Problem with leak

Branoic

I'm landlord of a first floor apartment and have just got a call from the estate agents who manage the apartment below mine, looking for access to my place.

Aparently there's a leak in the apartment below which the owner has been aware of for about a year but has delayed doing anything about it until now. Their tenant has stopped paying rent in protest so now the landlord is investigating and they reckon it's coming from my place.

How liable am I for damage / repair costs if there is an issue with the piping leading from my place?

DSN

Branoic wrote: »

I'm landlord of a first floor apartment and have just got a call from the estate agents who manage the apartment below mine, looking for access to my place.

Aparently there's a leak in the apartment below which the owner has been aware of for about a year but has delayed doing anything about it until now. Their tenant has stopped paying rent in protest so now the landlord is investigating and they reckon it's coming from my place.

How liable am I for damage / repair costs if there is an issue with the piping leading from my place?

Wierd! i am going through same thing at the moment. the tenant in flat underneath literally lived with the leak for months before finally contacting the mgmt comp who contacted me. by which point he has a hole in the ceiling and plaster comming off and everything. now assuming our plumber eventually finds the leak is comming from mine (we got plumber on it straight away so far he hasnt found anything) how much am i liable for in apt below considering the tenant below left it go so long before contacting me?

also if plumber finds nothing in mine whats the next steps where could the leak be comming from (any plumbers out there??) sure if it was the mains wouldnt more apts be affected?
am also looking into my house insurance its very unclear whether this would be covered since it sounds like damage from an ongoing leak?

The_Morrigan

I actually had a leak in my apt that caused part of the roof to collapse one evening. The foreman called out first thing the next morning with a plumber. The pipes from my water tank to the ensuite at the other end of the apt went over my ceiling.
It turned out that a join in the piping had not been tightened enough and it had been leaking consistently for months, but eventually the steady drip of water caused the roof to give way.
Most apts have the waterpipes going through the ceiling, so if like my issue, it could have nothing to do with the apt overhead at all, its just a way of eliminating that factor.

Thankfully, as it was a build issue (I had only moved in about 3 months at this point) the foreman fixed the pipes, and replaced the ceiling for me. I mean faulty pipes that are enclosed you would not have been aware of, unless there is a visible leak in your own apt.

Joey the lips

I imagine your very liable... but would say its covered by your insurence. What I am always curious about though is the type of insurence cover. As you are renting do you need a business insurence as such or is it just standard insurence....?

Have you looked at the leak it can be fairly simple to trace it most times and in my experience its down to tilers using too long a screw to lay the marine ply when doing your floor it cuts through the pipe and starts to leak a year later as it corrodes the screw.

Then again I was in an apt once that the leak was actually traveling across the floor joist from the apt across... Mind you both apts underneath were damaged..

DSN

i am the landlord and have insurance for rented properties from Benchmark. BUT its a bit hazy (as per) on whats actually covered. like if a pipe bursts n floods the place thats covered but if its a gradual leak which has been left to cause damage then it may not be covered.

thats interesting though on what could be the problem - i'd love if in the end it wasnt my apt as the mgmt co & landlady are saying it HAS to be my place causing the trouble andf making no effort to help me investigate. joeythelips - would it not be obvious to a plumber if there was an issue in my place the plumber has checked everywhere in the bathroom and sofar hasnt found anything.

Joey the lips

DSN wrote: »

i am the landlord and have insurance for rented properties from Benchmark. BUT its a bit hazy (as per) on whats actually covered. like if a pipe bursts n floods the place thats covered but if its a gradual leak which has been left to cause damage then it may not be covered.

thats interesting though on what could be the problem - i'd love if in the end it wasnt my apt as the mgmt co & landlady are saying it HAS to be my place causing the trouble andf making no effort to help me investigate. joeythelips - would it not be obvious to a plumber if there was an issue in my place the plumber has checked everywhere in the bathroom and sofar hasnt found anything.

If there is a hole in the ceiling below surly there is no point pulling up your floor. Is it not a matter now of just loking in the hole. If the water is traveling along the plaster ceiling its from somewhere else if looking through the ceiling its soaked your floor above then its coming from you.

Its not hard to detect with a hole but I am sure there are example somewhere that are..

GerardKeating

Branoic wrote: »

I'm landlord of a first floor apartment and have just got a call from the estate agents who manage the apartment below mine, looking for access to my place.

Aparently there's a leak in the apartment below which the owner has been aware of for about a year but has delayed doing anything about it until now. Their tenant has stopped paying rent in protest so now the landlord is investigating and they reckon it's coming from my place.

How liable am I for damage / repair costs if there is an issue with the piping leading from my place?

It might be important (later on) if you can prove they knew of the leak for the past year and did nothing.

JD24

NiMhaoldearg wrote: »

Most apts have the waterpipes going through the ceiling, so if like my issue, it could have nothing to do with the apt overhead at all, its just a way of eliminating that factor..

This happened to my friend. Her neighbour below complained that there was a stain on the ceilling and that there must be a leak coming from her apartment. She had a plumber into her apt who could find no leak and he had a plumber into his apt who said the leak was coming from upstairs. He had just painted the apartment and all he wanted was for it to be repainted, which she did as she thought she was liable.

She later found out that the pipes above his apartment actually belong to him!!

Check this out before you even entertain paying for anything.