Help! New Bathroom Leaking - Who pays?

simonj007

Hello,

We had a new bathroom fitted end of March - what was supposed to be a two week job took seven!

However, some three months on we have just noticed brown water stains on our playroom ceiling - which is directly below the newly fitted bathroom.

The larger stains seem to be directly under where the toilet and bath are positioned above - so clearly something in the bathroom is leaking.

So, what do we do?

- Contact the Father & Son team who our contract was with?
- Contact the plumber directly that they used?
- Contact our insurance company?

What can we expect?
- That the Father & Son team together with the plumber take responsibility for their work - visit, investigate, fix and make good at their expense? (Ideal outcome)

- They ignore our calls/emails - then what?

What would you do in our situation and who should pay?

Advice appreciated as we have a baby and a two year old and we want it fixed asap with as little disruption as possible!

It was bad enough not being able to have a bath for the seven weeks of the install with two small children!.

Many thanks,
Simon & Victoria

phill99

You need in the first instance to. Deal with the people who your contract was with ie the father and son team. They are the people you employed. How they get the work done is down to them. It's probably w
Quite an easy fix.

If they fail to return calls or emails, you must write to them under recorded deliveryForget all of this email and text stuff when you are in or may be in dispute with someone.

Don't get your insurance company involved unless there is major damage. It will count as an incident and will affect your premiums.

If it is just a few brown stains on the ceiling, it can be dealt with easily a d cheaply and should be undertaken by father and son.

noelphobic

simonj007 wrote: »

Hello,

We had a new bathroom fitted end of March - what was supposed to be a two week job took seven!
It was bad enough not being able to have a bath for the seven weeks of the install with two small children!.

Sounds like you had the same builder as me! I went weeks without a shower in the house and there were 2 nights when I had to move out completely as the bathroom was not useable at all, could not even use the toilet. I also went weeks without a bathroom door, not brilliant when it's on the ground floor and faces your neighbour's garden!

Hope you manage to get it sorted out.

ListysDad

Seven weeks! OMG.

Def go back to the person you paid. It's their job to sort it.

Personally I'd also start talking to Trading Standards as they will advise what to write when etc. If it goes pear shaped then they are also aware to back you up a bit.

In terms of the repair, if its been leaking that long then its very very unlikely that the plasterboard will be undamaged. That means it may have to be patched and the ceiling repainted. Look yourself when you have the chance to see if the boards are damaged. If they are not then it's not unreasonable for the original contractor to paint over. BUT they must put on stain block first otherwise the discolouration will bleed through again in a few months. DO NOT let them simply paint over.

With regard to dealing with him, don't go off on one. Be reasonable and firm and express disappointment that it went wrong. If you can do it subtly, mention you have more work on offer on the house as an incentive.

If you lead off and he feels you are lost cause he'll naturally be less inclined to come back. Fair, firm and disappointed with a hint of carrot is, IMO, your best option BUT make sure you know your rights and he knows you know.

Good luck.

simonj007

Thanks for the responses.

Our dilema is this - we don't really have much faith in the Father & Son team, so if they come back to take a look and agree to put right - what happens if in doing so they chip the bath or damage a perfectly good floor tile?

Would they still be liable to put everything back at their own expense or through their own insurance (if they have it)?

They did sub-contract the 'plumbing' to a fully qualified plumber, so I'm more inclined to ask them to get him back round as the issue is clearly a 'plumbing' issue.

We have two small boys and just want it all fixed and made good as quickly as possible and with no expense to us - is this reasonable?

Would the plumbers insurance cover something like this does anybody know?

*Update - the father has agreed to visit today - but as I mentioned above, before he removes any bath panelling (which is all tiled) - I must establish a) He should ask the plumber to be present b) that we're not paying a single penny more.

Is this the right course to proceed on?

Many thank,
Simon

southcoastrgi

I think I'll reserve my comments until after father ted has been & the OP tells us of the outcome, but no don't pay him anymore money atm

Leif

At the moment you do not have a big problem, and I am sure Trading Standards and the law expect you to give Father & Son the opportunity to put right the fault. You have had good advice above. Take it easy at first, and give them reasonable time to make good. If they cause more damage, they are liable, and you definitely want to talk to Citizens Advice at that stage.

simonj007

Thank you.

Agreed - they have to have the opportunity to put right. That means removing tiles to investigate, fix the problem and replace all tiles and panels - all at their expense if they damage any in the removing process.

The playroom ceiling once dried out will need re-decorating - again at their expense.

Trouble with the above - we don't trust them! So long as they understand that it's all at their own expense until we're completely satisfied!

NB: Although the Father (labourer & plasterer on the job) has agreed to visit, I had an email from the Son (who we really had the contract with) - to say:

"Simon, i no longer trade anymore but will discuss this with my dad over the weekend on how we can rectify this"

- So I guess at least I have it in writing "how we can rectify this" - correct?

Thanks everyone.

southcoastrgi

If there is the slightest likelihood that Mr Bodgit senior will cause more damage dont even let him in your house, do you have the plumber's number & is he still trading ? If so imo I would get him to sort out what is leaking at his expense (providing the leak is due to something he did), if the bodgeit family are no longer in business then you will be lucky to get them to foot the bill for the damage you have now let alone any damage they cause trying to fix it

simonj007

Thanks Keith,

I have now emailed and asked for the 'plumber' to be in attendence - so I'll update here once I have any kind of reply.

- I did actually text the plumber directly on Friday, but as yet no reply. Ofcourse it maybe that he's on holiday....but with texts having a 97% read rate - still strange I haven't had a reply!

Sigh.

southcoastrgi

TBH I think taking 7 weeks to do a bathroom really tells you everything you need to know, I have never taken any longer than three weeks to do a bathroom & that was a lot of work & a big bathroom, I hate to think how much you paid for what you assumed was going to be a proffesional job, just a question how do you know the guy they brought in was a proffesional plumber ? & if they have gone bust then he might not have been paid for the job & if that is the case I would say you have zero chance of getting him there which is maybe why he's not replying to you