tiles coming off - who's responsibility?

meg0210

My sister moved into a house a few months ago. As her family prefers showering than bathing, they asked the landlord to allow them to install a showerhead in the bathtub.
After some months, a few tiles above the bathtub came off. The agent sent a contractor to check , and he said that since the wall was not tiled to the ceiling, when water (from the shower) penetrated into the back of tiles from the cemented wall, the tile cannot hold on to the wall. So, if the root cause cannot be addressed, any repairs are only temporary because the tiles will come off again. The Landlord refused to pay for the repairs whatsoever. My sister is very upset and wants to know in this case if she is the one who has to pay for the repairs even though the tiled wall is part of the propoerty and the landlord allowed the use of shower in the first place.

Fire_Fox

How is this the landlord's fault? All he did was allow the shower, expecting it would be installed and used correctly. Your sister installed an item that damaged the property, the landlord could arguably charge her for repairs. She needs to speak the plumber who she paid to install the shower, he should have advised her that the existing tiling was inadequate.

Think if the landlord allows a tenant to fit wall shelving or a curtain pole, it is not his problem if the thing falls off the wall taking giant chunks of plaster - the tenant is expected to 'make good' and leave the property much as you find it (minus fair wear and tear).

martinsurrey

Fire_Fox wrote: »

How is this the landlord's fault? All he did was allow the shower, expecting it would be installed and used correctly. Your sister installed an item that damaged the property, the landlord could arguably charge her for repairs. She needs to speak the plumber who she paid to install the shower, he should have advised her that the existing tiling was inadequate.

Think if the landlord allows a tenant to fit wall shelving or a curtain pole, it is not his problem if the thing falls off the wall taking giant chunks of plaster - the tenant is expected to 'make good' and leave the property much as you find it (minus fair wear and tear).

agreed, the land lord allowed her to fit a shower, in the expectation that it would only get used in the tiled area, obviously she angles it so a none tiled area gets wet, not the land lords fault.

as my IT department often yell

USER ERROR!

By the way, use of a shower is NOT a licence to soak any/every surface!

G_M

Did your sister install the shower herself, or employ a professional.

Either way I agree she is responsible. It is the shower that she installed/had installed that caused the problem.

Your sister needs to make good the damage, or get her professional back to make good. And this includes ensuring there is no further damage ie if additional tiling is needed to protect the areas getting wet when the shower is used

To be honest, tenants doing improvements is never wise, for just this reason. Far better for the LL to arrange the work, so he is responsible. If it is an improvement he is not willing to pay for, but ta=hat the tenant wants (and is willing to pay for) then the solution is for the LL to employ a contractor but the tenant to reimburs the LL for the cost.

cos_2

I agree that it's not for the landlord to cough up.

I'd suggest buying some tiles and cement and popping them up to (or just below) ceiling height yourselves. You'll only need to cover the corner where the shower is. I'm guessing the existing tiles aren't fancy or unusual and can be bought at a local DIY store, of course.

Loads of good tiling advice on your neighbourhood internet as well