Apartment above leaked water into my apartment - need DIY advice

dev_lee

Hi,

Hoping someone can help me... Sorry for the long winded mail...

I have a ground floor apartment and the apartment above was getting there old bathroom suite etc removed and a new old put in.
The owner of the apartment was just using a handy man he is friend's with -The handy man put a nail through a pipe but didn't realise he had and unfortunately this happened on a Friday afternoon and when I came home from work there was water coming down through my bathroom ceiling. The owner/handyman were there. The owner came back Sunday and nail in pipe was found and fixed.

The owner of the apartment said he would sort my bathroom. So after 2 1/2 months handy man came in and painted my bathroom walls/ceiling (I told him to use bathroom paint etc) anyway a few days later the walls he painted - they started to bubble and the brown in the ceiling started to appear back.

So the handyman is due back at the end of June to re-paint both.

Does anyone have any sugguests on what should use/do so this time the paint doesn't bubble and that the brown on the ceiling won't come back.

Thanks!!

RKQ

Dry out the ceiling plasterboard, the joists / slab and your walls. Maybe you need to hire a dehumidifier.
Dry surfaces don't go black or have paint bubble off.

brightkane

aye make sure its dry and maybe use stain blocker also

michael999999

scrape off the loose stuff and stain block the whole area where the stains are coming through.make sure you cover about six inches around the stain.ordinary paint wont stop the stain

Joey the lips

Get an insurence asser to asses the cost of professional repair then send the bill to the DIYERS above...

Harsh but reality.... You gave them a chance already.

gsxr1

Joey the lips wrote: »

Get an insurence asser to asses the cost of professional repair then send the bill to the DIYERS above...

Harsh but reality.... You gave them a chance already.

exactly what I would do. With apartments you may have block insurance. check it out.

thats whats it there for.

mad m

After 2 and a half months the stain burned through, either the leak is still not fixed or he used emulsion straight onto water stain, which will burn through. But apartments have concrete ceilings as fire regs, so there still might be a lot of water resting in the concrete...

Kace

gsxr1 wrote: »

exactly what I would do. With apartments you may have block insurance. check it out.

thats whats it there for.

Yes you will have block insurance but generally the excess on the policy will be prohibitive for small repairs - e.g. €500-€700. Your neighbour will also probably tell you where to go if you ask him to pay this.

Best and least hassle way will be to get your man to stump up for a few days rental of a de-humidifier and then get his man to come back and paint using the proper bathroom paint when dry.

Actually now that I think about it, if it has been several months and it's still not dry then there may well be a leak still (albeit a smaller one). You should probably try and determine whether the pipe is still leaking by getting the guy to show you his repair and confirm that there are no leaks. Something sounds a little fishy if it still hasn't dried out.

tiocimarla

Im sorry to say this but life isnt fair and unfortunatly your gonna have a fall out with your neighbour if you want this fixed. Its time to grow a pair! Your neighbour is responsible for the damage as he hired someone to do the work.

Its a case of getting someone to fix it for you not let him get someone to do it instead. Trust me your he will more than likely just do a quick job and it will come back down the road.


Time to see a solicitor and sort it out. Also I cant believe everyone has said to paint over it tbh. This leak has had the chance to soak in and painting if the least of your worries.

If that were me Id strip any plasterboard floor to ceiling that this has soaked into and reslab and plaster. Your running the risk of mould and a very bad smell. By doing this you should also be able to see if the leak is still there by leaving a few days between the two.

I know this is a bit harsh but at the end of the day if the situation was in reverse you can bet that your neighbour would be billing you....

I have a friend whos deaf and he left his tap running in his bathroom for 24 hours, comletely flooding the folks underneath him. I mean their house had to be gutted, they moved out for two weeks while the repair work was done.. Cost a fortune to right and the fact it was a mistake and my friend couldnt hear the tap when he left means nothing.

Sometimes people make mistakes but at the end of the day ye can play silly neighbours with each other till the cows come home. Someone is gonna have to foot the bill and it shouldnt be you. And do ye know what..... Thats just life mate.

Good luck with you solicitor

dunsandin

Yep, done a few of the exact same jobs - and the guy above you has to foot the bill, or his insurance. Did one in the IFSC where the shower connection leaked down into the appt below and wetted down the ceiling and walls nicely. It was a stunning appartment. The owner beneath was a barrister, and she went ape - guy above had to pay for all - plasterboard needs to come off, de-humidify, reslab, redecorate, once its wetted, plasterboard swells and loses its integrity, so needs to be replaced. Paint just hides it for a bit. Time to get a bit demanding! Some people have a bit of cop and realise they are responcible and try to sort it asap, others need a little poke to do the right thing.