Fixing concrete crack in ceiling

boongywoongy

I'm looking to buy a flat that has a crack in the kitchen ceiling due to a water leak from the above flat (twice!). What is the worst case situation (and rough cost) for me to rectify this? Does the complete concrete slab need removing and replacing? I'm just trying to gauge this so that we can budget accordingly. Thanks.

MultiFuelBurner

Why hasn't the buildings insurance or owners of the flat above paid for this to be rectified?

Section62

boongywoongy said:

I'm looking to buy a flat that has a crack in the kitchen ceiling due to a water leak from the above flat (twice!). What is the worst case situation (and rough cost) for me to rectify this? Does the complete concrete slab need removing and replacing? I'm just trying to gauge this so that we can budget accordingly. Thanks.

You wouldn't expect a concrete floor slab to crack because some water has leaked onto it.  Who told you that was the cause, and how exactly did they suggest it happened?

boongywoongy

Concrete is porous so as I understand it is susceptible to water damage. Actually, this is not the first time that I've seen such a crack. The seller has said that there was a leak about 7 years ago and then another during lockdown when the property was vacant. The plasterboard walls also shown signs of water ingress so I don't doubt that this happened.

boongywoongy

MultiFuelBurner said:

Why hasn't the buildings insurance or owners of the flat above paid for this to be rectified?

That is a good point and I will enquire but regardless, how is this resolved?

Section62

boongywoongy said:

Concrete is porous so as I understand it is susceptible to water damage. Actually, this is not the first time that I've seen such a crack. The seller has said that there was a leak about 7 years ago and then another during lockdown when the property was vacant. The plasterboard walls also shown signs of water ingress so I don't doubt that this happened.

Concrete can be porous, but water alone won't damage it.  The combination of water and frost could cause damage, but you wouldn't expect this inside a flat.  If reinforcing steel in the concrete gets wet it can start rusting, and expansion of the rusting steel can cause cracking, but you wouldn't expect this to happen with a one-off wetting from a flood.

Cracking - especially on the underside of a slab - could occur if the slab is overloaded, but the depth of floodwater needed to make a typical floorslab crack is unlikely to be found in a domestic setting.

You need to find out more about why the concrete has cracked.  It is possible water is causing this - for example a leaking water pipe embedded in the concrete - but typically if a floorslab has cracked there is something fairly fundamentally wrong with it, and if that were the case then the cost of repairs could be significant.

CSI_Yorkshire

MultiFuelBurner said:

Why hasn't the buildings insurance or owners of the flat above paid for this to be rectified?

boongywoongy said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Why hasn't the buildings insurance or owners of the flat above paid for this to be rectified?

That is a good point and I will enquire but regardless, how is this resolved?

Of course, the owners of the flat above will only need to pay for anything if they were proven negligent.

MultiFuelBurner

boongywoongy said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Why hasn't the buildings insurance or owners of the flat above paid for this to be rectified?

That is a good point and I will enquire but regardless, how is this resolved?

Well as you are only looking at buying you can other day it's a problem for you and ask the seller to fix or get a quote to fix the issue and decide if you want to lower your offer or not.

The concerning part is if the issue above is not fixed and if it is a water leak that continues.

Personally I might walk away from this one and perhaps the owner/tenant above really does not care.

35har1old

CSI_Yorkshire said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Why hasn't the buildings insurance or owners of the flat above paid for this to be rectified?

boongywoongy said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Why hasn't the buildings insurance or owners of the flat above paid for this to be rectified?

That is a good point and I will enquire but regardless, how is this resolved?

Of course, the owners of the flat above will only need to pay for anything if they were proven negligent.

Are you sure it's a concrete crack?
What usually happens in flats the under side of a concrete slab is batten with timber to enable the fitting of lights and plasterboard 

Jonboy_1984

Is it even part of the demised property, It is quite possible the lease covers any plasterboard but not the surface to which it is attached and therefore wouldn’t be yours to fix….but then flat owner would still contribute towards the freeholders cost of repairs along with any inflated management costs their agents choose to add(bear in mind there is nothing to say they have to choose contractors based on lowest cost).

ThisIsWeird

boongywoongy said:

I'm looking to buy a flat that has a crack in the kitchen ceiling due to a water leak from the above flat (twice!). What is the worst case situation (and rough cost) for me to rectify this? Does the complete concrete slab need removing and replacing? I'm just trying to gauge this so that we can budget accordingly. Thanks.

Hi BW.
Who told you the ceiling with the crack was a 'concrete slab'?
As you can hopefully see from other replies, it would be unusual for the actual visible ceiling to be the structural concrete slab that separates the storeys.
And it would be truly scary if this structural concrete layer could be cracked by a couple of water leaks.
Almost certainly the concrete slab will have a plaster finish - which can crack quite easily with a leak - or, more likely, it has some form of battened or suspended under-ceiling for both cosmetic reasons and in which to run ceiling light cables. That can also show cracks with a leak.
Something doesn't sound right. Could you explain where this, hopefully, mis-information came from, please?

And to add to other comments, the Freeholder of the block of flats is responsible for arranging the 'buildings' insurance, and each flat owner will take out 'contents' - if they want. The former covers any structural or fabric damage, and should also repair the cause of leaks provided it wasn't occupier-error. So, if the 'slab' is structurally cracked to the point of requiring repair (let's hope not), it would/should be covered by the communal buildings insurance. Tbh, it should cover cosmetic cracks as a result of a leak too.