Water,water

[jlw]

Tenants had only been in 6 weeks rang to say a damp patch on ceiling in living room. Went with plumber who found bath seal leaking. In a 6 week period this has been re-sealed 3 times including once of taking out the entire bath, sealing the wall and fixing the bath back with brackets. Still it leaks I dont know what they do in that bath!. Was in despair as to what to do next as they are still using the shower now carpets, floor boards, walls, celing - wet through. They have just said they are not going to pay full rent as I havnt fixed the fault and they are claiming £600 for damage to their goods out of the rent despite the fact that they have kept using the shower knowing there is a problem!. Am about to serve S21 as there are many other issues including discovering a "house" rabbit, so they only have two months left, would it be legal to get a plumber to de-commision the shower so there is no more damage from the shower at least to my property?

[Richlist]

I'd suggest you change your plumber/ bathroom fitter because fixing & sealing a bath is not rocket science......they can be fitted and sealed without leaking.

Are you sure:

1. Its not the shower screen/ curtain ?

2. That water isn't getting behind the tiles ?

3. Its not the plumbing or waste pipes/ joints ?

4. Its not the bath overflow seal thats leaking

5. That the leak isn't from somewhere else...washbasin/ WC ?

6. Your tenants are not overfilling the bath ?

7. Is the bath cracked ?

8. Is your plumber using silicon sealer ? Is it old & past its use by date ?

etc etc etc.

[Melboy]

With all bath panels removed fill the bath with water and check for obvious pipework leaks. Allow the overflow to fill to discharge and check for loose connections on the pipework etc.

Discharge the bath water and check for leaks.

Check the seals are watertight around the bathtaps as well.

Check the bath is not "pulling away" from the wall when filled with water.

Check for minor cracking in the bath itself.

Any person should be able to see where this leak is coming from and rectify it.

[jlw]

Thanks for both your replies.

Its nothing to do with the bath itself or plumbing as you can see clearly where its coming from. Im convinced its something to do with how they are using it, whether its weight (he is quite a big chap weight lifts etc.) or are they getting in together? I dont know. When the bath has been re-sealed it looks good - but when you go back to look it seems to have been stretched and no longer forms a good seal despite the bath being supported with brackets. I've heard that you can use oil to remove silicone sealant and they use baby oil. Plumber is council recommended bath has been filled with water and good silicone has been used. I think the main problem is because the walls etc are so wet (and yes its now behind the tiles) nothing will stick until the whole thing dries out. They wont stop using the shower, so thats not going to happen until end of tenancy in two months time. By then the walls, floorboards, joists will have been wet for months. Can I de-comission the shower? When they get the S21 they are going to care less than they do now if thats possible.

[Melboy]

I was going to say is it a cheapo bath? like the ones the DIY Sheds sell for £80?

We NEVER fit these baths and that is down to the experience of the bath flexing when under weight of water+ person(s) in the bath. The total weight factor is enormous when you think about it.

If these baths are secured to a stud wall it is know for the stud wall to flex under weight and allow water to escape through the wall tiling.

In your case you need to talk to your tenants and see where the problem lies and thrash out the cause and come up with a solution.

[Chestnut]

A bath used for showering should be a type with stronger base to accept concentrated load of standing user(s).

Once water has got behind tiles they need to be removed to allow wall to dry for maybe some weeks - then retiled.

Ensure (new) tiles go right up to ceiling in shower area. It took me ages to find reason for similarly described problem - water catching on half tiled ledge to wall below shower head would seap down behind and wait until a load gathered at a floor joist before quantity driped through light fitting below.

Decommission if you can to stop tenant making it worse (is damage beyond quick recovery anyway?) - how about making any tenants' contents compensation conditional on stopping use of shower?

[Guest tenants_from_hell]

I had a leak in the dining room which had the bathroom above it, and a seperate WC. I tested both toilets, both sinks and nothing was leaking. I tested the bath itself nothing leaked stil. I decided to "water" the tiles for sometime, checked and this caused the leak.

I took apart the old sealent (which was 15 years old when the bathroom suite went in!) and relsealed around the bath.

This stopped the leak, this was going on for a quiet a bit of time. Wish I did this experiment sooner.

I did the above tests one by one so I can eliminate them respectively.

Do as the above posters have posted, 1 by 1, and you might find your problem.

I also had a bath crakced once because I got a big tenant like yours, and he admitted he cracked it accidently and I replaced it. He has been living in the property for nearly 4 years. Apart from that, and the electric shower which packed up itself, I have had no faults/issues - sometimes tenants are good sometimes they abuse the crap out of the house.

[Richlist]

Good points.

When a circa 20 stone prospective tenant turns up on my doorstep looking to rent one of my properties the alarm bells always ring. Overly large people are never successfull applicants for my rental property.......I'll have to add that restriction to my list of selection criteria. I don't have any issues with overly large people per se but I do object where my property is concerned.

I had a particularly large guy look at one of my flats earlier in the year. What I remember was that he was so large and carried so much weight he had to sit down every few minutes as I showed him around the flat..........thats not something I'm prepared to accept. Even something as simple as keeping the property clean is going to present a major issue.

[jlw]

Thanks for all your replies greatly appreciated, its great to know you are not on your own. Only two more months of these tenants to go thank the lord its only a 6 month AST !! As this is my first let its been a very steep learning curve despite much prior research.

[jlw]

Great advice tiles are full wall but water has risen behind them as well as fallen below and its well beyond quick recovery. Just started negotiations with tenants dont hold out much hope though. They dry their towels and quilts on the doors (there is a line outside) and I have just had to ask them to remove a huge rabbit. Not only did they not ask, they though it was perfetly acceptable to have a flippin great cage and a bunny hopping around on new carpets(Ive got photos of the droppings.) I have a baby bouncing in a swing from one doorway and a weightlifting bar on the doorframe underneath all the damp!!. I could go on but you will probably faint with apoplexia. I just hope they dont refuse to move after S21 Thanks again for your reply.

A bath used for showering should be a type with stronger base to accept concentrated load of standing user(s).

Once water has got behind tiles they need to be removed to allow wall to dry for maybe some weeks - then retiled.

Ensure (new) tiles go right up to ceiling in shower area. It took me ages to find reason for similarly described problem - water catching on half tiled ledge to wall below shower head would seap down behind and wait until a load gathered at a floor joist before quantity driped through light fitting below.

Decommission if you can to stop tenant making it worse (is damage beyond quick recovery anyway?) - how about making any tenants' contents compensation conditional on stopping use of shower?

[chickpea]

Just to give you some hope - we had exactly the same experience with our first tenants a year ago. They managed to bring water through the lounge ceiling from the bathroom twice in 2 months, leading to irate calls from them, threats, stopped rent payment etc. After plumbing bills of several hundred pounds and reports stating that the cause wad misuse (leaving the shower running while out, leading water to escape under the bath, and disconnecting the overflow while at the same time running a bath so full, water was pouring into it), we were forced to get them to agree to leave the property after 3 months of the 6 months contract.

Luckily, we managed to get most of our costs back through the deposit scheme and get new tenants in who have never had any issues with the plumbing, unsurprisingly.

Steep learning curve indeed, but next time should be much easier, fingers crossed.

[jlw]

Thanks for your reply good to know its not just me!

Just to give you some hope - we had exactly the same experience with our first tenants a year ago. They managed to bring water through the lounge ceiling from the bathroom twice in 2 months, leading to irate calls from them, threats, stopped rent payment etc. After plumbing bills of several hundred pounds and reports stating that the cause wad misuse (leaving the shower running while out, leading water to escape under the bath, and disconnecting the overflow while at the same time running a bath so full, water was pouring into it), we were forced to get them to agree to leave the property after 3 months of the 6 months contract.

Luckily, we managed to get most of our costs back through the deposit scheme and get new tenants in who have never had any issues with the plumbing, unsurprisingly.

Steep learning curve indeed, but next time should be much easier, fingers crossed.