Plumbing leaks..... grrrrr!

[Globalti]

Glanced up and spotted a damp patch on the kitchen ceiling. Upstairs to the bathroom and as I suspected it's the infamous Geberit concealed cistern bottom seal leak, meaning water dribbles out of the flush pipe when you flush. I've already had this in the downstairs loo and I found it too late meaning I had to replace half the soggy floor, but the upside is that I must have bought spare seals and circlips at that time as there was one of each waiting on top of the leaking cistern.

Now I'll have to unbolt and remove the pan from the wall and try to replace the seal from below the cistern. I might have to remove the entire front off the cistern case, which is bad news when we're about to market the house. Grrrrrr!

 

[ColinJ]

Bad luck!

My bath has started leaking recently. It is a bloody big roll-top type and whoever fitted it did a bodge job. The waste pipe from it sticks so far out of the bottom that it would rest on the tiled floor so they merely cut a hole in one of the tiles and scooped out some of the floorboards below! What they didn't seem to factor in is that the weight of a bath full of water plus a person/people (chance would be a fine thing!) is high enough to cause the bottom of the bath to sag slightly. That has put enough pressure on the waste pipe to eventually break the seal round the plughole. I don't use the bath, preferring the wonderful big walk-in shower, but my sister has baths when she is here. Last time I was in the kitchen when she pulled the plug out of the bath and a trickle of water came down through the kitchen ceiling.

There won't be any guests until after the Covid crisis is over so there is no urgency in fixing the problem. I'll stick to my showers, but will have to remember to sort the bath out before guest visits start up again!

 

[gbb]

Bad luck!

My bath has started leaking recently. It is a bloody big roll-top type and whoever fitted it did a bodge job. The waste pipe from it sticks so far out of the bottom that it would rest on the tiled floor so they merely cut a hole in one of the tiles and scooped out some of the floorboards below! What they didn't seem to factor in is that the weight of a bath full of water plus a person/people (chance would be a fine thing!) is high enough to cause the bottom of the bath to sag slightly. That has put enough pressure on the waste pipe to eventually break the seal round the plughole. I don't use the bath, preferring the wonderful big walk-in shower, but my sister has baths when she is here. Last time I was in the kitchen when she pulled the plug out of the bath and a trickle of water came down through the kitchen ceiling.

There won't be any guests until after the Covid crisis is over so there is no urgency in fixing the problem. I'll stick to my showers, but will have to remember to sort the bath out before guest visits start up again!

We had the same scenario, removed a section of floorboard to accept the plumbing and keep the bath at a sensi le level but looking at the support legs supplied with the bath, its minimal , so I really beefed it all up, put an extra set of support legs on from the old bath plus laid timber between the bath and floorboards.
And talking to a plumber when installing, I asked how to prevent leaks in the future....silicone, silicone everything, silicone wherever you can, silicone is your friend.

 

[Beebo]

You can claim on your insurance if you wish.

 

[Globalti]

Yebbut the excess!

 

[screenman]

Yebbut the excess!

Along with a premium increase next year.

 

[slowmotion]

Along with a premium increase next year.

Yup. They'll stiff you.

 

[ColinJ]

We had the same scenario, removed a section of floorboard to accept the plumbing and keep the bath at a sensible level but looking at the support legs supplied with the bath, its minimal , so I really beefed it all up, put an extra set of support legs on from the old bath plus laid timber between the bath and floorboards.
And talking to a plumber when installing, I asked how to prevent leaks in the future....silicone, silicone everything, silicone wherever you can, silicone is your friend.

That's the other bodge...

The bathroom floor joists are inadequate so the floor flexes slightly when anybody walks across it but the previous owners tiled it regardless. The grout between the tiles in the middle section of the floor is breaking up now so I have a bathroom floor which isn't waterproof! I have to be careful not to splosh water out of the shower and bath users also have to watch out.

It would be better to give up on the tiles and put a vinyl floor down but I might experiment with flexible grout first and see if that can cope with the flexing of the floor.

 

[Globalti]

No Colin, it will fail. You can get some quite nice vinyls, which are soft and warm underfoot and don't smell of vinyl. It's definitely a good choice for bathrooms.

 

[delb0y]

I also found a cistern leak yesterday and an ugly damp patch on the hall ceiling. Offending pipe has been isolated but it looks like a new connector will be needed - and probably one of those tap wrench thingies to fit it. Then paint the hall ceiling. Sigh.

 

[ColinJ]

No Colin, it will fail. You can get some quite nice vinyls, which are soft and warm underfoot and don't smell of vinyl. It's definitely a good choice for bathrooms.

I think you are right! My sister landlady wants to go the vinyl route anyway.

There is potentially a complication, which is that the floor isn't completely flat. Those wimpish joists have sagged/twisted*** during the 140 year history of the house (assuming that they are original). I'm thinking that vinyl would need a flatter surface than that to lie on.





*** Many of the houses round here have been subject to significant subsidence. This house leans so much that you can feel that you are walking uphill or downhill as you cross this room!

Some friends used to live in a flat above the cafe opposite Tod park. That building is at a crazy angle! They invited me round for a meal. Afterwards they asked if I'd like an apple. I said yes so they tossed one over but it slipped from my hand and fell to the floor. I watched in amusement as it rolled across the room gathering speed until it was trapped in the corner.

 

[Globalti]

Go to a pub called The Crooked House near Dudley and the mining subsidence is so bad that a bottle placed on a table will appear to roll uphill!

 

[mickle]

And talking to a plumber when installing, I asked how to prevent leaks in the future....silicone, silicone everything, silicone wherever you can, silicone is your friend.

Nope. Silicone is your enemy. As a jobbing plumber I can tell you that upwards of 80% of the domestic plumbing installations are riddled with bodges. Either through people taking short cuts or through ineptitude. One of the characteristics of most plumbing bodges is that by the time it manifests as a problem the bodger is long gone. A lot of my work is replacing drainage pipery thats been poorly installed, such as pipe ends that haven't been deburred - which leads to blockages. Silicone has its place, around the edges of basins and baths, but really should never be used as waste pipe sealant. I use plumber's mait (slow setting putty) as a sealant between waste fittings, inlet fittings and baths, basins, sinks, cisterns and pans.

 

[gbb]

Nope. Silicone is your enemy. As a jobbing plumber I can tell you that upwards of 80% of the domestic plumbing installations are riddled with bodges. Either through people taking short cuts or through ineptitude. One of the characteristics of most plumbing bodges is that by the time it manifests as a problem the bodger is long gone. A lot of my work is replacing drainage pipery thats been poorly installed, such as pipe ends that haven't been deburred - which leads to blockages. Silicone has its place, around the edges of basins and baths, but really should never be used as waste pipe sealant. I use plumber's mait (slow setting putty) as a sealant between waste fittings, inlet fittings and baths, basins, sinks, cisterns and pans.

Silicone on waste pipes I definitely agree is a no no, but tbf, I've had plenty of success round basin and bath drains etc. What I find is the quality of some plumbing stuff, drains in sinks and baths now, B&Q and the like, is so poor you're lucky to get a seal at all, bloomin rubbish stuff I avoid like the plague now. Good tip re the plumbers mate, sounds a much better option.

 

[ColinJ]

Good tip re the plumbers mate, sounds a much better option.

Paying a plumber's mate sounds a bit cheaper than paying the plumber him/herself!