Leaking wall and ceiling - Update

JackeeBoy

Hi all.

Appreciate I posted this problem within a previous thread. Someone messed up the installation of my shower and now water is running down the kitchen wall and across the ceiling.

Thing is, I haven't used the shower for a week or so and water is still slowly trickling down. I wipe it away and a few minutes later it's back again. I can only imagine that the days I used the shower without realising the water was seeping quite heavily out from one of the panels has piled up in the floor below and is now taking days to trickle down.

The person who fitted the shower has not been able to come over and take a look for one reason or another. In the meantime, is there anything I should be doing to prevent the matter getting worse?

Update -

He came over to take a look. Cut a hole out of the ceiling which led to a bucket load (literally) of water coming out of the ceiling. Spent an hour or so looking for what the problem was and in the end, turn out the rubber pipe that was wrapped around a joist was leaking. When I turned off the mains, it stopped. Turned it back on and it started leaking.

This wasn't a problem before he came to fix the shower. We never used the shower but the mains were obviously always on. His reasoning was that when we started using the shower again, it put pressure on the pipe and that led to it busting.

To me, what he says makes sense but being clueless about this stuff I don't want to be taken advantage of. The situation now is he has stopped the leak and capped off the the rubber pipes. Wallpaper is ruined, shower has tiles removed and there is a hole in the kitchen ceiling.

His plan is to come back and use copper pipes to connect to the rubber ones. He saying he is not at fault so is charging additional money.

He said he'll -

Fix the tiling back in the bathroom
Fix the hole in the ceiling
Do the wallpaper
Change a kitchen tap we want replacing
Add a splash-back to the kitchen

All for £180. Am I being ripped off?

Mr.Generous

It will be the feed pipe to the shower not the waste, nothing leaks like that from pooling. Turn your stop tap off and open up taps before you go out and your leak will have stopped flowing in an hour or so.

Get the plumber back, no excuses you have a leak.

Doozergirl

This is a constant leak. If he isn't at your house now, he isn't coming. If his van is broken, he can pay for a taxi.

It's a proper problem. A small leak isn't a problem over a short period of time, but it can turn into a real problem. I'd have lost patience days ago.

naf123

Are you able to find the isolation valves of the shower pipes . Unlikely but who knows .

JackeeBoy

Update -

He came over to take a look. Cut a hole out of the ceiling which led to a bucket load (literally) of water coming out of the ceiling. Spent an hour or so looking for what the problem was and in the end, turn out the rubber pipe that was wrapped around a joist was leaking. When I turned off the mains, it stopped. Turned it back on and it started leaking.

This wasn't a problem before he came to fix the shower. We never used the shower but the mains were obviously always on. His reasoning was that when we started using the shower again, it put pressure on the pipe and that led to it busting.

To me, what he says makes sense but being clueless about this stuff I don't want to be taken advantage of. The situation now is he has stopped the leak and capped off the the rubber pipes. Wallpaper is ruined, shower has tiles removed and there is a hole in the kitchen ceiling.

His plan is to come back and use copper pipes to connect to the rubber ones. He saying he is not at fault so is charging additional money.

He said he'll -

Fix the tiling back in the bathroom
Fix the hole in the ceiling
Do the wallpaper
Change a kitchen tap we want replacing
Add a splash-back to the kitchen

All for £180. Am I being ripped off?

JohnB47

I can't add anything here but can anyone explain how a rubber pipe can be wrapped around a ceiling joist.

Rubber? Wrapped around a joist?

The only rubber pipe I've ever come across is the one coming out of a washing machine or dishwasher.

Doozergirl

JohnB47 wrote: »

I can't add anything here but can anyone explain how a rubber pipe can be wrapped around a ceiling joist.

Rubber? Wrapped around a joist?

The only rubber pipe I've ever come across is the one coming out of a washing machine or dishwasher.

Pushfit fixings, maybe, instead of copper?

societys_child

As above what is this rubber pipe?
He had to cut a hole in the ceiling to find it? Doesn't sound like his fault, but it's still baffling. Could it be a previous DIY bodge?


£180 for that list sounds like bargain.

JackeeBoy

So, when he initially took the shower apart he saw there was a rubber pipe/hose coming up. He said way back then he didn't want to interfere with it as it looked "dodgy". When we ran the shower then, we noticed no leaks.

So, the pipe that connects the shower to the mains is rubber/a flexible material. It goes from the shower, all along the floor to a point where we could not see it and thought it wasn't worth cutting out more of the ceiling to see where it goes.

The rubber was bent around a joist in the ceiling/upstairs floor. Imagine taking a hose pipe around a corner.

Mr.Generous

Was it really rubber? Not push fit plastic that bends a bit but actual rubber like a garden hose type flexi??

JackeeBoy

Like a garden hose.