Help water leaking from my bath into flat below!

[Deleted User]

I have recently bought a leasehold flat and I have water leaking into the flat below.
I have opened the bath panel and ran and ran water but no leak whatsoever.
Its definitely coming from my flat as If i run the water for a while I saw a drip in the downstairs flat.
I don't know what to do.Its not really bad but taking up a 1/3 of the wall in my neighbours flat and getting worse.
My lease states that i'm responsible for the pipes that 'serve my flat'.
I took one floorboard up but I can't access the rest.It must be the pipe through the wall.

My neighbour wants me to call out a plumber now.God knows what this is going to cost.
Any advice please anyone?
Happy New Year...
Chris

SailorSam

First thing i'd do is see is there an isolator stop tap just in the bathroom. Then at least you can have the rest of the flat with water.

Torry_Quine

You need to get this sorted as now you know about it you will be responsible for future damage

McKneff

It shouldn't matter how much it will cost.


It will cost a lot more in the long run.
At the moment you are not liable for any damage to your neighbours flat.


But if you leave it, and do not do anything, you will be liable for ALL damage.

[Deleted User]

I've tried my freeholder repeatedly as I have their private number.
Is it there responsibility or mine?

FOREVER21

As you say you have bought the property I'm afraid the responsibilty is yours not the freeholder .
Do you have house insurance, you might have a contact number for advice to see if the leak repair is covered , if it is covered then your insurance company may have a list of approved plumbers.

If you are covered you will only have to pay the excess. Don't put off doing something chances are the leak will get worse and not just stop.

GwylimT

Does it mainly happen after a shower? If so it may be a case of the bath being sealed without being filled with water, so with your weight the seal is broken and so water can seap.

[Deleted User]

This is what I don't understand.Ive just ran the tap for two baths and its no worse downstairs.(3.5 hours ago)
I looked for every leak possible underneath.
Not a single drop.
Now before I went away I let some water go into the overflow(about two pints worth or more)just by mistake.
Now then later that day my neighbour says theres a drop of water(not bad).She said about a tennis ball size.I said let me know if it gets worse.
No call.
I get home 6 days later and fill the bath up twice and let it go through the overflow heavily to see if there is a leak.
A few droplets. So I seal it up and thought that was it.
Now I have this problem.

I'm thinking maybe its the overflow somehow?
But its not leaking that I can see.

Oh and I haven't used the shower as I don't have one.

Snakey

Speaking as a leaseholder of a flat, if I was sitting there watching water coming through my ceiling I don't think I'd be too impressed with my upstairs neighbour saying "well, it shouldn't be leaking" and trying to find reasons not to call a plumber.

Get someone out and they will a) stop the leak, b) tell you what the problem is and c) quote you for it. It might even be fixable on the spot so that you will still have water and the use of your bath in the morning.

As people have said, if you leave it now that you know about it then you have a liability issue for future damage, so if it is getting worse then doing nothing is going to be more expensive in the long run as well as giving you neighbour problems that may come back to bite you.

wallbash

You get a plumber in now ... very expensive.
But the big thing is, what is he ( or she ) going to do? Turn off the water ...you could do that. Drain some of the pipes / system down ? you could do that.

Lift up floorboards

I took one floorboard up but I can't access the rest.It must be the pipe through the wall.

Try harder. Replacing floor boards will be a cheap option .


If its

while I saw a drip in the downstairs flat.

You will have a small damp path beneath the floor boards, a small leak and a bucket will save you a fortune.

[Deleted User]

The leaking stopped 5 hours ago.

I have ran several baths but no more water.
I'm thinking its the overflow as I've been here 5 weeks and this has never happened before.
Luckily me and my neighbour are friendly so no issues at the moment.