is this legal? - urgent advice wanted on plumbing when renting, please

franklee

jamesb1239 wrote: »

Been reading following this thread as its developed through the day, and finally decided to post. First of all to the OP if things are as bad as you say they are then I would call a plumber myself and send the Landlord the bill, well actually due to the time of year i would probably drain down the CH system myself to stop the leak but i appreciate that not everybody is confident in doing things like that themselves.

I was going to say that you should shut the boiler down for now, but with the size of the leak that you mention you should have already lost all use of it along with hot water (if its a combi) due to the loss of pressure tripping the safety cut out.

You say that the plumber that came round 'looked' at it, so therefore I assume that you know where the leak is, and have access to it? If so then is it not possible for you to bandage the pipe to stop/slow the leak?

I think that the suggestion a previous poster came up with using a sharp object to pierce the ceiling is a good one, I myself have had to do this in my home (yes i'm a tenant) there was a leak in the roof, but i solved that problem as it was just a dislodged tile, so no need for the LL to do anything just waiting for it to dry out before making good. But thats another story.

Do you have contents insurance as it is probable that the LL's insurance will only cover repairing the ceiling, not any of your posessions that get damaged nor any flooring or furnishing that is yours.

Hope that helps a little

Thanks, good to see a sensible post I was thinking along similar lines so have commented on the excellent points you raise:

1. Tenant calling in another plumber, if you look round this forum I think you will find that's extremely unpopular with our resident landlords and they will refuse to pay the bill if they didn't authorise it first.

2. Draining down the CH system. This should have been done and I see no reason why the landlord isn't organising it as it just requires general DIY skills. So it should be possible to arrange now.

3. Shutting appliances down, good point. I'd also be concerned about lights etc that are in the wet ceiling, are they safe to use?

4. Bandaging the leak, I agree if accessible it should be possible to do a temporary repair to stop the leak with elephant tape or suchlike. But if it's under the floor boards then the landlord would need to arrange taking the floor up. Again this just needs general skills and not a plumber, so I can't see why that isn't arranged now. If the plumber who came round already did this to find the leak then why didn't he do a temporary repairs with tape to stop the worst of the leak?

5. As for the kiting needle idea, switch off the electrics first and don't attempt it if unsure of safety.

6. Landlords insurance. Will they look kindly on a leak being left for days after it had been reported to the landlord? I'd suspect they expect the above actions to be taken to limit the damage and the landlord will in trouble with his claim of not.

dfh

pete80 wrote: »

That'll be 60 quid for the advice CarolT:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Lol or 60 quid for each point !

dfh

clutton wrote: »

so Carolt just assumed that the plumber sent this morning was only "messing about" and therefore was no good - so rather than talk to her landlord - she spends half the day on a forum ... Very constructive.....

Maybe the phone bills will be too high if she rings the landlord !

clutton_2

we have had no feedback from any conversation between LL and tenant on this thread - ( if the tenant did not report further problems to me and got in their own plumber - i sure as heck would not pay the bill ) -

Why are our resident "landlord-bashers" not suggesting Carolt contact the LL again or is that just tooo simple ?

jamesb1239

Thanks for the compliment, and for taking what I said further;

franklee wrote: »

Thanks, good to see a sensible post I was thinking along similar lines so have commented on the excellent points you raise:

1. Tenant calling in another plumber, if you look round this forum I think you will find that's extremely unpopular with our resident landlords and they will refuse to pay the bill if they didn't authorise it first.
Maybe so, but as long as i could show the landlord that it was urgent ie the ceiling about to come down and water flowing down doorframes then i would do it and have an agreement with the tradesman first that all bills will go to the LL, mainly because it would prevent further damage to the property and reduce risk to my family and I.

2. Draining down the CH system. This should have been done and I see no reason why the landlord isn't organising it as it just requires general DIY skills. So it should be possible to arrange now.
I'm actually amazed that the plumber didnt do this.

3. Shutting appliances down, good point. I'd also be concerned about lights etc that are in the wet ceiling, are they safe to use?
I didnt actually think of electrics, I meant to shut down the CH system as if the boiler is running it may be pumping the water around the system, or it may be one that automatically re-pressurises its self if the pressure gets low. Take away the pressure in the pipes and it should reduce to little more than a drip.

4. Bandaging the leak, I agree if accessible it should be possible to do a temporary repair to stop the leak with elephant tape or suchlike. But if it's under the floor boards then the landlord would need to arrange taking the floor up. Again this just needs general skills and not a plumber, so I can't see why that isn't arranged now. If the plumber who came round already did this to find the leak then why didn't he do a temporary repairs with tape to stop the worst of the leak?
I had already assumed that the plumber had taken up floorboards to find the leak in the first place in order to diagnose the problem. and if bandaging doesnt work then I would maybe be inclined to crush the pipe either side of the leak to stop/restrict water flow. Afterall it wont make much difference if the LL had to replace a few more inches of pipe if it saves further water damage.

5. As for the kiting needle idea, switch off the electrics first and don't attempt it if unsure of safety.
As you have probably guessed by now, im more of an act now think later kind of person... I used the drill repeatedly until i found where the water was, didnt even consider wires.... that would have been a shocking experience

6. Landlords insurance. Will they look kindly on a leak being left for days after it had been reported to the landlord? I'd suspect they expect the above actions to be taken to limit the damage and the landlord will in trouble with his claim of not.

jamesb1239

clutton wrote: »

we have had no feedback from any conversation between LL and tenant on this thread - ( if the tenant did not report further problems to me and got in their own plumber - i sure as heck would not pay the bill ) -

Why are our resident "landlord-bashers" not suggesting Carolt contact the LL again or is that just tooo simple ?

That has been suggested, a few times over. So your telling me that if at say 3am a pipe burst in a house I was renting from you, then you would rather me let the place flood or would you take a hit of say £100 for an emergency repair, thus saving a lot of damage to the property and possibly avoiding you having to claim on your insurance therefore saving you your excess and an increased premium next year?

Likewise if it was a furnished property and some lowlife decided to throw a brick through a window in the middle of the night, would you rather I took steps to secure the property or left it for an opportunist to stroll by and help themselves?

Mips

dfh wrote: »

That's more than a month and is certainly not acceptable.I am glad all of you are all right.Given your experiences,I would say the landlord got off lightly with just having to refund your deposit.

I wouldn't know what else to hit him with :rotfl:

Damaged sofa... from the water/plaster.. moving into and out of the property... hmm.. will see how I feel at the end of the month.. it was very stressful..

dfh

clutton wrote: »

we have had no feedback from any conversation between LL and tenant on this thread - ( if the tenant did not report further problems to me and got in their own plumber - i sure as heck would not pay the bill ) -

Why are our resident "landlord-bashers" not suggesting Carolt contact the LL again or is that just tooo simple ?

We only have the OP's version of events.It seemed to start of with a leak and now the roof might have fallen in,mould is growing everywhere,water gushing in,door can't be closed and she and her daughter are ill with asthma.

clutton_2

JamesB says - ""say 3am"" ""in the middle of the night,"" - we are talking about an issue during the day - today Sunday morning / afternoon - dont be a drama queen !!!

In the case of a middle of the night real flood i would expect a frantic call from my tenants as i am the one responsible for organising repairs - and yes they do have an emergency number when i am on holiday - they all know where the stop !!!! is anyway ....

middle of the night flood - chances of this happening ??? 1000's to one.....

carolt

Wow, I'm so glad this thread has kept people entertained for so many hours, whilst I was having a life!

I've already answered all points addressed so won't bore anyone by repeating them.

Thanks very much, franklee and jamesb1239 - some very useful advice there. I have done nothing as my OH has been out and I am not going to start attacking the ceiling with knitting needles or anything else whilst I have 3 small kids running around...

As this small tale of my kitchen woes seems to have entrance and enthralled so many (7 pages....!!!) I shall keep you all posted. Please don't feel the need to return, though, if you find the subject understandably tedious.

It never ceases to amaze me how much some landlords appear to hate tenants in general. It would be like being a primary school teacher whilst hating small children, or something. Just don't get it, myself...