Bathroom leak, downstairs light tripping.

Phil4432

So bit of a drama last night;

A couple of days back the shower partition leaked and flooded out the bathroom floor.  Last night, the kitchen light underneath the bathroom tripped.

Took the bath panel off to have a look, and found damp floorboards.  Also the baths overflow drain had been leaking beneath the U bend (second picture.)

Can't see any signs of a leak downstairs, and have turned off downstairs lights from breaker.  Am running a dehumidifier next to damp area in bathroom.

Have spoken with electrician, he said that he could look at it today but replacing the fixture might not be done until the area is dry next week.   He'd charge me an hourly rate for any visit.  So I'm thinking might be better to wait a few days until dry, to keep costs down to one visit.

My concern in the immediate moment is electrical safety, if there's anything more that I should do?

Also, are the plywood floorboards still safe, or would they need replacing?

Thanks very much for any advice.

Bendy_House

I wouldn't worry about the light fitting - personally, I'd just allow it to dry out over a week or two, and it'll almost certainly be fine after that. Your RCD has done its job - tripped when it detected a tiny earth leakage. Just leave that circuit's MCB off for the time being.

Why are you having the actual light fitting replaced? Once dry, it should be fine. Just give it time. (I've been there recently - sil phoned up in a panic - son left shower door open, and water pouring through ceiling below. Circuits tripped.

Two weeks later, it's completely fine.

The floor will hopefully recover and be ok. If the chipboard swells, then it's weakened, so that could be an issue. But if it hasn't actually swelled or sagged, chances are it, too, will recover fine.

fenwick458

what type of light fitting is it? I'd inspect the light, you'll either find water in there, this confirms what the fault is, and drying it out will fix it. so what I'm suggesting is to just remove the 2 screws holding the light to the ceiling and having a look inside the base, if it's full of water, tip the water out, dry it with a hairdryer and refit.
if you have a look a the light and it's bone dry, then you need to look somewhere else

plumb1_2

I’d get the bath trap replaced as it looks like it’s been patched up with silicone 

Ganga

Your floor under the bath looks like ours ,i had to remove a little bit of it to make the elbow fit and be accessible ,we had a similar leak but dried the chipboard floor with my wifes hairdryer after soaking up the bulk with kitchen roll ,bathroom floor and downstairs ceiling still looking good several years later so do not panic.

Phil4432

Bendy_House said:

I wouldn't worry about the light fitting - personally, I'd just allow it to dry out over a week or two, and it'll almost certainly be fine after that. Your RCD has done its job - tripped when it detected a tiny earth leakage. Just leave that circuit's MCB off for the time being.

Why are you having the actual light fitting replaced? Once dry, it should be fine. Just give it time. (I've been there recently - sil phoned up in a panic - son left shower door open, and water pouring through ceiling below. Circuits tripped.

Two weeks later, it's completely fine.

The floor will hopefully recover and be ok. If the chipboard swells, then it's weakened, so that could be an issue. But if it hasn't actually swelled or sagged, chances are it, too, will recover fine.

Yes, I took the MCB off for now.  I have a dehumidifier running next to it 24/7 for the next couple of weeks. 

With the electrical fitting, my electrician strongly advised replacing the fitting.  Of course, he may want the business.

The chipboard in the first photo is slightly bumpy to the touch, where its been wet but feels solid.  The crater underneath the U bend in the second photo, is slightly crumbly to to the touch.  There is a slight swelling around the base of the crater, though that may have been there before.

TELLIT01

If the only area of major damage to the flooring is under the bath I wouldn't be too worried about it.  The photo shows the foot of the bath supported by a timber cross member, so the flooring isn't carrying any weight.  It will probably be ok once it dries out.

Bendy_House

Phil4432 said:

Yes, I took the MCB off for now.  I have a dehumidifier running next to it 24/7 for the next couple of weeks. 

With the electrical fitting, my electrician strongly advised replacing the fitting.  Of course, he may want the business.

The chipboard in the first photo is slightly bumpy to the touch, where its been wet but feels solid.  The crater underneath the U bend in the second photo, is slightly crumbly to to the touch.  There is a slight swelling around the base of the crater, though that may have been there before.

Unless the light fitting is full of water and rusting away, I just don't see the point. Left to its own, it'll dry out just like the ceiling itself will.

The part of it likely to be causing the tripping is the ceiling 'rose' - that's where the wires are 'exposed' in screw terminals. The actual light fitting will have its wires fully insulated. Then there's the lamp holders at the end - did they get water?! (If the light fitting is LED/Electronic, that could be a different matter).

As Tellit says, chances are you'll be fine with the bathroom floor. And the bath looks well supported. Bottom line - a single, passing flooding like this tends to make a mess, but little more. It's only when materials are repeatedly made/kept wet - a loooong slow leak over time, etc - that real damage is caused.