Leak on bathroom ceiling under flat roof

ic

Might find the tiles don't go all the way to the ceiling under that coving, at the very least not neatly.

bearclaws

Hi all, thought I’d update. Had a plumber round today who is convinced that it’s not the pipes. I gave him permission to remove the ceiling and wow - the inside is absolutely SOAKED. Timbers and boards are rotting, it’s a mess. Picture attached. Seems it’s definitely the flat roof, so got a builder coming round tomorrow morning to check it out. What a nightmare - pretty !!!!!! off because the previous seller is ignoring my calls in an attempt to get the previous roofer’s information. Oh well, the perils of homeownership I guess. 

neilmcl

Even if you had the previous roofer's details there's nothing you can force them to do.

bearclaws

neilmcl said:

Even if you had the previous roofer's details there's nothing you can force them to do.

The seller claimed it was done 2–3 months ago so I was hoping to see if there was a warranty or that I could ask them to come round and rectify the job. There's exposed wiring up there and all sorts. Got other people coming round to look at it anyway so I wouldn't force anything, just trying to explore all my options. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi BC.

Do you have Legal Protection on your household insurance? If so, call them up for advice at least.

Not really sure if you can force any issue via the seller or 'roofer' he used, but there might be a case to add some pressure at least. The seller clearly made it known that the roof was 'done' a few months back, so that suggests - implies - a level of expectation or confidence that you could buy the house with few concerns about this particular issue.  

As I said, I have no idea of the legal relevance of this, but I think it does put in to question anything said by any seller about their house. I mean, if a seller claims, in reply to a Q, "The central heating? Nah, no worries mate - that's been fully done a couple of months back..." is that a truly meaningless statement? 

BC, what does the outside of the roof look like? Does it look as tho' it's been recovered? If so, I think there's every chance of making a claim against the roofer for a job that's clearly been carried out but has failed. It might come down to a small claims issue, and how the adjudicator sees it. Ie - what's right and fair. 

FreeBear

bearclaws said:  There's exposed wiring up there and all sorts.

Loose cables flapping around in the void is not at all uncommon. Ideally, the cables should be clipped to the joists for neatness. As long as you don't have any exposed copper, it is reasonably safe - Maybe not up to current regs, which would be a different issue.

bearclaws

FreeBear said:

bearclaws said:  There's exposed wiring up there and all sorts.

Loose cables flapping around in the void is not at all uncommon. Ideally, the cables should be clipped to the joists for neatness. As long as you don't have any exposed copper, it is reasonably safe - Maybe not up to current regs, which would be a different issue.

Yeah, the wiring is coming out of the cable (looks copper to me) into a very wet area, so doesn't seem safe to me! There's a few really dodgy electrical things I'm finding in this house (oven switch put behind the oven so you can only access it if you remove the oven, hanging loose off the wall - that scuppered my plans to get a new oven fitted today as Curry's men refused to work with it!) so I'll add it to the list of things for a competent electrician to check out. 

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Hi BC.

Do you have Legal Protection on your household insurance? If so, call them up for advice at least.

Not really sure if you can force any issue via the seller or 'roofer' he used, but there might be a case to add some pressure at least. The seller clearly made it known that the roof was 'done' a few months back, so that suggests - implies - a level of expectation or confidence that you could buy the house with few concerns about this particular issue.  

As I said, I have no idea of the legal relevance of this, but I think it does put in to question anything said by any seller about their house. I mean, if a seller claims, in reply to a Q, "The central heating? Nah, no worries mate - that's been fully done a couple of months back..." is that a truly meaningless statement? 

BC, what does the outside of the roof look like? Does it look as tho' it's been recovered? If so, I think there's every chance of making a claim against the roofer for a job that's clearly been carried out but has failed. It might come down to a small claims issue, and how the adjudicator sees it. Ie - what's right and fair. 

Thanks very much for your comment, I'll keep it in mind. I don't think I have a leg to stand on, legally (caveat emptor and all that), so I'm find just gritting my teeth and getting these things fixed, but I'll probably have a chat to my solicitors next week once the builder has come to diagnose the issues. I do have legal cover with my insurance so I'll look into that too.  I don't think they'll cover anything (we only moved on Monday, so the issue was probably there before the insurance kicks in) but they might advise. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Legal Cover is usually very good for advice, even tho' they can not always take action. Worth a chat I think, see what they say.

FreeBear

bearclaws said: Yeah, the wiring is coming out of the cable (looks copper to me) into a very wet area, so doesn't seem safe to me! There's a few really dodgy electrical things I'm finding in this house (oven switch put behind the oven so you can only access it if you remove the oven, hanging loose off the wall

Exposed copper, not safe. So I'd agree it needs looking at by a competent person - Would be worth getting them to check the rest of the wiring, including the shower.. As for the cooker switch, it needs to be positioned to one side so that one does not have to reach over a burning pan to kill the power. That's been in the electrical regs for a long time. Moving it to a save location may not be an easy task.

I'd suggest investing in a stud & wire locator and check every wall before drilling any holes - I wouldn't be surprised if some of the wiring is running outside of the "approved safe areas" or at odd angles.

While you are messing around in the bathroom, a bit of chrome trim over that copper pipe would neaten the shower up no end.

bearclaws

FreeBear said:

bearclaws said: Yeah, the wiring is coming out of the cable (looks copper to me) into a very wet area, so doesn't seem safe to me! There's a few really dodgy electrical things I'm finding in this house (oven switch put behind the oven so you can only access it if you remove the oven, hanging loose off the wall

Exposed copper, not safe. So I'd agree it needs looking at by a competent person - Would be worth getting them to check the rest of the wiring, including the shower.. As for the cooker switch, it needs to be positioned to one side so that one does not have to reach over a burning pan to kill the power. That's been in the electrical regs for a long time. Moving it to a save location may not be an easy task.

I'd suggest investing in a stud & wire locator and check every wall before drilling any holes - I wouldn't be surprised if some of the wiring is running outside of the "approved safe areas" or at odd angles.

While you are messing around in the bathroom, a bit of chrome trim over that copper pipe would neaten the shower up no end.

Yep, I’m going to get an electrician in to sort out a few jobs and do an inspection while they’re here and hopefully can get everything squared away. Stud finder is important, agreed, we have one luckily. Thanks for the tip about the chrome trim - getting the shower replaced once the ceiling is sorted so I’ll make sure to get some.