Evidence of leak in ceiling

28tsw

Second viewing this week and we are otherwise ready to exchange. Spotted water damage on kitchen ceiling under bathroom not spotted last time. 

What should be done at this point to protect us? I assume any building insurance policy we take out on exchange/completion wouldn’t cover it as it’s already there prior to a policy starting.

macman

Protect you from what? You buy the house as it is, the damage may be historic or there may be a slight leak. The vendor is not under any responsibility to repair it. You can ask for a price reduction if you wish to, it's up to you.
Correct, you won't be covered for a pre-existing condition, and the excess will probably exceed the cost of repair anyway.

ProDave

Well you know to have a look under the bath for leaks as soon as you move in.

davidmcn

macman said:

 you won't be covered for a pre-existing condition, and the excess will probably exceed the cost of repair anyway.

And it's probably not caused by an insured risk. Seems to be a lot of people around here who think their insurance will sort out all maintenance issues for them. 

28tsw

I was thinking more if there is additional damage (electrics, ceiling falling through...) in the future as a result of a previous leak. Not expecting them to fix what’s already there ...!!!

[Deleted User]

How are you going to fix a leak, find out if a leak is still active if you don't go in expecting to fix what caused the problem ie whats already there?
It could be a bath overflow problem, which still needs to be looked at because the overflow hole thing should have coped with leaving a bath running.

macman

28tsw said:

I was thinking more if there is additional damage (electrics, ceiling falling through...) in the future as a result of a previous leak. Not expecting them to fix what’s already there ...!!!

Then you, as the house owner, will fix it when the time comes. You want some sort of indemnity against future repairs? That's not possible.

FreeBear

28tsw said: I was thinking more if there is additional damage (electrics, ceiling falling through...)

Electrical cable is waterproof, so won't suffer any damage from getting wet. Light fittings and the ends of the wires may get a bit of corrosion depending on how wet they get, and also for how long.

Ceilings, depending on construction will tolerate an occasional splash of water. Plasterboard & gypsum turns to mush if subjected to prolonged periods of damp/water (months rather than hours). With lath & lime plaster, the wooded laths swell, causing the plaster to crack. The nails holding the laths in place will rust and eventually fail - Again, this takes months, even years of damp before a ceiling will collapse.

A one off leak will not result in a ceiling collapsing. It would have to be a major deluge for that to happen.

AdrianC

FreeBear said:

Ceilings, depending on construction will tolerate an occasional splash of water.
...

A one off leak will not result in a ceiling collapsing. It would have to be a major deluge for that to happen.

Even then...

A couple of years ago, we had a MAJOR leak. The bathroom was in bits, and the 22mm pipe taking hot water to the bath was capped off with a ball valve and an end cap. We have solar hot water, and it'd been a VERY hot few days - we'd been away, and only back in half an hour, so no hot had been used over that time. There was a bang, a whoosh, and a gurgle... and the ball valve simply blew off the end of the pipe, taking the olive and compression nut with it.

Mains-pressure, hot water. I know where the stop valve is, and I know it isn't seized... Even so, by the time I turned the water off, the hall below the bathroom had a good 50+mm of water over the tiled floor. Water was coming out of the ceiling in a lot of different places - I ended up poking a screwdriver through several areas to let it out.

Once it dried out? The ceiling's fine. Well, it's no worse than it was before.

babyblade41

OP's future house has a ceiling ??? wish we had had one. one poke and the whole lot came down  

As soon as I moved in just check under the bath to make sure there isn't a leak and then repair/replace everything else that will break/go wrong in the near future 

Falafels

Depending on circumstances and the actual policy, buildings insurance may cover water damage - though it's not worth it if you can do the work yourself. If the water ingress is historic, it's probably just a paint job anyway. 

Generally, if you're concerned about emergencies which might suddenly leap out at you, it's worth considering emergency home cover. More here:  https://www.moneysupermarket.com/boiler-cover/electrical-plumbing-heating-cover/

I had one of these policies for several years, and never claimed on it once. Was thinking of not renewing. Then, two days before renewal was due (and incidentally in mid December, at 11.30pm) I came back from being out on the town, turned on the central heating - and the entire house tripped. I was able to call out a plumber immediately, followed by an electrician the following day, and it was all sorted. I really hate to think what that would have cost if I hadn't had the policy... and that's if I could have got hold of anyone to do the work in the first place.