How would you deal with this plumbing situation?

TiredDonna

Can anyone give me an informed opinion on this situation? I'm not sure what to do. I will explain the scenario first (as briefly as I can).
1. Notice a drip in downstairs ceiling on the weekend.
2. Monday morning I ring three plumbing businesses before finding one who can come out (Tuesday). £50 call out and twenty minutes. £50 per hour, plus parts subsequently.
3. Tuesday plumber no. 1 comes out. Spends about 1.5 hours trying to find leak, says he'll need to replace lead piping under flooring and it'll be a four hour job. Writes today up as an hour seeing as I've said I'll go with them. Says he'll do the job as he knows the story so far and will give me a ring about an hour in to the job to confirm what the problem is and what do I want to do.
4. Office schedule the work for Thursday if I drop a key off (as I'm at work).
5. After texting and ringing plumber no. 1 to no avail on Thursday (during job) I ring the office who say the plumber's not there yet.
6. After a couple more hours I ring again to find out that it's a different plumber and he's been there about 2.5 hours. Said they had to drill a few more holes to find source. He says he's ruled out a problem with the heating, has checked the water meter for 5 minutes (took a photo) and could find no sign of leak. Reckons it's either the extension roof or condensation.
7. So, I ask him to text me the photo of the water meter so that I can check again when I get back (this will allow a few hours to pass and double-check water meter with empty house).
8. Haven't heard from plumbers since, no photo sent. Chunk of ceiling removed, holes drilled up in to bathroom floor.

It's now Saturday, the leak has continued, causing further damage. I've pulled more ceiling off to find a definite drip (i.e. not condensation). Currently checking the meter over a few hours.

What should I do re the first plumbers? What if they bill me for £200 for their time? Do I:
a) Update them on my findings and agree to pay current fee on the basis of them returning and finding and fixing the leak?
b) Just pay their bill, learn my lesson and go elsewhere?
c) Go elsewhere and refuse to pay their bill past the first visit, on the basis that they didn't get any further than plumber no 1 got (and presuming my water meter monitoring confirms a leak).

z1a

Can't help with answer, but would it not have to be a pretty big leak to register on a meter rather than dripping.

Mr.Generous

Leaks can also be from waste pipes and would never show on a meter. Probably seen more leaks from wastes and traps than mains pressure pipes.

TiredDonna

Thank you for the replies. We suspect it's not a waste pipe on the basis that the water is not soapy/scummy/worse and the drip doesn't seem triggered by an emptying bath or flushed toilet. In fact the water looks and smells very clean.
Would it be worth trying to drain the bathroom with water coloured with food dye?

betsie

Can friends or family not recommend a good plumber?

My husband is a self employed plumber and never charges a call out fee. He tells you a price for the job and the customer agrees or declines.
You will end up paying a fortune to plumbers that charge per hour and might not get the problem fixed. He has been to sort out some real horrors where a person has been charged over £500 and the problem still isn't fixed.

TiredDonna

Hi Betsie, I've followed up recommendations but they couldn't get to me on the Monday, hence me trying a local company. My understanding is that the call out fee was for the first hour, they then quoted me four hours, plus parts, to fix the job on the Thursday. They haven't fixed it so I don't owe them. Have I got that right?

A two-hour wait has shown one red number turn. A 1 litre loss then?

TiredDonna

Rung plumbers again this morning, desperate to get a fix. Plumber no. 1 is booked in to do the four hour job tomorrow. My understanding is that last Thursday's attempt is to be ignored. Boyfriend has rearranged his appointments in order to be here.

G_M

Total stranger.

Key to house.

:eek:

Rememer to change the lock when this is all sorted.

konark

Lead pipes doesn't sound promising! Can't be anything to do with central heating then (unless it's ancient).

Any plumber would want to strip and replace, they aren't allowed to joint them the old way and they are a bit of a pain for any modern plumber who's used to plastic and copper.

You may have a pin-hole in the lead piping, if you can find it screw a self-tapping screw into it.

Does the leak stop when you turn the water off at the stop-!!!!, if so it's in the rising main which is quite high pressure.

If they think a slight drip is gonna register on a water meter in a few minutes your plumbers are idiots..

TiredDonna

Thanks konark The leak on the lead pipe was eventually found by yesterday's plumber in the lead pipe to the sink behind plaster / in the wall. He reckoned it had been leaking for up to two years. He's replaced that bit of piping with plastic, but it must be connected to the original bathroom lead piping under the floorboards. He told my boyfriend it would be a big job to replace all of it (which is what I had asked him to do whilst we were at it).

So, the leak is fixed and now I just need to pay the bill, let it dry and get everything re-plastered and painted in the Spring.

TiredDonna

Is it really that worrying to leave a key with a company tradesperson? Turns out it was the owner's son.