Damp update

[andrewducker]

So, last Monday (9 days ago) they uncovered the leaking pipe.  They, in this case, being the builders that the insurance company brought in.

Now, I'm not covered for the actual replacement of the pipe (which counts as wear and tear), so on Wednesday I phoned the builders to ask if they could do that on top of the other work.  It took me until Friday to get a straight answer, which turned out to be "No".  Or, less concisely, "That would be a conflict of interest, so we'd rather not if you can get someone else to do it."

So I phoned my normal plumbers and they came round on Monday and said "No".  Or, less concisely, "We've never done an internal drain pipe before, and if we fucked it up we'd end up in your foundations trying to find the end of it."

So yesterday I phoned another builders company, and they sent someone round today who said "Yes".  Or, less concisely, "we'll need to take out the bricks here and here so that I can get an angle grinder in.  I'll get the boss to send you a quote.  See you on Monday or Tuesday."

Which is a step forward, I admit, insofar that I'll be able to get things started then, with any luck.  Oh, and he did find the actual crack and stick a towel in it, which was nice.

But goodness knows what _this_ is going to cost me.  If any of you were hoping for nice Christmas presents this year you may want to scale down your expectations...

Comments

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Presumably this pipe comes from the roof of the property to a drain somewhere. Assuming this is the case and it doesn't just pass through your flat, would it not be the responsibility of all the occupants to pay for upkeep/replacement of it in the same way the roof and walls of the building do?

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

I just came to make the exact same comment. If its a communal pipe everyone in the building is liable so you can get the council involved to appoint a contractor and bill everyone. This happened in my mum's place a few years ago and everyone has to pay money towards it(obviously I can't check with her, but I have memories of it being about £250 per flat in a building with 9 occupants, so that would extrapolate up to around £2000

[andrewducker]

I'll wait and see what the quote is like. If it's a couple of hundred quid then I'll just pay the bloody thing myself. If it's horribly expensive then I'll have to get the council involved.

[joexnz.livejournal.com]

They changed the communal system recently, check with them. It worked really well fit alans roof.

[dalglir.livejournal.com]

as above. the down pipe is likely to be communal and a shared cost. Ah! the joy of leasehold.