Faults in bathroom installation - slow leaks, water damage and mould. Idiots guide!

Indigo_and_Violet

Hello,

In May 2021 we had a new bathroom fitted.
3 weeks later a damp patch appeared on the bathroom wall opposite the bath. 
We contacted the bathroom fitters 3 weeks later (so 6 weeks after fitting) and sent photos of the damp patch/peeling paint. Unfortunately, at that point my other half thought the issue was coming from elsewhere and phrased our contact with fitters as such ("this doesn't look like it's to do with you but do you want to come and look at it?"). They declined.
We got some builders round to look for another leak - none detected. They recommended damp proof paint. Worked for a couple of weeks.
We got someone dodgy to do something with the plaster (OH still convinced it was rising damp not the bathroom). It lasted about a month.
We finally got a damp specialist round in March 2022, who took the bath panel off and found the bath waste pipe unsealed and water coming through the sealant. 
He advised fixing it and then leaving for a few months to dry out.
Fitters came back and enclosed the waste and re-did the sealant in March 2022. 
We asked them to come back and fix the cosmetic damage due to paint falling off. They came to do so in July 2022 but walls were still to damp. We were advised to run a dehumidifier (which we did). 
I got concerned that even after a 40 degree summer damp didn't seem to be improving. We bought a moisture meter. When pressed into one of our stud walls, it crumbled. Very mouldy inside. 
Water damage specialist came round a couple of weeks ago. Sealant failed again and handheld shower not properly sealed so when we use the water fall shower water goes behind bath and on to our concrete screed. He recommends complete removal of bathroom, hallway and kitchen floor, move out for 3 weeks, industrial drying, do various tests and then replace everything. Estimated cost about £15k not including rent etc on a spare living space. 

We've sent the report to the fitters who are coming to look. I have a copy of their contract with a 1 year guarantee but no copy of their public liability insurance (you live and learn!).

It's a leasehold flat. We only have contents insurance. I've notified our freeholders (who are great) and they've given me the buildings insurance contact details to speak to them but our floors and walls are demised to us. 

What I'm mostly interested in is where we stand regards to the bathroom fitters. The water damage guy said I should try to speak direct to their insurers, but fitters won't give me their contact details (although I might have a way of digging around). I would be happy with some compromise e.g. we pay for the new flooring material (as it's betterment) but I don't want to pay for all of it since it's their dodgy fitting that's caused the issues. 

My guess is that they will want to do as much of the work as possible themselves, but I'm not sure I want them back. I'd maybe let them do the bathroom but the drying and testing I would rather have specialists. 

I have asked the other half to check if we have legal protection on the contents insurance. He says he'll get back to me.  

So, what would you do/what should we do to try and do this as correctly as possible? 
 

grumbler

Indigo_and_Violet said:

...the bath waste pipe unsealed and water coming through the sealant.

Sealant or seal? I've never seen a waste pipe that needs sealant if installed properly. Anything relying on sealant is a botch.

tacpot12

There is no point trying to talk to their insurers. The insurers won't respond to you as you are not their customer. They need their client to refer the case to them, so you need to move to sue the fitters. You need a letter before action/

Your letter should recognise that by delaying referring the problem to them, they are only liable for the damage as it would have been had you refered it to them after three weeks rather than six weeks. In practical terms the difference in the damage will be relatively small, so an offer from yourself to pay 20% of the repairs (if they do them at cost) would be reasonable.

If the freeholder's insurance might pay for any part of the repair, talk to the insurance company before sending any letter before action. They may want you to NOT offer to make any contribution to the repairs at this point. They may also have some good advice for you, and may join you on any court action if they have to pay any claim from you.  

Indigo_and_Violet

grumbler said:

Indigo_and_Violet said:

...the bath waste pipe unsealed and water coming through the sealant.

Sealant or seal? I've never seen a waste pipe that needs sealant if installed properly. Anything relying on sealant is a botch.

Waste pipe unsealed so pipe coming out of the bottom of the bath, gap of about 5cm, pipe in the floor to take away waste.

Then water additionally coming through the sealant between the bath and the wall. 

Indigo_and_Violet

tacpot12 said:

There is no point trying to talk to their insurers. The insurers won't respond to you as you are not their customer. They need their client to refer the case to them, so you need to move to sue the fitters. You need a letter before action/

Your letter should recognise that by delaying referring the problem to them, they are only liable for the damage as it would have been had you refered it to them after three weeks rather than six weeks. In practical terms the difference in the damage will be relatively small, so an offer from yourself to pay 20% of the repairs (if they do them at cost) would be reasonable.

If the freeholder's insurance might pay for any part of the repair, talk to the insurance company before sending any letter before action. They may want you to NOT offer to make any contribution to the repairs at this point. They may also have some good advice for you, and may join you on any court action if they have to pay any claim from you.  

Thanks very much for this. This is broadly what I thought.

The difference between delaying 3 weeks vs 6 weeks is minimal (even at 10 months it was thought that it would dry out naturally once the leak was stopped but there were additional leaks not found at that point) but for me I'd be happy with an 80/20 split just to get it sorted. I think they will try to claim that the period between July 2021 (when we sent them photos) and March 2022 (when we insisted they come because we had videos of the leaks) constitutes an unreasonable delay, but we regularly had different people in telling us to try different things and we always did as advised. 

They're coming round next week and I'm going to ask them to put their thoughts in an email to me before I go to the buildings insurance. 

Thanks again.