Dripping bath tap- fully tiled in bath

Fogle1980

 Hi, we are wanting to put our home on the market soon. 

However, the bath tap has been dripping slowly for a couple of years and has got progressively worse. It drips once every 20 seconds or so now. The bath is completely tiled in (it sits within a timber frame which has 60x30cm tiles on it and also has a tiled floor with underfloor heating.)

I know the drip will be obvious to buyers, however I don’t think there’s a viable solution to fixing the issue.

It has cartridges and when we had a leak with the matching basin tap we couldn’t even get the nut off the tap it was so stiff (about 9 years old) and had to replace it.

Ideally we’d like to leave the dripping tap as it is and knock some money off to the buyer. 

Or if anyone can suggest how we’d go about replacing the taps I’d be grateful. Our downstairs toilet is immediately below the bathroom and I’ve read about people accessing taps from the floor below but I don’t want to damage the integrity of the bath frame and floor and cause a worse issue.

i just wanted know people’s opinion if they were a buyer re. the situation? Thanks 

ThisIsWeird

Photo of tap?

You had it replaced, so fair chance the new tap won't be so hard to undo for a cartridge/washer replacement - worth a try? That' would be the best solution - a repair at little cost.

Fogle1980

That was the sink basin tap we had fully replaced, not the bath taps which are fully boxed in. 

FreeBear

Fogle1980 said: and I’ve read about people accessing taps from the floor below but I don’t want to damage the integrity of the bath frame and floor and cause a worse issue.

Having had to do some plumbing work underneath my bath by way of going through the ceiling below, trust me, you do not want to be doing it. Getting to a tap is going to need very long arms, and if the nuts are tight, you will really struggle to get any leverage. Should any pipework need modifying, you may as well forget it.

Emmia

How much money will the buyer want to knock off / are you willing to knock off? It sounds like to fix the issue the bathroom would need to be (partially?) ripped out - having just done a refurb, the possible cost of that would put me off, or would reduce my offer. It might also make me wonder what other jobs there might be to do...

Could the tiled surround be removed and replaced with bath panels by cutting through the grout line? I realise this would change the look of the bathroom though. 

victor2

If potential buyers notice it, give them a bit off the price and/or just say it's something you never got round to doing.

When we had our hot water tank and cold water tank in the loft replaced by a combi the cold bath tap couldn't take the mains pressure now feeding it. The plumber could not get the tap apart (destroying it in the process) and couldn't get behind the bath to easily replace it. As we were planning to refurbish the whole bathroom anyway, he just shut off the feed to it.

Took over a year to get round to having the bathroom done, but we still had a working shower!

Fogle1980

Thanks for your replies. I was thinking of knocking money off, as much as it takes as fixing it seems out the question. How much would you suggest? It’s the only main bathroom in the house and has a shower over the bath. 

ThisIsWeird

Post a photo, Fogle? It might be easy to fix the tap in situ.

But, how much to knock off? Nothing! Does anyone really view a house, clock a dripping tap, and think "We must knock a £enner off for that!"? Surely not.

In fact, I suspect most folk, on seeing a dripping tap, would just think "Must get a plumber to sort that...", and consider it a very minor issue.

If you have tiles falling off your roof, that's different...

Fogle1980

Thanks Emmia, unfortunately the bath has a tiled edge to the back and side of the bath of about 15cm so it couldn’t replaced with bath panels and would also affect the floor tiles. 

ThisIsWeird

Photo....?

Mutton_Geoff

I wouldn't even bother mentioning it or offering any money off as that makes it all look a bit more suspicious. A new owner may want to rip the whole thing out anyway. Just let them do their own survey and answer any questions honestly. I wouldn't be too quick in coming forward.