Help! Sorry long- severe water leak, HA property, need advice

A question about : Help! Sorry long- severe water leak, HA property, need advice

Hi

hoping this is the right place. We have had an ongoing problem with a water leak for nearly 1.5 years now on and off. We live in a newbuild housing association flat; however with all the damp and damage caused by this leak our flat now looks terrible and smells like a damp victorian cellar . Bit of background we had problems with the push button dual flush on our toilet from the start, it kept sinking in to the cistern and not working, we have two toilets but this is the one in the main bathroom. About 2 years ago it failed completely and when we managed to lift off the cistern lid; it appeared two plastic clips had completely snapped off as they were extremely cheap and flimsy to start with. We called the HA and they said they would just put a new part in as it would cost too much to replace the flush mechanism completely. This repair job lasted a couple of months if that. So they came out again and replaced the flush mechanism but were heavy handed in doing so and unbeknown to us they cracked the copper pipe that brings water into the toilet, causing a slow leak. We could not see or hear this as the pipe was covered by the wooden box at the back of the toilet.

Over time the slow leak caused a lot of water to build up under the floor and it somehow found itself a way through a gap in the concrete panelling that these flats are built from and started pouring through the ceilings of the three downstairs flats (we are on the 3rd floor), as well as causing extensive damage to our flat. However I could not locate any leak even though our bathroom had started to smell like a mushroom farm. Last January we got a call saying that water was leaking from our flat somewhere and I managed to prise off the box covering the pipes and found it right away. A contractor sent by the HA came to fix the leak although he did it with some type of pipe bandage and not by properly welding it or anything, and he was meant to write a report about works needing to be done to spruce up the damage caused by the leak to our flat; but instead repairs were only carried out to the downstairs flats and we were told the damage to our flat would just dry out, which for the most part it did but the wooden box at the back of the toilet was permanently damaged as were all our skirting boards; the glue and sealants on the lino flooring totally wrecked etc.

At the beginning of this month I felt fed up looking at how bad things were and decided I was going to phone them and insist they do the repairs; as the original leak was their fault and any damage was too, and there was still a mouldy smell in the bathroom ever since. I kept checking the pipe regularly and it seemed fine and dry as a bone but one morning on around the 9th of January I went in the bathroom and was hit by mould fumes, I just had a bad feeling the leak was back and sure enough it was though it was very minor at this point.

I phoned the housing association, explained the long ongoing saga and they said they would be sending the supervisor of such repairs over as otherwise we'd just end up with temporary botched repair jobs over and over again. They did this and the supervisor came the next day; he told the housing association customer services that they needed to book a repair, even if temporary as an emergency just to stop the leak and any permanent repair + repairs to damaged flooring, bath panels etc could be done another time. I agreed to this and stressed how much damage the leak caused last time and how I did not want to go through that again nor did I want my neighbours flats damaged again either.

However it seems the HA customer services just ignored the supervisor's recommendations and decided they would only send a team of contractors who could do all the works at once, including a permanent repair to the pipe and any decorative repairs. When I phoned again and again they kept saying how it was so hard to find contractors who would agree to such a 'big job' as it would take all day, while on the phone to me they kept phoning the supervisor who said the repair to the leak needing doing immediately and they still didn't get it and insisted on trying to find contractors who could do everything; it seems to save money but if the damage is more and more extensive surely its going to cost them more?

The water is pouring out now and I have told them this; I have spoken to a different adviser every time and they have made notes of this, as well as of the fact that the water is now flooding out of the bathroom and into my youngest sons' bedroom, completely wrecking the carpet and underlay, and also the back and side walls and skirting boards my sons can no longer sleep in there and the carpet is soaked with foul smelling water; I don't think it has sewage in it but it certainly smells horrendous. I warned them this would happen if the leak was left and they just don't seem to care. Nearly a week ago now I phoned them and explained just how bad the leak is now and the amount of damage it is causing and how by this point it must've gone through to downstairs and they said the earliest appointment they could give me was February 5th and still kept saying how the whole thing is a big job and blah de blah.

I have written an official complaint letter following their complaints procedure and quoting their own policy on repairs such as these; which states water leaks that cannot be contained and are thought that they would cause substantial damage to property must be at least temporarily repaired within 24 hours of the tenant calling, by the time they come out it is going to be 26 days . I have also taken photographs and videos of the leak and some of the damage though we have very dark carpets so it is hard to see on a picture just how sodden the carpet etc is. Is there anything else I can do? I am going to be back on the phone to them tomorrow again begging for at least a temporary repair to be done tomorrow or Friday, as per their 24 hour policy because by the 5th of February our hallway carpet is going to be destroyed too, the water will have started coming into our lounge (it is already in our WC which is immediately adjacent to the main bathroom) and I think the pipe will have burst as it is letting out huge amounts of water and despite still being covered by the wooden box you can hear it anywhere in the flat. I also worry that the whole wall behind the cistern is going to break as it has very clearly bowed considerably in the past few days. Unfortunately the water cannot be turned off just to that toilet or even to the bathroom on the whole because there is only one stopcock for the whole flat; so it would turn off all our water xx

Best answers:

• I can't give any help but you might be best posting this again in the house/buying and renting board - might get more responses on there.
• Is it the pipe coming into the toilet only? If so I would isolate that and use a bucket to flush to prevent any further damage to your home.
• Hi
  I did think of posting in the renting/buying board but there were more similar posts in this section than there. Unfortunately that pipe couldn't be isolated there is just one water supply for the entire flat so to stop water going into that pipe would have meant having no water at all. The only exception to this is the pipes that can connect to a washing machine. Its a problem with a lot of newbuild properties. The HA and the workman who came confirmed this to be the case. We could manage that for 24 hours, having no water but not without knowing when it would be fixed. Anyway on Thursday I phoned again and the young lady we spoke to then was really shocked said it should have been tackled within 24 hours to begin with and got a plumber to come within less than 3.5 hours. He took out a whole section of the pipe and put a stainless steel flexible type of pipe in, and put in new washers where needed and it seems it has been permanently fixed. The lady I spoke to on Thursday said they are still coming on the 5th (tomorrow) but more to put things right with the damage or making an assessment for a later date in regards to items that haven't dried out yet. I will also be making my official complaint as this took far too long and I am still not 100% sure if the carpet will need replacing in my sons' room or not, so far it seems to have dried out almost fully and the damp/mouldy smell is almost gone though it's still in the walls a bit, but it will take a couple of weeks to know for sure. Also our water bill is going to be astronomical. Xx
• Glad you got it sorted. I guess each new build is different, our house has isolation switches to almost everything, ideal when OH was putting a new flush a toilet a few weeks back, which is why I suggested it.
  Hope you sort the other bits soon.
• An update, we made a formal complaint about the time it took to fix the leak. It has taken them two months to address it. While they have refused to acknowledge any of our efforts to get the leak fixed except for our final phone call to them despite us having proof we phoned them several times , they have agreed that they took too long in repairing the leak and have agreed to compensate us Ј150 which is better than nothing. They have also replaced the flooring in the bathroom and WC. They keep saying they will replace the bath panel and sealants despite the fact most of the damage is to the wood panelling at the back of the toilet and the back walls, so we are going to insist they assess that and do any works needed xx