Damp concrete floor in extension, tiles breaking

[rupertwelliams]

I was scanning the thread about tile breaking. Good thing, I found this. I also didn't go through my DPM.

 

[cammy0102]

As for a reply:

The standard of plumbing done, from the pics provided, does leave a lot to be desired.
Flexible waste connections, the bath waste flexi runs uphill. It should have fall from the outlet of the trap.
Concealed flexible water connections - installed where you have to remove tiles to access them.

As for the insurance - I would contact them as soon as possible.
If that's the standard of work being done at your place and places that are worth a lot more than yours, I would be contacting my insurance company sooner rather than later.

Better to be the first in and get a claim before someone else send him broke.

Once he's broke - contracts are about as useful as soiled toilet paper!

Guess who pays for rectifications then......You!!

Isn't that flexible waste pipe from the bath connected to the overfill at the top of the bath and then connected to the waste pipe at the bottom of the bath? If so it's not running up hill, it's taking waste down.
I have just emailed the builder and will ring him later. I mentioned to him about the flexible pipes.

To be honest, I don't think he's going to go broke any time soon. He's got multiple teams working for him on various projects across London and he's been doing refurbishment work for a good number of years. And I know most of his clients are happy (I saw a couple of projects before I gave him the job). It might have been this particular 'plumber' he used for my flat. But yes he's responsible for the work carried out by his men. I don't think he actually checked their work.

One thing I don't want to do is rip out everything and re-do it all which will take at least a couple of months. I went through a lot of stress during refurbishment and don't want to go through that again.

The other builder I spoke to said get the issue in the bathroom resolved and if there are no problems in other areas then don't stress about it. He said give my builder a chance to fix the issue. I also got this guy to check the flat after the refurbishment (albeit the cosmetic stuff) and he was happy with the finish.

If this is not resolved, then I will get insurance involved but not just yet.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

I think you should let your insurance know that you may be claiming to give them a heads up

 

[oz-plumber]

In that case, when you find out where the water is coming from, let us know.

You've had the pan removed, tiles ripped up from the floor, tiles ripped off the walls, apparently new plumbing throughout, surface water under the bath, surface water on top of the new tiles and you've requested information on unobtrusive leak detection.

But...your happy with the work done and the work performed by the builder.
And you even admit that the person who did the Plumbing may not be qualified.

If I were you, I wouldn't only be getting my insurance company involved, I would also be getting legal advice.

 

[cammy0102]

Sorry but your solution sounds like a knee jerk reaction. I would have gone with insurance if the builder wasn't cooperating but he is.

There could have been multiple issues contributing to damp - water trapped in the old floor from previous bathroom floor, poorly built floor in the extension and no DPM, higher ground level outside the bathroom and waste water going back in to the building and finally a leak.

There's no surface water on top of the tiles (the water you saw on the tile was the water in the toilet brush container which I accidentally knocked over).

I made an insurance claim for damaged drain pipes in the garden only a couple of weeks ago so not so keen to jump on to another claim without giving the builder a chance to resolve it.

I asked about leak detection tests as builder mentioned this. I am certainly not going to pay for this - it will be up to him to use whatever method to find the leak and fix.

I suspect the builder's guy will have to remove the bath and possibly a couple more tiles from the wall.

 

[cammy0102]

I spoke to the builder before and talked about all my concerns. He's sending guys to take the bath out and find the leak this Saturday. He's also going to show the pictures to his Corgi guy to get feedback on the work of the plumber he's used.
anyway he told me not to stress and that he'll take care of it. He said he'll use his insurance if he has to and also he'll do tests if they can't find the leak in the bathroom. Bit more relieved now.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

sounds like you have a good builder there.

 

[cammy0102]

sounds like you have a good builder there.

Not sure if you were being sarcastic but if you weren't, he's a decent enough guy and so far has been fully cooperating hence I don't want to go down Insurance route yet. I still haven't made the full payment either so he's not going to get the money until it's sorted.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

no not sarcastic at all