Damp/Leak?

Kitten_Pie

Hi all,

I was hoping someone would be able to help.

We have damp coming through the ceiling of our bathroom, it looks like it is coming from upstairs however the landlord of upstairs says that he has looked in his bathroom and it is not coming from there. We are not convinced however it is an external wall so there is a possibility that it is coming from outside or elsewhere.

Every time we look at it (morning/after work) it seems to have spread which is very worrying. My question is who do we call to look at it. Would it be a plumber or a builder? Is there a specialist that would be the one to call? We want to get this sorted asap as it is not only worrying but we are trying to sell and it will definately put people off.

Thank you for any advice

iamcornholio

You would preferably call a building surveyor. But the most likely source is the flat above and so someone needs to have a proper look in that flat. It's no use anyone just looking within your flat.

Constant wetness would be a supply pipe, intermittent leaks would be either waste water or a faulty bath/shower seal

Stains to mainly ceiling would be from the flat above. Penetrating damp from external would run down the walls and not the ceiling

Kitten_Pie

Thank you for your help.

We thought it looked like it was coming from upstairs however they insist they have had plumbers out to look at it and that it is definately not them.

I will call someone and make sure we get access above as well to look at it. Their tenant has moved out this weekend so it should be the ideal time to fix this situation.

Kind Regards

Holly

iamcornholio

Ok, call a plumber then - which may be cheaper than a surveyor and he can remove panels etc as necessary.

Kitten_Pie

I know its been a while but I wanted to update and see if anyone has any mse :money: advise;

The tenant moved out and the landlord upstairs got the leak fixed. Yay! So we let it dry out, damp proofed and repainted the ceiling.

About 2 1/2 months ago a new tenant moved in and shortly after mould started to show and the ceiling became damp. We contacted the landlord for the flat for him to sort it out. He insisted that it was fine so we got our plumber to come round and look at both flats. He stated that the tiling wasn't sealed and that water was clearly getting through the tiles and under the bath as the shower screen had a good 2 cm between the bath and the screen. Our plumber quoted £300 for the work to the upstairs flat. We informed the landlord and gave him our guys contact details should he need to discuss it further.

Landlord got his diy man in to remastic it. (this clearly hasn't worked before so why it would work now I don't know)

The leak got worse and we didn't chase it as much as we should (had a few personal issues) anyway the ceiling started to drip, so we contacted the landlord as soon as this happened. Chased for weeks by phone/email etc. The window frame then started to crack from where the water has got under the paint and in the wood. We chased and finally came round with his diy guy who looked at our bathroom and said the damp on the ceiling over the bath was because of his bath and he would look into removing the bath panel and try and fix however the damp the other side of the room is due to condensation and therefore our problem (considering we have been in this flat for many years without a problem and only have a problem when they have a tenant I am not confident in their claims). They stated it was too far from where the bath is based for it to be that. (Our bathroom is small and I can touch both walls when I outstretch my arms)

I have contacted a building surveyor to come and have a loot at the damp and give us a report on what is causing the damp and how to fix it. The quote to give us this report is going to cost £390+VAT which is just too much. If it is coming from them (which I suspect it is) then I would ideally like to claim on their insurance to fix the damage as it is now past the point where we can fix it ourselves.

Does any one have any suggestions on what I can do. I suspect unless I have a report from someone independant he won't admit that it could be his problem. I suspect this as our Plumber is not connected to us apart from the fact he has done work for us previously and we trust him (fully qualified etc) and his man is a diy guy with a basic grasp of the English language yet he won't believe what the plumber states.

This is just one thing on top of many things at the moment and I just need it sorted, we have even offered to pay the £300 to fix the problem as we just can't cope with the problems getting worse which will cost us more in the long run however I don't want to pay £390+VAT + the costs to fix the problem when the chances are he won't cough up anyway.

I apologise that this has turned into a rant I didn't mean it that way but wanted to get us much info as possible across.

mart.vader

Do you own the flat ? (I know you mentioned LL, but you said that he is upstairs LL) If he is LL for your flat as well, then you need a different approach.

I would not spend money on a building surveyors report at all.

Do you have insurance? If so, claim on insurance. - Your Insurance co have Loss Adjusters / Assessors who will produce a report for "free". If your insurance co, can put the blame for the damage onto upstairs, they will do so (whoever is responsible, LL, another insurance co, or tenant,)

(Edit:You should not have to pay any insurance excess. )

Their report should have enough weight to convince LL that he needs to stop faffing around and get the problem sorted.

2 cm is far too big a gap to be sealed with mastic. I would not expect to seal a gap bigger than half a cm with mastic (but I'm just a DIYer)

Kitten_Pie

Thank you Mart.Vander.

Yes we own this flat and the upstairs flat is rented out but we have contact details for both the tenant and the Landlord.

If we went through the insurance route what would happen if it is condensation and essentially 'our problem' are we still able to claim on insurance?

Hitch

Your having better luck then a friend of mine.

Very similar situation, except the above tenant doesn't answer the door, and he has no idea who the owner is. Wrote numerous letters to the letting agent to no avail. Probably going down the legal route now.
Apparently the building itself has insurance (leasehold block of 4) with an excess of £350. The agent is reluctant to contact them, and says it would not cost £350 to reapir. This has been ongoing for 6 months now.

Kitten_Pie

we used to have that problem when we had a leak (from the same flat) 2 years ago and had to have all the ceilings and floorings in the flat replaced. We had to get the firebrigade to knock down the door that time:cool:

Their washingmachine had a leak over the christmas period when we were away so came home to no ceiling and constant water, when we tried to claim on his insurance for the part which wasn't covered by building insurance (our carpets) he said that he didn't have insurance why would he when the tenant should have contents insurance. Tried explaining that they wouldn't insure his carpets and washingmachine which are not included in building insurance didn't help matters. I just hope he listened and got insurance later.

mart.vader

Kitten_Pie wrote: »

Thank you Mart.Vander.

Yes we own this flat and the upstairs flat is rented out but we have contact details for both the tenant and the Landlord.

If we went through the insurance route what would happen if it is condensation and essentially 'our problem' are we still able to claim on insurance?

Get your insurance co involved - it's only his DIY guy who says it is condensation, I wouldn't be at all inclined to believe him.

When your ins. co. send their Loss Adjuster, he will assess the damage, evidently caused by the use of the bath/shower/basin/toilet in the flat above, and do his "independent report", certainly more independent and qualified than the opinion of his DIY guy.

I suspect that his DIY guy saying that the damage is too far away from the bath to cause damage, is buck-passing, pure and simple.

While there is an actual provable leak, you don't want to be going after any red herrings, The water from a leak can easily run in between the joists and seep down a wall.

Anyway, ask the Loss Adjuster if he thinks its likely to be condensation, you wouldn't be able to claim on ins if it is condensation, but the Loss Adjuster can give you his opinion while he's there, for free.