I've had a very gradual flood...

Badgergal

Hello all (please move if not in the right place),

Yesterday I discovered Comet had fitted my DW very badly; one of the pipes connected to the Y attachment was not screwed on quite tight enough and it has been dripping since July - albeit quite slowly, which is why I have not noticed till now. The pipe was hidden behind the washing machine and the dripping sound was not very noticeable.

The water has gone under the lino, and crept into my entire flat without me noticing, underneath my (almost new! ) laminate wooden flooring in the rest of the flat. The entire flooring will need replacing as it has started to warp (I only noticed when it started to warp, otherwise it was not noticeable as it was underneath the flooring which was tightly locked together).

The edges of the rooms are the worst as far as moisture goes (where there are small gaps to allow the laminate to expand etc) and I noticed when the beading swelled and broke away. My question is, are the walls likely to be damaged? In areas where the wall is not well ventilated (e.g. built in cupboards near the floor/behind bookcases) there is mildewy stuff on the walls. The water has obviously been absorbed to some extent.

Will they be ok once they've dried out or will they need to be replastered or something? I'm dealing with the floor, drying it out before getting a new floor etc, but the thought of having to deal with the walls as well...

Thank you in advance for any help!

Gem_

This sounds like an insurance job

Do you have insurance? If so I would ring your buildings people and ask them what to do. You are going to find it very hard work to get any money out of Comet I should think (even if it is their fault), I would imagine that they will claim it is not their problem - you do need to periodically tighten DW and Washing machine taps to stop them working loose so they will probably claim that you should have done this.

Personally I would want them to pay but think its going to be a nightmare!

I am no expert on the wall front. I depends if the damp is just on the surface - ie moisture from the floor evaporating up - in which case they will probably dry out. If its deeper than that then you may have to re-plaster.

Badgergal

I have contacted the insurance people and am awaiting a claim form (they appeared to think I was covered on the phone at least), I have also collected quotes etc to be sent back as soon as the form arrives.

I have the plumber who is willing to write a report saying the connection was not on properly (it could not have worked itself so loose in just a few months if it was fitted properly in the first place). I will be complaining to Comet but I know they'll try and wriggle out of it. meanwhile I am hoping my buildings insurance will pay out.

The floor I have come to terms with replacing (though it is a huge upheaval for me what can I do?!) but the thought of having to deal with the walls too is rather frightening!

moneysavingplumber

Gem_ wrote:

you do need to periodically tighten DW and Washing machine taps to stop them working loose so they will probably claim that you should have done this.

This is not a concept I am familiar with. Badgergal I think you have a good case against them. If I told my customers that they had to tighten the connections I had made periodically thereafter then I would no doubt end up appearing on Rogue Traders sooner or later! The connections should be good for the life of the appliance if they have been made correctly. Companies like Currys and Comet have liability insurance for this type of problem, as we all do.

Your only possible difficulty will be proving that it was caused by their connection to the w/m tap and not a different connection. In hindsight it's easy to say this, but you should have called them back as soon as you suspected it was their work at fault, as once their own 'engineer' had rectified the problem they then wouldn't be able to question the source of the leak.

I would write a detailed claim to their head of customer services for starters, include some nasty photos of the damage, you might be pleasantly surprised by their response.

Badgergal

Thanks - I was so concerned about the water that my first thought was to stop it immediately rather than call Comet and have to wait for them to send someone out (I thought they might quibble and I was intent on stopping the water asap) - but I took lots of photos of the damage and also have the plumbers report. I will be in contact with them anyway and see what they say, panic unfortunately stopped me from thinking rationally and calling them straight away!