My son has been in his house for one week. After 3 days they had a small leak in the kitchen ceiling. There is a bathroom above but the builders Plummer says all is dry under the floor (made small hole in ceiling) They have not used the bathroom since but today one week later when they came to replaster the ceiling the leek started up again. What questions should they be asking the builder please
New Build Inspector
snagging inspections 01788 494400
leaks in bathroom
The repairs should have been pressure tested to ensure that they had got the correct location and that the repair or new works held water pressure
Theres not much more to say
Who is the builder and plumbing contractor ?
The repairs should have been pressure tested to ensure that they had got the correct location and that the repair or new works held water pressure
Theres not much more to say
Who is the builder and plumbing contractor ?
Last edited:
Yeah very common especially when it comes to bonus time and houses need to be sold quickly to meet targets. Very little supervision these days either from the contractors own management and foremen and even less from the Builders. Had
several leaks but most are from very poor double checking of waste pipes as the pressure tests normally finds most leaks or component failures. These waste pipes have many joints and seals at the exit points and the operatives general just loose fit to ensure correct alignment of bowls, baths, showers etc and then of course Friday nights, fag and tea breaks etc forget to double check that the pipes have been correctly tightened up. Also valves put round the wrong way very basic sloppy stuff one would expect from a quarter of a million pound build from so called professionals....many of them I regret are just unsupervised cheap young apprentices.
several leaks but most are from very poor double checking of waste pipes as the pressure tests normally finds most leaks or component failures. These waste pipes have many joints and seals at the exit points and the operatives general just loose fit to ensure correct alignment of bowls, baths, showers etc and then of course Friday nights, fag and tea breaks etc forget to double check that the pipes have been correctly tightened up. Also valves put round the wrong way very basic sloppy stuff one would expect from a quarter of a million pound build from so called professionals....many of them I regret are just unsupervised cheap young apprentices.
Measure where the leak is downstairs in relation to the outside wall, then use that measurement upstairs from the same wall to figure out the approx location in bathroom, i.e. if it's your bath or toilet, I bet they have thought it's your toilet when it's actually your bath.
Had a leak on our new build too, I took the plug off the bath drain and noticed one of the 'o' ring seal was only partially located, so I took the bath panel off (to which I was surprised to see was supported at the top with slices of empty silicon tubes squashed to stop the panel moving about at the top !!!), pulled the pipework apart and refitted seal, leak sorted.
Then a few days later another leak appeared from what appeared same location, the 'builders plumber' traced it to the toilet u bend seal being pushed off when originally fitted!.
This is in addition to my kitchen sink trap u bend compression connection not being tightened and falling off when a sink full of water was draining! , yep sink full of water in my new kitchen cupboard!. All within a few days of moving in!, nothing is checked at all.
Just over two years later my four toilets now all have failing flush valves.......useless new builds!
Had a leak on our new build too, I took the plug off the bath drain and noticed one of the 'o' ring seal was only partially located, so I took the bath panel off (to which I was surprised to see was supported at the top with slices of empty silicon tubes squashed to stop the panel moving about at the top !!!), pulled the pipework apart and refitted seal, leak sorted.
Then a few days later another leak appeared from what appeared same location, the 'builders plumber' traced it to the toilet u bend seal being pushed off when originally fitted!.
This is in addition to my kitchen sink trap u bend compression connection not being tightened and falling off when a sink full of water was draining! , yep sink full of water in my new kitchen cupboard!. All within a few days of moving in!, nothing is checked at all.
Just over two years later my four toilets now all have failing flush valves.......useless new builds!
Last edited:
Totally agree with failing toilet flush valves especially the newer variety which has a wired button on top or side. Worse if you live in high chalk area, without water softener, the plastic flush seals cake up very quickly and
water bypass happens. Also sticking of the flush cable very common especially if not fitted smoothly and just chucked in the cistern. The manufacturers of the flush also warn not to use chemicals to help prevent internal chalk build up as they allege the chemicals fast deteriorate their seals. The actual seals are around £3-£4 for the moving component seal but the fixed seal at the exit will be costly as the whole unit may need dismantling to install the fixed seal if you cannot get to the lower seal with some calcium abrasive sponge. The whole internal flush unit with all seals and cables, for the cheaper most used flush units, can be purchased on line for around £30. These flush units are a pain not very robust and costly to repair (labour) especially if you have the concealed units which will require dismantling of the concealment structure and tiling if access has not been accommodated. Much prefer the old flush units mechanics which lasted a lot longer, far more robust and simple time tested design and not so prone to chalking up problems on the seals etc.
water bypass happens. Also sticking of the flush cable very common especially if not fitted smoothly and just chucked in the cistern. The manufacturers of the flush also warn not to use chemicals to help prevent internal chalk build up as they allege the chemicals fast deteriorate their seals. The actual seals are around £3-£4 for the moving component seal but the fixed seal at the exit will be costly as the whole unit may need dismantling to install the fixed seal if you cannot get to the lower seal with some calcium abrasive sponge. The whole internal flush unit with all seals and cables, for the cheaper most used flush units, can be purchased on line for around £30. These flush units are a pain not very robust and costly to repair (labour) especially if you have the concealed units which will require dismantling of the concealment structure and tiling if access has not been accommodated. Much prefer the old flush units mechanics which lasted a lot longer, far more robust and simple time tested design and not so prone to chalking up problems on the seals etc.