopefully it is just a quick job. Does replacing that connection sound like something an experienced DIYer could do or is it specialist to plumbers. (haven't been back up in the loft to look at it again yet, scared I might see that the whole tanks has collapsed )

Chopster, if you can see the fitting on the inside of the tank you might be able to tighten it up without draining down, usually the flange on the inside has two square bits sticking out. If you can get to it(the water will be ice cold) use a file or some other flat bar across the flange to hold and tighten the other side with a spanner(dont loosen it!) might just have come loose. Then you will need to reinstate the tank platform.  

If you cant get to both sides of the fitting coz the tanks too deep or something, then drain down and strip out, may need new fibre washers, available at any plumbers merchant. Or it may be the tank itself(as HM said). Often the holes in the tank have been cut by heating a piece of pipe and melting through. This will cause cracks in the plastic over time so holes should really be cut out using a hole cutter or similar. Either way don't worry about it, a tank replacement is pretty easy too(especially since you can get the tank out the way and renew the platform in this case)

If you go to a plumbers merchants and explain what you are dealing with I don't doubt you will get excellent advice.

I say this from personal experience. I'm not from a plumbing background so I tend not to be up to scratch on the latest terms, but I do my fair share of plumbing jobs all the same. Over the last 12 months I've had to dive into a plumbers merchants and swallow my pride, and the guys behind the desk have always been ever so helpful on every subject I raised.

With respect to what a plumber charges, that depends. Can be equivalent to £50 an hour and upwards from there. This sort of job you can do yourself without too much trouble.

HM