Plumbing leak discoverd 6 months after new bathroom fitted - whose responsibility?

Lemoncurd

We bought our house 6 months ago and had the bathroom refitted before moving in. Since then I've always noticed a bit of a damp smell in there but assumed it was just airing a bit after the previous 35 yr old bathroom was removed.
A few months ago I also noticed a few brown spots in the coving in the living room directly below the bath but assumed it was a bit of shoddy painting by the decorator who painted the house at around the same time. The marks on the coving have now got a lot worse so we took a look under the bath and found that the hot water inlet pipe is dripping.

My question is should we expect the bathroom fitter to fix this or after this time has lapsed would that be unreasonable? We do believe that the problem must have been there for months but we didn't realise until this week. Another reason why I'm not sure if it would be unreasonable is that it looks he didn't actually replace this particular bit of pipework himself as it looks like the original.

tomstickland

I'd take the panels off and have a look for the leak. If it's easily fixed then I'd get it fixed and not pursue the matter. Pipework fixed with the best faith could leak.

kenshaz

The leak could be on his connection to the tap which must be new and the water could be running down onto the old pipe-work,ask him to come and have a look, be pleasant,it might be the old pipe-work,is the old pipe-work copper or is it perhaps lead .Wrap tissue paper around different sections of the pipework then you can ascertain exactly where it is leaking.It might have been leaking from the day he fitted,he should have checked before leaving,but it might have been so small .a drop an hour,that is why you need the tissue,make sure it is wiped dry before applying the test tissue

bruce2110

if i had fitted the bath for you, i would genrally have no problam returning to this and rectifying the leak. By the sound of it, it has probaly been leaking for quite sometime, are you sure its the pipe thats leaking and not the bath trap as it is not uncommon for bath traps to leak within the first few weeks of fitting!

also check the silcone seal around the bath because as things settle assuming its a plastic bath that the seal could break and allow small amounts of water to leak through whilst you have baths or showers ect!

i usally guarantee my installations for a year, so its well worth asking him to return and have a look

cheers,

Bruce2110

moneysavingplumber

Agree with Bruce. If it's a complete bathroom change then experience dictates to me that you check EVERYTHING, double and triple before leaving. I would have absolutely no problem going back in the most unlikely event I got such a call .

Lemoncurd

Thanks - we took another look to check how much was leaking (good job as the container we'd stuck under there was already half full). The leak is actually coming from the tap and luckily he'd put an isolator in so we were able to isolate the tap. We'll be giving him a call tomorrow.