Leak in rented house, landlord wojt call emergency plumber, and where do I stand with time off?

Naf

While showering the kids this evening, our neighhour knocked on the door to say that water was leaking from the alley between the houses. It has since started leaking through the hallway light fitting too - but it's only happening when water is going down the bath and sink drain.


First issue is that the landlord refuses to call an emergency plumber, and wants to make us wait until Monday. This seems like an emergency to me, should I be pushing him harder?


Second issue is that we will both be at work on Monday, so where do we stand with getting time off, and can we reasonably ask to be reimbursed for having to use up holidays (presumably) for it? What if our employers refuse to let us?


EDIT: What if the neighbour calls someone, since the leak also affects part of their property; could they reasonably invoice the landlord? Is it worth suggesting this to either them or my landlord?

chanz4

light fitting, water..... mention sparks to the landlord and poss water getting into electrics

Naf

chanz4 wrote: »

light fitting, water..... mention sparks to the landlord and poss water getting into electrics

Hasn't phased him at all. Apparently the reason that he can't come and take a look tomorrow is because he's waiting for a repairman for his boiler. Not that he is a plumber anyway.

Carrot007

chanz4 wrote: »

light fitting, water..... mention sparks to the landlord and poss water getting into electrics

And expect an emergency electrician to come out and turn off the involved curcut and maybe a plumber to also turn of the water to the area.


Emergency action is usually just to make safe so since you (OP) can not use it I would say it is not needed.


Fixing takes time, especially if you use a known decent tradesman. Monday does not seem ridiculous.


Nor should they pay you for taking time off. A homeowner would have to do as such. I might hope that they would do it themselves and be there for the operation. Of course you would have to approve and they would have to be free, variables which are of course unknown at this point.

lookstraightahead

Carrot007 wrote: »

And expect an emergency electrician to come out and turn off the involved curcut and maybe a plumber to also turn of the water to the area.


Emergency action is usually just to make safe so since you (OP) can not use it I would say it is not needed.


Fixing takes time, especially if you use a known decent tradesman. Monday does not seem ridiculous.


Nor should they pay you for taking time off. A homeowner would have to do as such. I might hope that they would do it themselves and be there for the operation. Of course you would have to approve and they would have to be free, variables which are of course unknown at this point.

Are you for real?

Alias_Omega

Once the water has drained, the water will stop leaking and stop leaking through the ceiling.


I would advise that you do not use that sink/bath unless essential and let the repair happen on Monday.


You do not need to take the day off work, you CAN allow them access to the property whilst you do not attend to carry out the repair. He wont need your permission either, as this would be an "emergency repair" as you have mentioned above.


If you take the day off or not, that is up to you. If i was your boss, i would allow you the time off, and make it back up through the month.....and im also a landlord..

dawyldthing

If you go through the switchboard in the electric cupboard there should be a switch for each area (it should be labelled but if not switch the lot off and switch them on one by one until you find out which it is) on the circuit board is what I would do. It’s only what you do when you blow something in the house, I did it with the toaster the other day.

I wouldn’t stay in for the landlord either. Tell him your working between x and y and can you send them around when you get home if it was me.

G_M

Not an emergency. If you could not stop the flow that would be.

Stop using the bath for 48 hours. I'm sure you can manage that.

Have any trip switches tripped in the consumer unit?I'm guessing not, but I suggest you manually trip the one for the hall light/downstairs lights, at least till th water stops dripping.

I had exactly this happen to me 6 months ago. In my case I found the leak and fixed it myself (owner occupier) 3 days later, waited another week for the ceiling to dry out then turned the (in my case) kitchen light circuit back on.


I'm not suggesting you fix the plumbing yourself, just pointing out that the timescale is not an emergency.

Naf

Alias_Omega wrote: »

I would advise that you do not use that sink/bath unless essential

Its our only option, really. We only have the one bathroom.

Alias_Omega wrote: »

If i was your boss, i would allow you the time off, and make it back up through the month

Not possible for either of us, unfortunately. Our childcare only barely covers our working hours.

dawyldthing wrote: »

If you go through the switchboard in the electric cupboard there should be a switch for each area

Don't get me started on the electrics here. The "breakers" (which aren't even RCDs) cover such large portions of the house. To turn that circuit off would probably cut power to half the house, and not only lights. We'll settle for not using that light, since we almost never do anyway.





I have, however, found the source; and I must say I'm amazed its only just leaked through. We had someone replace a sink at the start of October, and it seems as though they inadvertently pulled the drain pipe a little too far and one joint has come loose under the bath. I should be able to seal it up myself tomorrow, as it won't push back in far enough to seat itself properly.


I feel like I should get the guy who did it back in; but I would imagine he's going to say it couldn't have been him as its taken so long to show up...

lookstraightahead

Don't forget to take lots of photos

lookstraightahead

Was it someone they sent round to fix originally