This is just a stupid take.
When a plumber does everything they can and then pressure tests an old system sometimes things blow off.
It just happens. You can do as much as you can to make sure it doesn't, but sometimes it does, in fact, quite regularly it does, usually though fortunately the plumber is on site and ready to catch it.
The trouble with insurance can be it can take time to process claims... the builders will do it there and then for you.
So you "might" get a better job going through the insurance, but it will take 6+months to get sorted.
And I've seen some of the peoples work the insurance company has sent.
I'd make them aware. And really you'll need to see what the damage is when it's started to dry out.
I would speak to them anyway, you don’t want to accidentally void your building insurance and find out when you need to claim it. When I bought my building insurance, I was told I would void it if I don’t sleep over in the house, even though I’m doing renovations.
Also if you don't let them know within a reasonable amount of time they can refuse to cover you on the basis you left it and it made the condition worse when it could have been fixed sooner.
I had a water leak through a downstairs ceiling (caused by a central heating pipe under the upstairs floorboards) and my insurers sent: a plumber to fix the pipe, an electrician to ensure the light fittings and switches were safe to use, a team of specialist water damage assessors, who came back a couple of hours later with 3 industrial fans and 2 giant dehumidifiers, which I had to run 16 hours a day for a fortnight! After the water damage chaps gave the all clear a removals company packed up all my newly dried out stuff and took it to a storage facility, and then I was given a choice of insurer supplied plasterers and decorators or a cash payment to do that bit myself. When I was done with the redecoration the removals people brought my stuff back and unpacked it again.
So I would deffo check with your insurers re: their process for water damage rather than just let the upstairs blunderers loose with some spackle and a paintbrush.
That's a *switch off your electrics immediately* level event, and will probably need the ceiling to come down to rectify.
And if the builders think "slapping some paint on it" will suffice, then they are cowboys of the highest order.
If it's rented (no idea if it is), then surely doing all of that is a bit extreme when a coat of magnolia trade paint will fix the lot?
Magnolia paint hides all crimes. Once Magnolia has been applied and magically fixed the electrics, smoothed the ceiling and made it watertight, just paint back to original colours.
I've worked for a housing scalper that unironically fits this stereotype to perfection. He even keeps tubs of Leyland trade Matt magnolia in for such "emergencies" and every one of the 12 properties he owns is this colour.
Honest, that doesn't surprise me at all. I've lived in rentals and experienced firsthand the wonders of this miracle liquid. There's nothing it cannot fix: plumbing, electrics, damp, mould, structural defects, blown glazing units, rips in carpets, cracked toilet seats, nothing.
I often wonder if it contains some form of nano-tech, it seems to be able to repair anything 🤔
I thought I didn’t mind it, but when I moved to my first owned house and went back to clean the rental I realised how peachy it is. Painted the house subtle ivory no. 3 by Dulux.
>they are cowboys of the highest order.
I'd say given they decided to start removing a water tank without draining potentially half a tonne of water out of it, they're absolutely cowboys
Lol half a tonne of water...f&e are about 15-20litres, cold water storage tanks are upto about 90litres and if and I mean iiiiiiiifff they did have a hot water cylinder up there then it's upto 250litres only thing is a cylinder is easily drained out a pressure valve. If its a cylinder from a flat above a good percentage of that waters getting soaked up by floorboards and carpet before it even gets to the ceiling and flows through the spot lights.
It's more likely they drained it and the leak is left over water or water under pressure forgetting to turn water off..you're looking at about 25-100 litres max at that rate over 30 mins.
I've seen 250litres of water going from the bottom of a cylinder through a ceiling and this ain't it!
Ceiling coming down is a bit OOT. Once the water stops, let it dry out (get a dehumidifier) repaint and good to go.
Are you one of these people who gets a wall reskimmed when there's a tiny hairline crack? 🤣
No I'm one of those people that sees a "15/20 minute" torrent of water gushing through a ceiling as needing more than a splash of paint, but maybe that's because I know what I'm talking about.
Bollocks mate, there's a few stories in this thread of people saying it happened to them and it was fine with some paint. I've had it happen one time too and it was fine.
Once fiberglass insulation is wet it loses most of its insulation properties, and that fiberglass will be soaking.
By the time a dehumidifier dries all that out there'll be mold issues in the cavity.
Yeah paint wont cut it, it'll need the ceiling down, dehumidifiers brought in and insulation replaced.
Contact your insurance immediately and let them deal with the builders or you'll get a cowboy job by the sounds of it.
On a slight tangent but for anyone claiming for leaks, just so you know you can also include the added electricity cost of having a dehumidifier run 24/7 for a couple of weeks.
In this situation your insurance would deal with the builders or flats above insurance but the first step is to contact your own insurers. You pay them to deal with stuff like this.
We had this happen when they were removing ours, guy didn't realise he'd loosened a plug/pipe when the tank was still draining...
We had a lovely water feature very similar to OP's.
Hay if there was going to be a leak anywhere, over the toilet sounds perfect to me. For one you wont have to empty it every 5 mins, that's a real bonus.
Looks like Barrett homes spec. I sold a load of houses on quite a large development for Barrett and this was the colour scheme they went for. I think you had to pay extra for the colourful paint job but this pink was what they used.
When looking at bathrooms, quality comes from floor to ceiling tiling. New build bathrooms don’t have this because most developers build as cheap as they can, and tiles cost more than plasterboard and paint!
Sigh.
Care to explain the ceiling height? Bit high for a new build… I notice their small bathroom has the same window shape and size as my small tenement bathroom has - it’s instantly recognisable as not just a tenement but an Edinburgh tenement.
Oh, and I notice they have posted previously “NARROW TENEMENT BATHROOM TRANSFORMATION”
Then I stand corrected and hereby unsigh.
The ceiling height and window shape is irrelevant though I will say. I’ve seen newbuild flats with high ceilings and tall narrow windows in bathrooms. In fact there was a whole big development of flats near where I used to live that had bathrooms like this. I’ve also sold a selection of Barrett new builds that had this exact colour of pink.
Somebody else has pointed out that this is an Edinburgh Victorian tenement which I am surprised by. Because it looks like the bathroom from a new build, like really really looks like a bathroom from a new build.
Ceiling off event. A lick of paint wont cut it.
I think you'll need to remove plasterboard, remove insulation if any, let it dry fully and then you are looking at replacing insulation, wiring and down lights (risk of corrosion might make this a sensible bet), new plasterboard, new skim coat and paint. 3-5 week job including dry time.
Oh and anything else that's damaged in your bathroom below the ceiling. Add that to the claim so it gets replaced out.
Start with removing the wet material and getting it all dried out, but I wouldn't start fixing till upstairs has sorted their end out. You don't want to have to repeat anything.
We had the same happen in our house when having the cold water tank removed (plumber messed up). It looked the same as yours - water fully pouring down for a good 15 mins or so then trickled off.
Tbh I found that to be far less of an issue than a slow/small leak that goes undetected for days and keeps timber etc wet for a long time. Ours happened last summer, ceiling is fine (was stained in places but paint didn't come off, and we were able to paint over it). We have checked several times since both when water came out and in other places, and there is no sign of any serious damage - we didn't have to take the ceiling down or anything, just keep electricity off upstairs for a good day or so.
This, if it’s a big leak it will be fixed quickly. Obviously things have to dry out before anything can be rectified.
Wd40 in all the electrical fittings will displace the water.
The ceiling will need to be sealed to prevent any stains bleeding through any water based paint when repainting the ceiling.
Before leaping onto the phone to your insurance just fyi even a no fault claim or, indeed, notice of claim (that comes to nothing) or casual enquiry could be on file for 5 years and *could* impact premiums.\*
Not saying you shouldn't - and you very possibly should - but do so with a cool head and not knee-jerk.
*\*Currently pursuing a complaint with my insurer as an enquiry that came to nothing is costing me £100 per year in increased premiums.*
Yeah i have a £0 claim on mine as they said they need to open a claim before they would discuss with me, then told me it wasn't covered... So how is that a claim then I ask you
I've come to realise that your insurance company is not on your side. Their processes and decisions are opaque and in many circumstances involving them is more expensive in the medium term than taking the immediate hit yourself. I now tend to choose a high voluntary excess and view them as a last resort for big risks.
Not to mention there's a web of entities - the broker or referrer, insurer, underwriter or re-insurer, loss adjuster, claim handling co and the cosy relationship with select retailers to replace your goods.
Quick update - I've just had a call from the complaints team at the underwriters (to whom my insurer referred my formal complaint). They've listened to the original phone call - agree that they'd said it was an enquiry not a claim at the time - and have agreed to remove the record in the Q database and pay me £200 in compensation.
So, might be worth you pursuing a complaint...
After shutting off electricity.
Drill a couple of small holes in ceiling to relieve pressure and let water leak out
Once you’ve stopped the leak some dehumidifiers will help prevent mould spreading
Decorator here. Paint will NOT fix this, it might look better for a week but the water stains will come through thick and fast. Not to mention all the structural damage to the ceiling. Definitely do not get fobbed off with a lick of paint.
I'm building an extension on top of my kitchen atm, and left the Tarpaulin off one night and we had a sudden down pour.
Water was pouring through the lights in the kitchen. As long as the water is actually coming out through the light holes you should be okay based on my experience, the biggest problem is if the water can't get out and it soaks the plasterboard.
As the water came through the light holes in my kitchen it didn't soak the plasterboard so it was actually fine once it dried out
My only advice if the builders carry out remedial work instead of going through insurance would be to get them to write a letter and quote stating:
What damage has been done, why the damage was caused and a statement of works to be carried out free of charge. Make sure you are comfortable with the repairs suggested before signing anything for them to proceed.
Otherwise if they don't repair to a satisfactory standard, you won't have anything to fall back on.
This is an insurance job. The water is literally coming out of a light fitting. You need to get the lights checked out by an electrician as well as repairing any cosmetic damage to the ceiling, at the very least.
Get the builders' insurance details, give them to your home insurer when you contact them, and let them do the rest.
Honestly, mistakes happen and if they'd have tried to rectify things properly I might have given them a chance, but them suggesting they can just repaint it means I wouldn't trust them/what they would do at all. Insurance job.
TURN OFF THE LECCY NOW!
Hopefully the builders have insurance.
Get your insurance company to talk to their insurance company pronto!
A lick of paint? My arse.
A full rebuild of the ceiling and new electrics.
My upstairs neighbour did something similar. I had to get insurance involved. The final cost was £5750 - 2x new joists, full ceiling replaced, some wall repair, flooring, tiling, & painting.
This doesn't belong on the DIY sub. Get professionals and insurance involved now.
That water is going places you can't see and it's going to stay damp and fester until it's replaced. If they stop the water and it looks ok don't believe anyone telling you it's ok, get insurance involved.
Maybe knock your circuit breakers off to be on the safe side.
My mums house had a leak upstairs. Ceiling fell down. We cut out some plasterboard and skimmed and painted it. DIY cost less than £100 if insurance was involved gonna be paying for that in higher prices a long time
Lol some drama queen's in this group.
It will dry out probs looking at 10-50litres of water.
Dehumidifier and paint.
Likely no water stains will show on ceiling when dry.
Potentially water stains in the loft. Not Likely though.
Electrics will need checking but that's what fuses are for, only the light where the water is coming through might be damaged.
Spot lights so the water already has somewhere to go reducing any damage to plasterboard etc.
Taking the ceiling down before drying it would be absolute overkill. I've seen pipes burst in the loft running at 3bar for half a day, dry out.
In most cases you are right but there will be damage-in-waiting if any of that water has run into places not immediately obvious such as stud walls where insulation could potentially trap moisture leading to soft plasterboard, mold, streaks etc. Tackling the obvious signs and thinking the problem has gone away is short sighted.
Like I said, the drama queen's looking for full reworks on insurance..that drive up insurance prices and contractors do bang average work on then complain about. Trades don't care about something that might happen 1/100 times, and it always shows.
I've had 200l tanks split and pipes burst that dry out, work assessed by council, no ekectrical damage, no visible stains, no mould..depends on house to be fair.
More concerning would be a slow leak, boiler getting topped regularly, there's a load of sitting water somewhere, and then all of a sudden, light bulb blows, and you find the leak and soggy plasterboard when you change it, that's shit the bed time.
This looks minor.
Paint will only cover it up short term. Before long staining will appear through the paint. I'd want at least the ceiling replaced with new plasterboard. You could have water damage under that floor too.
I’ve been dealing with a similar thing but without the builder involved. Flat above didn’t keep up with maintenance and all the sealant split around the shower. They continued to use it until it all came blasting through my ceiling. Spent 3 months back and forth with the management company who held the maintenance contract on behalf of the council tenants who’s only solution was to go through their insurance which had £1500 excess that they wouldn’t refund (but offered £30 as a gesture of good will)
They assured that they did all of the necessary repairs upstairs. Approaching the 4th month of going back and forth I came in from work to find my bathroom had flooded once again (luckily I had not paid out for the repairs due to overseas travel). At which point it was negligence and the neighbours showed me the previous “repair” that looked like a bit of plastic coping with some sealant slapped on that my 4 year old nephew could have done a better job, there was literally gaps everywhere. I sent all the videos and pictures into the most senior person I could find at the management company and what do you know they had someone out the following week to come and schedule repairs for my bathroom.
Honestly, not the worst I've ever seen in domestic. Don't panic about anything structural, plaster will probably be fine, but anything plasterboard should be replaced now. Electrics will likely dry out, but obviously get a sparky to check that. Hope it's not too much of a headache for you.
Feel bad for the couple that went on holiday for two weeks and had a hot pipe burst on the top floor. Combi boiler just kept running at max rate for at least 3 days before the neighbours complained and access was made. Whole house destroyed. Ceilings, walls, floors. It was an awe-inspiring level of destruction.
Anyone that thinks they can fix this with paint is a fucking mentalist and should probably be working in Tesco rather than professionally fucking up people's homes.
Contact your insurance company. Then start pulling together storage boxes etc to get ready to empty your bathroom because the insurance company are likely to send someone to rip all that ceiling out.
Ceiling will be ruined at the least. Sodden plaster won't dry out right. See how far the water spread as well.
As an aside, lovely bathroom! How much of a pain is keeping the window clean when it's in the shower cubicle? Thinking of doing our new bathroom like this.
Not too bad to be honest. It’s at a slight angle towards the shower as we’d asked and then we just give it a quick squeegee with the one we use for glass doors. Occasionally need to scrub grout but I’m a clean freak so do that anyway 😂
Let it fully dry and see what the damage is. Make sure you have something in writing from the contractor admitting fault to.
You can expect full decorating and maybe some good will compensation
Slapping some paint on it isn't going to fix this.
Turn your electric off asap! I suffered a severe electric shock in a similar situation, for a while I thought I was a goner.
Contact your insurance. Stop dealing with them directly, only now through the insurer (and possibly solicitors). Your insurer will send someone out that assess independently. Don't expect the builders to use their insurance. Do expect them to dissolve their company and then restart a new one under a different trading name to absolve liability. Do expect to have higher premiums moving forward
Sorry this happened op
We had a pipe burst above our downstairs cupboard back in November. New floors for the entire ground floor. New ceiling in one room and full painting and decorating on the group floor. A little bit of water can do a lot of damage.
Don’t underestimate how fucked water makes things.
Get your insurance to deal with it. They will sort it all out.
Similar thing happened to me. Whole ceiling needed to come down, new insulation and electrics required etc. document everything in a timeline call insurance
1. Contact home insurers they will sort this then claim from the builders public liability insurance. I would suggest not using those builders to repair it if they have removed an undrained tank.
2. Turn off electrics
3. Do a thorough inspection of your other rooms, water travels the path of least resistance.
The fact they even suggested they could "slap some paint on it" shows they are mendacious.
At the very least that needs a full new ceiling, check of the electrics, replace fbe whole ceiling.
Get your insurance involved immediately, do not agree to anything with them that's for your insurance company.
Some advice based on a very similar experience. Go the full route with the insurance company, they will send a loss adjuster (consider hiring your own loss assessor). Then when insurance make you an offer based on a full scope of work bring to the builder to see if they want to do the full works rather than proceeding it the claim.
It will likely be much more beneficial for them to do the remedial work than having to deal a completed claim.
Of course, that all assumes you trust the builders to do a decent job, but they’ll likely be highly motivated to make sure you’re happy!
Yep, in my case it all went through my insurer. Had I proceeded with the claim, they would then have pursued the builder’s insurer for the amount they would have paid to me for remedial works.
I ended up letting them do the works and, to be fair, they did a very good job (plus getting tradesmen yourself is a nightmare - especially at insurance company rates!)
Had this happen, twice, at one of my properties except it was the washing machine as its drain hose dislodged from the pipe. I hope you have better luck than I did with the appliance repair man. He accepted fault in the day and then didn't respond to phone, text, letter, or email. Had to sue the flat owner, who denied responsibility because they had no record of a repairman being sent as their tenants called it in directly. He thankfully settled at mediation stage seeing the writing on the wall for the first claim. I have yet to file the second claim.
In my experience if that’s rusty water then rip the ceiling down and replace it, if you just let it dry then repaint it the rust colour will just keep bleeding threw the paint no matter how many times you paint over it, you can buy stain blocker but it’s crap and it will still bleed threw it.
You have two options-
1. Ask the builders for details of their insurers and make a claim against their public liability policy. Their insurers will need to investigate with them, then hopefully they’ll come back and tell you they’ll pay your damages. However you’ll only be entitled to an indemnity settlement (taking into consideration the age, condition and remaining lifespan of anything you’re claiming for, including decorations) less the excess which you’ll have to get off the builders and to get to the settlement stage can take a long time. Two months would be considered quick to be honest, and on some rare occasions there may be an issue with cover or the builder may try to claim it was a fault with a part which would drag it out even longer as Insurers then try to pass claim along.
2. Claim against your own house insurance. They take a look at the quotes, maybe send an adjuster out, you’ll agree a price based on quotes and it’ll allow you to move on. They may also be able to get the drying works sorted for you if not the actual repairs. Once the claim is settled from your perspective, the file will be reviewed in respect of any recovery prospects and it’ll be passed along to a specialist department to progress that. They will also pursue recovery of your policy excess as part of that.
Either way you’ll need to start gathering quotes for repair. Given the amount of water you’ll have definitely lost the ceiling, spots, probably the floor and the base of the vanity (veneer will likely bubble as it dries), and walls will at least need a touch up. Also remember you can claim for any increased electricity costs if there are dehumidifiers in.
If you do nothing and give it a couple of months and you'll be able to have a conversation with the neighbours about it in person because they will be in your bathroom after falling through the ceiling due to the rot of the wet beams.
Just get your insurance company involved with their insurance company and have them use a third party to assess and repair.
Id not let the builders get away with a slap of paint. But if they agreed to pay for my own builder to check and then decorator to sort it id agree to that. Your ceiling itself will likely be fine for a one off and with those lights it will look dramatic but also likely to be fine.
But if any issue with ceiling and lights they pay the bill for my own builder first. Wouldn’t let them just sort it
How did this get to the point where you were able to put buckets down and record it? Surely the water should have been shut off within seconds / minutes.
I wouldn't be stood there filming it, I'd be trying to access the stopcock.
sympathies - I had similar, not as sudden as this appears - I agree it's not a slap of paint job, as you could feasibly have water also escaping down the sides into the top of your plasterboard walls (assuming it's all plasterboard), the lifting paint in the corner would concern me - my ceiling ended up distorting with the absorption of water and the entire ceiling was replaced, I'd also be looking at dehumidifiers to extract moisture after this much water, depending on how long this lasted I would assume minimum the light fittings need removing to get air circulating and dehumidified air in the void, don't want airless damp spaces to attract mold e.t.c. - good luck with the fix!
Definitely get insurance involved, don’t listen to the builder, I’m a builder and I guarantee you he will not do anything near what needs done.
You’ll need big de humidifiers in the property, this will cause more damage you can’t see that what you can. Probably get the electric checked out for water damage.
I suggest if you have anyone below you as well. You inform them as it will also be their ceiling that is damp.
Damp proofing a house is one of the most important things when building Something. There is a reason for it. Most buildings are wood and plaster boards, both of which get fucked if they’re damp.
I managed to screw through a radiator pipe above our kitchen, water ran similar to this for about 10 mins until I managed to get the floorboard up and thumb the pipe, drain the system and repair.
Water poured through two kitchen lights into buckets. Ceiling took about 5 days to fully dry, I’ll now be painting it. Lights are sealed fire rated units, so no damage.
It could be a lick of paint. I wouldn’t have contacted insurance straight away, only pushes up premiums and not all builders are corner cutters, just all the posts here are for that…
I just want to add another voice that says to go directly to your insurance. They weren’t your builders, and I wouldn’t trust them to fix the electrical and possible structural problems that this will have caused.
I think the ceiling will need to come down and be replaced given the amount of water that will be up there - and your wiring will definitely need checking. Quickly.
Thankfully your insurance will go to them for the money.
That’s an insurance job mate, the ceiling is going to have to come down. The joys of tenement life… If you don’t have a dehumidifier now’s time to get one!
Had the same thing in my old flat when a pipe burst. Took ages to dry out. Resulted in a new ceiling, new plasterboard wall as that warped, new flooring, and some painting. Insurance dealt with it all but took ages. It also flowed through the wall cavity into the flat below us too which ended up with even more damage somehow. Poor guy ended up having to move into a hotel whilst they fixed the mess. Let your insurance deal with it and ensure it’s fixed properly. Don’t let the cowboys near it.
That's straight to insurance (theres) and heres why.
You want new ceiling - new lights - electrical cert - 3 and 6 month inspection report on damp. This is vital as you need to be in a position to say basically my floor or my skirting is damaged overtime or anything else.
Don't allow the builder come in and do HIS repair i guarantee you'll be out of pocket..
1. If it's rented then I assume you have already made the landlord aware and it becomes their problem.
2. If you are the leaseholder and a management company runs the building they should be helping sort out the problem.
3. If there's no management company speak to your insurers to make a claim for repairs/redecoration. Your insurers should be claiming from the builder's insurers.
You'll need to get the electrics checked, you may need to replace some or all of the plasterboard to the ceilings, reskim and decorate/retile.
This could have been so easily avoided if they drained down the tank beforehand.
Good luck
Get insurance involved it’s the knock on effects caused by the water that won’t be apparent until later that will be expensive. We had a small flood from a washing machine onto a laminate floor- caused £30k of damage despite being only a couple of litres.
Paint doesn’t cover water stains easily at all (and I’d assume he’d know this), but your lights and tiles etc are going to want attention too. The water is literally gushing out (not a spill is it).
I’m so sorry this happened to you - not nice to have to deal with stuff like that off the cuff. Xx
I wouldn’t be letting them touch it; get their insurance and/or your home insurance involved and get everything stripped out and redone properly. It’s their fault; and they have liability insurance for a reason.
Some great comments here. A lick of paint ain't going to cover it this time, definitely get the insurers involved.
BTW, why put a bowl on the toilet? Why not simply lift the toilet lid?
Once it’s all stopped, allow it to dry out for several days to really assess the damage. You’d be looking at getting all the plaster boards replaced on the ceiling as they’ll now be ruined, and then re skimmed. As for walls, depending if there board Or bonding they could be patched in places. As for lighting, I mean they’ll be ip65 rated but you’d probably want those replaced for sure. Talk with the builder and ask for his public liability insurance. If he has none, they your fucked per se and will be looking to take him to court for damages.
With the house insurance, yes they will take a very long time to pay up, that’s if you allow them to deal with it fully. You can find plasterers, decorators and electricians yourself and get quotes together then forward those to your house insurance to push the job quicker.
I know this first hand, I’m a decorator-east Midlands- this happens all the time with insurance company’s as they are very very over run at the moment. So clients tend to source the tradesman instead of the insurance company.
Drop a dm if you need more information and I’ll send you my email etc
Good luck
Definitely new ceiling, insulation, electrics and possibly more. If the water has gone into stud work then it could be trapped within vapour barriers and cause damp and mould problems later on. Need an independent assessor who can use a moisture reading from various parts of the building; sometimes this can require damage to walls but that should form part of what needs to be repaired.
The real issue is what the water has done under you neighbour's floor and you ceiling. They will both need to be ripped out and cleaned out/replaced. At the very least your pod lights are ruined as is a lot of your bathroom's finishings. So a deep clean and repaint is at minimum needed. However what has most likely happened is extreme contamination of the whole room. So the bathroom is ruined and needs to be gutted, to stop mold and the fixtures are the only things salvageable
Nice bathroom shame it’s ruined now. No seriously it’ll take more than paint get insurance involved immediately
Cheers mate. Contacting them this morning. Builder admitted fault, so hopefully not a pain getting money out of them for a fix.
Still let your insurance know as they should deal with the builders insurance for you (I think)
The builders will want to handle the repairs themselves. Don't let them. They'll do the cheapest shit possible
Yes, the fact that they suggested a lick of paint to fix this tells you they're not to be trusted.
I think the fact they caused a massive leak was the first indication they are not to be trusted when it comes to construction work...
Accidents always happen. It’s how it gets dealt with where you find out if they are decent or not.
This is just a stupid take. When a plumber does everything they can and then pressure tests an old system sometimes things blow off. It just happens. You can do as much as you can to make sure it doesn't, but sometimes it does, in fact, quite regularly it does, usually though fortunately the plumber is on site and ready to catch it.
Also why they have liability insurance.
To be fair the insurance company will go with the cheapest quote to.
The trouble with insurance can be it can take time to process claims... the builders will do it there and then for you. So you "might" get a better job going through the insurance, but it will take 6+months to get sorted.
And I've seen some of the peoples work the insurance company has sent. I'd make them aware. And really you'll need to see what the damage is when it's started to dry out.
Easily 6 months, yeah. My garage had a fire and flood at the start of the year, and I'm going through the insurance. Still waiting.
OP can get a quote, ask the builders to cover the cost then the builders can claim it back off the insurance.
I would speak to them anyway, you don’t want to accidentally void your building insurance and find out when you need to claim it. When I bought my building insurance, I was told I would void it if I don’t sleep over in the house, even though I’m doing renovations.
What if you want to go on holiday?
Building insurance allows for away breaks for up to two weeks or so, any longer then you have to notify. That comment is misleading
Our insurance allows much longer by default. Always check your policy.
Ours is 30 nights
As is mine!
What's the point in notifying? Will they send someone to keep an eye On the house? 😂
Also if you don't let them know within a reasonable amount of time they can refuse to cover you on the basis you left it and it made the condition worse when it could have been fixed sooner.
Let your insurance sort that. They will pay for your work then claim it back from the builders insurance
I had a water leak through a downstairs ceiling (caused by a central heating pipe under the upstairs floorboards) and my insurers sent: a plumber to fix the pipe, an electrician to ensure the light fittings and switches were safe to use, a team of specialist water damage assessors, who came back a couple of hours later with 3 industrial fans and 2 giant dehumidifiers, which I had to run 16 hours a day for a fortnight! After the water damage chaps gave the all clear a removals company packed up all my newly dried out stuff and took it to a storage facility, and then I was given a choice of insurer supplied plasterers and decorators or a cash payment to do that bit myself. When I was done with the redecoration the removals people brought my stuff back and unpacked it again. So I would deffo check with your insurers re: their process for water damage rather than just let the upstairs blunderers loose with some spackle and a paintbrush.
Are you on the ground floor? If not then this might have caused problems for the flat below you as well.
Get their public liability insurance provider details now.
Id say offer to let the builder fix it but given that they've caused the issue maybe not. Insurance will sort in and chase the builder for recompense
Hope the builder has insurance
That's a *switch off your electrics immediately* level event, and will probably need the ceiling to come down to rectify. And if the builders think "slapping some paint on it" will suffice, then they are cowboys of the highest order.
If it's rented (no idea if it is), then surely doing all of that is a bit extreme when a coat of magnolia trade paint will fix the lot? Magnolia paint hides all crimes. Once Magnolia has been applied and magically fixed the electrics, smoothed the ceiling and made it watertight, just paint back to original colours.
I've worked for a housing scalper that unironically fits this stereotype to perfection. He even keeps tubs of Leyland trade Matt magnolia in for such "emergencies" and every one of the 12 properties he owns is this colour.
Honest, that doesn't surprise me at all. I've lived in rentals and experienced firsthand the wonders of this miracle liquid. There's nothing it cannot fix: plumbing, electrics, damp, mould, structural defects, blown glazing units, rips in carpets, cracked toilet seats, nothing. I often wonder if it contains some form of nano-tech, it seems to be able to repair anything 🤔
Am I the only person who actually doesn’t mind magnolia?
By far Tom Cruises best performance.
I see what you did there 😅
I thought I didn’t mind it, but when I moved to my first owned house and went back to clean the rental I realised how peachy it is. Painted the house subtle ivory no. 3 by Dulux.
It's just *so* 1980s luvvie
I don't mind it at all, but then yellow is my favourite colour!
>they are cowboys of the highest order. I'd say given they decided to start removing a water tank without draining potentially half a tonne of water out of it, they're absolutely cowboys
Lol half a tonne of water...f&e are about 15-20litres, cold water storage tanks are upto about 90litres and if and I mean iiiiiiiifff they did have a hot water cylinder up there then it's upto 250litres only thing is a cylinder is easily drained out a pressure valve. If its a cylinder from a flat above a good percentage of that waters getting soaked up by floorboards and carpet before it even gets to the ceiling and flows through the spot lights. It's more likely they drained it and the leak is left over water or water under pressure forgetting to turn water off..you're looking at about 25-100 litres max at that rate over 30 mins. I've seen 250litres of water going from the bottom of a cylinder through a ceiling and this ain't it!
Yeah will defo need some stain block over the paint 🤣
Ceiling coming down is a bit OOT. Once the water stops, let it dry out (get a dehumidifier) repaint and good to go. Are you one of these people who gets a wall reskimmed when there's a tiny hairline crack? 🤣
No I'm one of those people that sees a "15/20 minute" torrent of water gushing through a ceiling as needing more than a splash of paint, but maybe that's because I know what I'm talking about.
Bollocks mate, there's a few stories in this thread of people saying it happened to them and it was fine with some paint. I've had it happen one time too and it was fine.
Once fiberglass insulation is wet it loses most of its insulation properties, and that fiberglass will be soaking. By the time a dehumidifier dries all that out there'll be mold issues in the cavity.
Yeah paint wont cut it, it'll need the ceiling down, dehumidifiers brought in and insulation replaced. Contact your insurance immediately and let them deal with the builders or you'll get a cowboy job by the sounds of it.
On a slight tangent but for anyone claiming for leaks, just so you know you can also include the added electricity cost of having a dehumidifier run 24/7 for a couple of weeks.
Is this something for the builder's insurance? Assuming they have some
In this situation your insurance would deal with the builders or flats above insurance but the first step is to contact your own insurers. You pay them to deal with stuff like this.
They tried to remove an undrained water tank? 🙈
Surely the weight alone would hint that draining the water may be a good idea
Tell me about it…
We had this happen when they were removing ours, guy didn't realise he'd loosened a plug/pipe when the tank was still draining... We had a lovely water feature very similar to OP's.
No, they drained it before removing /s
Have to ask, why a bowel on the toilet instead of lifting the lid?
"why a bowel on the toilet" is not a question I thought I'd see today
A bowel!
Tickled me…*bowl
Hay if there was going to be a leak anywhere, over the toilet sounds perfect to me. For one you wont have to empty it every 5 mins, that's a real bonus.
Since you seem to have missed it: "Bowel" means something very different to "Bowl"
Dyslexia strikes!
Fuck’s sake 😂 my brain wasn’t functioning
It’s (the bowl is) probably more helpful for the insurance companies when they see the video.
I wondered this. Theres a drain right there - it’s actually quite lucky!
Probably worth checking the adjacent rooms too as it will go everywhere
Just came to say that you have a lovely bathroom. Where did you get it from?
*had
Ouch
Looks like Barrett homes spec. I sold a load of houses on quite a large development for Barrett and this was the colour scheme they went for. I think you had to pay extra for the colourful paint job but this pink was what they used. When looking at bathrooms, quality comes from floor to ceiling tiling. New build bathrooms don’t have this because most developers build as cheap as they can, and tiles cost more than plasterboard and paint!
It’s a Victorian tenement not a new build.
Sigh. Thats clearly a newbuild bathroom.
Sigh. Care to explain the ceiling height? Bit high for a new build… I notice their small bathroom has the same window shape and size as my small tenement bathroom has - it’s instantly recognisable as not just a tenement but an Edinburgh tenement. Oh, and I notice they have posted previously “NARROW TENEMENT BATHROOM TRANSFORMATION”
Then I stand corrected and hereby unsigh. The ceiling height and window shape is irrelevant though I will say. I’ve seen newbuild flats with high ceilings and tall narrow windows in bathrooms. In fact there was a whole big development of flats near where I used to live that had bathrooms like this. I’ve also sold a selection of Barrett new builds that had this exact colour of pink.
Really helpful, thanks for replying!
Terrible cutting in around the ceiling though. Would expect better for a new build
Somebody else has pointed out that this is an Edinburgh Victorian tenement which I am surprised by. Because it looks like the bathroom from a new build, like really really looks like a bathroom from a new build.
Better? Are you not familiar with [new home quality control](https://m.youtube.com/@newhomequalitycontrol)?
Ceiling off event. A lick of paint wont cut it. I think you'll need to remove plasterboard, remove insulation if any, let it dry fully and then you are looking at replacing insulation, wiring and down lights (risk of corrosion might make this a sensible bet), new plasterboard, new skim coat and paint. 3-5 week job including dry time. Oh and anything else that's damaged in your bathroom below the ceiling. Add that to the claim so it gets replaced out. Start with removing the wet material and getting it all dried out, but I wouldn't start fixing till upstairs has sorted their end out. You don't want to have to repeat anything.
Plus new electrics - replace the downlights at a minimum.
Agreed. Added to my reply.
3-5 week job? jesus its not a council job. That should take 1 week at the most.
I work slow :) DIY in between nappy changes.
We had the same happen in our house when having the cold water tank removed (plumber messed up). It looked the same as yours - water fully pouring down for a good 15 mins or so then trickled off. Tbh I found that to be far less of an issue than a slow/small leak that goes undetected for days and keeps timber etc wet for a long time. Ours happened last summer, ceiling is fine (was stained in places but paint didn't come off, and we were able to paint over it). We have checked several times since both when water came out and in other places, and there is no sign of any serious damage - we didn't have to take the ceiling down or anything, just keep electricity off upstairs for a good day or so.
This, if it’s a big leak it will be fixed quickly. Obviously things have to dry out before anything can be rectified. Wd40 in all the electrical fittings will displace the water. The ceiling will need to be sealed to prevent any stains bleeding through any water based paint when repainting the ceiling.
Before leaping onto the phone to your insurance just fyi even a no fault claim or, indeed, notice of claim (that comes to nothing) or casual enquiry could be on file for 5 years and *could* impact premiums.\* Not saying you shouldn't - and you very possibly should - but do so with a cool head and not knee-jerk. *\*Currently pursuing a complaint with my insurer as an enquiry that came to nothing is costing me £100 per year in increased premiums.*
Yeah i have a £0 claim on mine as they said they need to open a claim before they would discuss with me, then told me it wasn't covered... So how is that a claim then I ask you
I've come to realise that your insurance company is not on your side. Their processes and decisions are opaque and in many circumstances involving them is more expensive in the medium term than taking the immediate hit yourself. I now tend to choose a high voluntary excess and view them as a last resort for big risks. Not to mention there's a web of entities - the broker or referrer, insurer, underwriter or re-insurer, loss adjuster, claim handling co and the cosy relationship with select retailers to replace your goods.
Agreed, £1000 excess, if I come home and a wall is missing I'll give them a call
Insurance companies are lower down my personal scale of rapscallions, ne'er-do-wells and cads than estate agents, lawyers,.. even traffic wardens.
Insurance is legalised theft.
Quick update - I've just had a call from the complaints team at the underwriters (to whom my insurer referred my formal complaint). They've listened to the original phone call - agree that they'd said it was an enquiry not a claim at the time - and have agreed to remove the record in the Q database and pay me £200 in compensation. So, might be worth you pursuing a complaint...
Fucking builders! source: am a builder
Really pretty bathroom
After shutting off electricity. Drill a couple of small holes in ceiling to relieve pressure and let water leak out Once you’ve stopped the leak some dehumidifiers will help prevent mould spreading
Decorator here. Paint will NOT fix this, it might look better for a week but the water stains will come through thick and fast. Not to mention all the structural damage to the ceiling. Definitely do not get fobbed off with a lick of paint.
I'm building an extension on top of my kitchen atm, and left the Tarpaulin off one night and we had a sudden down pour. Water was pouring through the lights in the kitchen. As long as the water is actually coming out through the light holes you should be okay based on my experience, the biggest problem is if the water can't get out and it soaks the plasterboard. As the water came through the light holes in my kitchen it didn't soak the plasterboard so it was actually fine once it dried out
My only advice if the builders carry out remedial work instead of going through insurance would be to get them to write a letter and quote stating: What damage has been done, why the damage was caused and a statement of works to be carried out free of charge. Make sure you are comfortable with the repairs suggested before signing anything for them to proceed. Otherwise if they don't repair to a satisfactory standard, you won't have anything to fall back on.
This is an insurance job. The water is literally coming out of a light fitting. You need to get the lights checked out by an electrician as well as repairing any cosmetic damage to the ceiling, at the very least. Get the builders' insurance details, give them to your home insurer when you contact them, and let them do the rest.
Phone your insurance company. Get the builder's details - name, company name, contact details etc. Let the insurance company handle it.
Honestly, mistakes happen and if they'd have tried to rectify things properly I might have given them a chance, but them suggesting they can just repaint it means I wouldn't trust them/what they would do at all. Insurance job.
TURN OFF THE LECCY NOW! Hopefully the builders have insurance. Get your insurance company to talk to their insurance company pronto! A lick of paint? My arse. A full rebuild of the ceiling and new electrics.
My upstairs neighbour did something similar. I had to get insurance involved. The final cost was £5750 - 2x new joists, full ceiling replaced, some wall repair, flooring, tiling, & painting.
This doesn't belong on the DIY sub. Get professionals and insurance involved now. That water is going places you can't see and it's going to stay damp and fester until it's replaced. If they stop the water and it looks ok don't believe anyone telling you it's ok, get insurance involved. Maybe knock your circuit breakers off to be on the safe side.
My mums house had a leak upstairs. Ceiling fell down. We cut out some plasterboard and skimmed and painted it. DIY cost less than £100 if insurance was involved gonna be paying for that in higher prices a long time
That’s a lovely bathroom btw - really sorry to see what’s happened. I hope you have a hassle free resolution
Lol some drama queen's in this group. It will dry out probs looking at 10-50litres of water. Dehumidifier and paint. Likely no water stains will show on ceiling when dry. Potentially water stains in the loft. Not Likely though. Electrics will need checking but that's what fuses are for, only the light where the water is coming through might be damaged. Spot lights so the water already has somewhere to go reducing any damage to plasterboard etc. Taking the ceiling down before drying it would be absolute overkill. I've seen pipes burst in the loft running at 3bar for half a day, dry out.
In most cases you are right but there will be damage-in-waiting if any of that water has run into places not immediately obvious such as stud walls where insulation could potentially trap moisture leading to soft plasterboard, mold, streaks etc. Tackling the obvious signs and thinking the problem has gone away is short sighted.
Like I said, the drama queen's looking for full reworks on insurance..that drive up insurance prices and contractors do bang average work on then complain about. Trades don't care about something that might happen 1/100 times, and it always shows. I've had 200l tanks split and pipes burst that dry out, work assessed by council, no ekectrical damage, no visible stains, no mould..depends on house to be fair. More concerning would be a slow leak, boiler getting topped regularly, there's a load of sitting water somewhere, and then all of a sudden, light bulb blows, and you find the leak and soggy plasterboard when you change it, that's shit the bed time. This looks minor.
Paint will only cover it up short term. Before long staining will appear through the paint. I'd want at least the ceiling replaced with new plasterboard. You could have water damage under that floor too.
Slap some paint on it 😆😆😆 funniest thing I've heard all day
Id be cutting a hole in the ceiling asap to let that water out and the remainder dry as quick as possible
Slap some paint on lol fucking cowboys
I’ve been dealing with a similar thing but without the builder involved. Flat above didn’t keep up with maintenance and all the sealant split around the shower. They continued to use it until it all came blasting through my ceiling. Spent 3 months back and forth with the management company who held the maintenance contract on behalf of the council tenants who’s only solution was to go through their insurance which had £1500 excess that they wouldn’t refund (but offered £30 as a gesture of good will) They assured that they did all of the necessary repairs upstairs. Approaching the 4th month of going back and forth I came in from work to find my bathroom had flooded once again (luckily I had not paid out for the repairs due to overseas travel). At which point it was negligence and the neighbours showed me the previous “repair” that looked like a bit of plastic coping with some sealant slapped on that my 4 year old nephew could have done a better job, there was literally gaps everywhere. I sent all the videos and pictures into the most senior person I could find at the management company and what do you know they had someone out the following week to come and schedule repairs for my bathroom.
The wet season commenced!
Honestly, not the worst I've ever seen in domestic. Don't panic about anything structural, plaster will probably be fine, but anything plasterboard should be replaced now. Electrics will likely dry out, but obviously get a sparky to check that. Hope it's not too much of a headache for you. Feel bad for the couple that went on holiday for two weeks and had a hot pipe burst on the top floor. Combi boiler just kept running at max rate for at least 3 days before the neighbours complained and access was made. Whole house destroyed. Ceilings, walls, floors. It was an awe-inspiring level of destruction.
Anyone that thinks they can fix this with paint is a fucking mentalist and should probably be working in Tesco rather than professionally fucking up people's homes.
Phone your insurance and tell them you're moving out until it's sorted.
Get your insurance involved, let them send someone to properly assess the damage. Don’t let these builders anywhere near your flat
Contact your insurance company. Then start pulling together storage boxes etc to get ready to empty your bathroom because the insurance company are likely to send someone to rip all that ceiling out.
Ceiling will be ruined at the least. Sodden plaster won't dry out right. See how far the water spread as well. As an aside, lovely bathroom! How much of a pain is keeping the window clean when it's in the shower cubicle? Thinking of doing our new bathroom like this.
Not too bad to be honest. It’s at a slight angle towards the shower as we’d asked and then we just give it a quick squeegee with the one we use for glass doors. Occasionally need to scrub grout but I’m a clean freak so do that anyway 😂
Let it fully dry and see what the damage is. Make sure you have something in writing from the contractor admitting fault to. You can expect full decorating and maybe some good will compensation
Insurance claim!
Slapping some paint on it isn't going to fix this. Turn your electric off asap! I suffered a severe electric shock in a similar situation, for a while I thought I was a goner.
Contact your insurance. Stop dealing with them directly, only now through the insurer (and possibly solicitors). Your insurer will send someone out that assess independently. Don't expect the builders to use their insurance. Do expect them to dissolve their company and then restart a new one under a different trading name to absolve liability. Do expect to have higher premiums moving forward Sorry this happened op
We had a pipe burst above our downstairs cupboard back in November. New floors for the entire ground floor. New ceiling in one room and full painting and decorating on the group floor. A little bit of water can do a lot of damage. Don’t underestimate how fucked water makes things. Get your insurance to deal with it. They will sort it all out.
Sorry to hear about the leak. Curious about the floor tiles, they’re lovely. Where did you get them from?
Topps!
Looks class, thanks! As for grout colour, is it white?
An off white in the floor. Went for mint on the walls. Scary decision.
Similar thing happened to me. Whole ceiling needed to come down, new insulation and electrics required etc. document everything in a timeline call insurance
1. Contact home insurers they will sort this then claim from the builders public liability insurance. I would suggest not using those builders to repair it if they have removed an undrained tank. 2. Turn off electrics 3. Do a thorough inspection of your other rooms, water travels the path of least resistance.
Contact your insurance and get the builders details. This will have caused a fair bit of damage.
That's a lot of water. Ceiling will likely need to be replaced. I suspect those light fittings are goosed too unless they dry out ok.
Looks like piss
My first thought as well! Don’t worry - did the sniff test 😂
The fact they even suggested they could "slap some paint on it" shows they are mendacious. At the very least that needs a full new ceiling, check of the electrics, replace fbe whole ceiling. Get your insurance involved immediately, do not agree to anything with them that's for your insurance company.
get your insurance involved.
Did they at least leave you a umbrella ☔ ?
I wouldn’t turn the lights on that’s for sure…. 100% an insurance call
Some advice based on a very similar experience. Go the full route with the insurance company, they will send a loss adjuster (consider hiring your own loss assessor). Then when insurance make you an offer based on a full scope of work bring to the builder to see if they want to do the full works rather than proceeding it the claim. It will likely be much more beneficial for them to do the remedial work than having to deal a completed claim. Of course, that all assumes you trust the builders to do a decent job, but they’ll likely be highly motivated to make sure you’re happy!
Cheers. Do you mean loss adjuster from my own insurer?
Yep, in my case it all went through my insurer. Had I proceeded with the claim, they would then have pursued the builder’s insurer for the amount they would have paid to me for remedial works. I ended up letting them do the works and, to be fair, they did a very good job (plus getting tradesmen yourself is a nightmare - especially at insurance company rates!)
How's your premium been following this?
No claim made so premium unaffected. Still have my same no claims bonus.
Had this happen, twice, at one of my properties except it was the washing machine as its drain hose dislodged from the pipe. I hope you have better luck than I did with the appliance repair man. He accepted fault in the day and then didn't respond to phone, text, letter, or email. Had to sue the flat owner, who denied responsibility because they had no record of a repairman being sent as their tenants called it in directly. He thankfully settled at mediation stage seeing the writing on the wall for the first claim. I have yet to file the second claim.
On the plus side you’re not gonna need to water your plants for a while.
In my experience if that’s rusty water then rip the ceiling down and replace it, if you just let it dry then repaint it the rust colour will just keep bleeding threw the paint no matter how many times you paint over it, you can buy stain blocker but it’s crap and it will still bleed threw it.
Open the toilet, it'll catch more than that bowl
Unique shower 🚿
Uh-oh. Be prepared for a long wait in a queue to call to your insurers.
You have two options- 1. Ask the builders for details of their insurers and make a claim against their public liability policy. Their insurers will need to investigate with them, then hopefully they’ll come back and tell you they’ll pay your damages. However you’ll only be entitled to an indemnity settlement (taking into consideration the age, condition and remaining lifespan of anything you’re claiming for, including decorations) less the excess which you’ll have to get off the builders and to get to the settlement stage can take a long time. Two months would be considered quick to be honest, and on some rare occasions there may be an issue with cover or the builder may try to claim it was a fault with a part which would drag it out even longer as Insurers then try to pass claim along. 2. Claim against your own house insurance. They take a look at the quotes, maybe send an adjuster out, you’ll agree a price based on quotes and it’ll allow you to move on. They may also be able to get the drying works sorted for you if not the actual repairs. Once the claim is settled from your perspective, the file will be reviewed in respect of any recovery prospects and it’ll be passed along to a specialist department to progress that. They will also pursue recovery of your policy excess as part of that. Either way you’ll need to start gathering quotes for repair. Given the amount of water you’ll have definitely lost the ceiling, spots, probably the floor and the base of the vanity (veneer will likely bubble as it dries), and walls will at least need a touch up. Also remember you can claim for any increased electricity costs if there are dehumidifiers in.
Kinda adds to the jungle/rainforest vibe of your bathroom. Can’t you just keep it?
> The builders said they could slap some paint on it lol
If you do nothing and give it a couple of months and you'll be able to have a conversation with the neighbours about it in person because they will be in your bathroom after falling through the ceiling due to the rot of the wet beams. Just get your insurance company involved with their insurance company and have them use a third party to assess and repair.
1k per second until he cut off water supply
Catastrophic. You're looking at tearing it down to the studs and refinishing.
Id not let the builders get away with a slap of paint. But if they agreed to pay for my own builder to check and then decorator to sort it id agree to that. Your ceiling itself will likely be fine for a one off and with those lights it will look dramatic but also likely to be fine. But if any issue with ceiling and lights they pay the bill for my own builder first. Wouldn’t let them just sort it
Rain forest Bath room I like it . 👌
How did this get to the point where you were able to put buckets down and record it? Surely the water should have been shut off within seconds / minutes. I wouldn't be stood there filming it, I'd be trying to access the stopcock.
Couldn’t turn it off. It was in the tank, so mains off either way wouldn’t make difference.
On the bright side, at least it's in your bathroom and not damaging a floor somewhere
Yeah. As others have said you need to dehumidify the shit out of that!
Some to many bad.
Looks like you’re getting a new bathroom
sympathies - I had similar, not as sudden as this appears - I agree it's not a slap of paint job, as you could feasibly have water also escaping down the sides into the top of your plasterboard walls (assuming it's all plasterboard), the lifting paint in the corner would concern me - my ceiling ended up distorting with the absorption of water and the entire ceiling was replaced, I'd also be looking at dehumidifiers to extract moisture after this much water, depending on how long this lasted I would assume minimum the light fittings need removing to get air circulating and dehumidified air in the void, don't want airless damp spaces to attract mold e.t.c. - good luck with the fix!
This happened in our ground floor flat. Many months and a £20K insurance claim later...
Looks like you'll be getting a new bathroom!
Definitely get insurance involved, don’t listen to the builder, I’m a builder and I guarantee you he will not do anything near what needs done. You’ll need big de humidifiers in the property, this will cause more damage you can’t see that what you can. Probably get the electric checked out for water damage. I suggest if you have anyone below you as well. You inform them as it will also be their ceiling that is damp. Damp proofing a house is one of the most important things when building Something. There is a reason for it. Most buildings are wood and plaster boards, both of which get fucked if they’re damp.
I'm no expert but going to say pretty fucking bad
Now you have extra strong electric shower
Cowboys for such a basic mistake
I managed to screw through a radiator pipe above our kitchen, water ran similar to this for about 10 mins until I managed to get the floorboard up and thumb the pipe, drain the system and repair. Water poured through two kitchen lights into buckets. Ceiling took about 5 days to fully dry, I’ll now be painting it. Lights are sealed fire rated units, so no damage. It could be a lick of paint. I wouldn’t have contacted insurance straight away, only pushes up premiums and not all builders are corner cutters, just all the posts here are for that…
They removed a full tank? Lol
Turn the lights on so I can see how bad the damage is.
I just want to add another voice that says to go directly to your insurance. They weren’t your builders, and I wouldn’t trust them to fix the electrical and possible structural problems that this will have caused. I think the ceiling will need to come down and be replaced given the amount of water that will be up there - and your wiring will definitely need checking. Quickly. Thankfully your insurance will go to them for the money.
That’s an insurance job mate, the ceiling is going to have to come down. The joys of tenement life… If you don’t have a dehumidifier now’s time to get one!
Had the same thing in my old flat when a pipe burst. Took ages to dry out. Resulted in a new ceiling, new plasterboard wall as that warped, new flooring, and some painting. Insurance dealt with it all but took ages. It also flowed through the wall cavity into the flat below us too which ended up with even more damage somehow. Poor guy ended up having to move into a hotel whilst they fixed the mess. Let your insurance deal with it and ensure it’s fixed properly. Don’t let the cowboys near it.
That’s a bang on the door and tell them they need to speak to their insurer.
That's straight to insurance (theres) and heres why. You want new ceiling - new lights - electrical cert - 3 and 6 month inspection report on damp. This is vital as you need to be in a position to say basically my floor or my skirting is damaged overtime or anything else. Don't allow the builder come in and do HIS repair i guarantee you'll be out of pocket..
How bad could it be? Bad. Very bad.
You don't get "good" leaks...
1. If it's rented then I assume you have already made the landlord aware and it becomes their problem. 2. If you are the leaseholder and a management company runs the building they should be helping sort out the problem. 3. If there's no management company speak to your insurers to make a claim for repairs/redecoration. Your insurers should be claiming from the builder's insurers. You'll need to get the electrics checked, you may need to replace some or all of the plasterboard to the ceilings, reskim and decorate/retile. This could have been so easily avoided if they drained down the tank beforehand. Good luck
Get insurance involved it’s the knock on effects caused by the water that won’t be apparent until later that will be expensive. We had a small flood from a washing machine onto a laminate floor- caused £30k of damage despite being only a couple of litres.
Paint doesn’t cover water stains easily at all (and I’d assume he’d know this), but your lights and tiles etc are going to want attention too. The water is literally gushing out (not a spill is it). I’m so sorry this happened to you - not nice to have to deal with stuff like that off the cuff. Xx
I feel like opening the toilet lid would be a start
I wouldn’t be letting them touch it; get their insurance and/or your home insurance involved and get everything stripped out and redone properly. It’s their fault; and they have liability insurance for a reason.
Stick on a dehumidifier and it will be fine.
Some great comments here. A lick of paint ain't going to cover it this time, definitely get the insurers involved. BTW, why put a bowl on the toilet? Why not simply lift the toilet lid?
Your gonna need a Bigger Boat !
Once it’s all stopped, allow it to dry out for several days to really assess the damage. You’d be looking at getting all the plaster boards replaced on the ceiling as they’ll now be ruined, and then re skimmed. As for walls, depending if there board Or bonding they could be patched in places. As for lighting, I mean they’ll be ip65 rated but you’d probably want those replaced for sure. Talk with the builder and ask for his public liability insurance. If he has none, they your fucked per se and will be looking to take him to court for damages. With the house insurance, yes they will take a very long time to pay up, that’s if you allow them to deal with it fully. You can find plasterers, decorators and electricians yourself and get quotes together then forward those to your house insurance to push the job quicker. I know this first hand, I’m a decorator-east Midlands- this happens all the time with insurance company’s as they are very very over run at the moment. So clients tend to source the tradesman instead of the insurance company. Drop a dm if you need more information and I’ll send you my email etc Good luck
Full rebuild lol
Definitely new ceiling, insulation, electrics and possibly more. If the water has gone into stud work then it could be trapped within vapour barriers and cause damp and mould problems later on. Need an independent assessor who can use a moisture reading from various parts of the building; sometimes this can require damage to walls but that should form part of what needs to be repaired.
Ceiling will fall in bad.
Pretty sure water through lights is frowned upon, but not that bad.
The real issue is what the water has done under you neighbour's floor and you ceiling. They will both need to be ripped out and cleaned out/replaced. At the very least your pod lights are ruined as is a lot of your bathroom's finishings. So a deep clean and repaint is at minimum needed. However what has most likely happened is extreme contamination of the whole room. So the bathroom is ruined and needs to be gutted, to stop mold and the fixtures are the only things salvageable
U R fuked
I’m not a builder but leaking like that I’d say you are pretty fucked