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I seem to have a problem with water coming through the bathroom ceiling and looking for advice what to do next - details below.
Just before going to bed on Sunday evening i noticed what looked like a small damp patch in the corner of my bathroom ceiling, and there was a little dampness around the edge of the bath. Bummer!
Went round and spoke to the girls upstairs when i got home from work who promptly got their landlord round to investigate that evening. He checked out the bathroom (directly above mine), side panel off bath etc and found nothing.
By this morning when i left for work the ceiling seemed to have dried. Got home from work this evening, to find ceiling damp again, and maybe 50ml of water round edge of bath.
Landlord out again, girls upstairs ran shower and put washing machine on a rinse cycle, but no further issue.
So we started thinking of alternatives, and we reckon from looking outside that the main waste pipe for both properties runs up to the roof at roughly the right place - so maybe some sort of roofing issue?
Had the side panel off my bath, and can just get my fingers through a gap in the plasterboard and pipe doesn't feel damp.
Problem is clearly originating above my property (we have split responsibility for roof), and to further investigate through my bathroom would involve a hole in ceiling and or my tiling.
So the question is what do we do next? Do we need a roofer, or a plumber, or a builder?
Dad reckons i should just call up home insurance?
What does the hive mind recommend?
We had similar, it was a roofer we called who fixed it.
Generally callout should be free
From my experience most leaks like this will be a crack in the grout or silicone seal around the bath. Leak is not constant therefore points to an issue when something is used, therefore waste or tiling.
You may need to spray the walls directly for a while to simulate someone showering. And for a long enough period as you need to soak whatever is behind causing water to drip out the bottom. Imagine running water into a sponge, it will absorb a certain amount until it becomes saturated then it will run through it. You need to get whatever is behind the wall (if it is the tiling) to the point of saturation. Remove their bath panel to observe. If they are two girls it may only happen when they have both showered, one of them showering doesn't get to saturation point. If water is on the top of your bath it can't be coming from below your bath so the waste through the wall is not the source of the issue.
If by "main waste pipe" you mean the vent pipe that goes up through the roof there could be a leak through the flashing around it and water running down the outside of the pipe. But I would go with Bear's suggestion first.
sometimes the cracks in sealant or grouting won't show unless the appliance is in use, due to the extra weight of the person in the shower tray or bath.
Suggest that you need to observe the girls upstairs in the shower and bath for a bit. Ideally together - two together will reveal damp patches more quickly.
I am not a plumber
Quick update:
Got a call from landlord this morning, he's spoken to a roofer who is going to come round and take a look tomorrow.
As Weeksy says, should be no call out fee if no problem. And makes sense as a place to start as its the least intrusive (in terms of bashing in plasterboard) for either my flat or upstairs.
Kinda inclined to agree with Bear though - think the 'pattern' suggests its when something is used - its been raining all night and no further leaks.
Jonv is my kinda guy. This avenue really should have been investigated thoroughly before the 'roofer' was brought in.
...... This is a pron video isn't it?