Who Should Pay for Blocked Toilet?

GuitarMusic

I'm a LL and one of my tenants has a blocked toilet (which has been working fine for over a decade).

I spend an hour trying to unblock it with a plunger and drain rods etc but it looks like that I have to call a plumber.

The tenant is friendly with people in another apartment in the complex and said their girl might have put baby wipes down the toilet.

So who do you think should pay for the plumber? Landlord or tenant?

whippet

tenant ... the blocage occurred due to the negligence of the tenants.

The_Morrigan

Do you mean the neighbours called over for a visit and used the facilities and caused a blockage?

irish_goat

Tenant should pay, they did the damage. You could try a chemical approach though, hardware stores/farm co-ops sell caustic which should unclog it. Or buy a plumbing snake that you can feed down the ubend to try and snag the wipes.

GuitarMusic

The_Morrigan wrote: »

Do you mean the neighbours called over for a visit and used the facilities and caused a blockage?

The daughter of the other apartment would visit fairly often I guess as that daughter and the daughter of the tenant are good friends.

The_Morrigan

GuitarMusic wrote: »

The daughter of the other apartment would visit fairly often I guess as that daughter and the daughter of the tenant are good friends.

Tenant then - although if you wanted to treat this as warning, go halves but let them know if it happens again they are wholly responsible for any and all charges to rectify the situation.

Greenmachine

Agreed the tenant in this case. It is no odds whether the tenant or a guest caused the blockage. If it was caused by a fault in the toilet that would be another matter.

GuitarMusic

The_Morrigan wrote: »

Tenant then - although if you wanted to treat this as warning, go halves but let them know if it happens again they are wholly responsible for any and all charges to rectify the situation.

That might be a good solution as she is a good longer term tenant.

foggy_lad

Greenmachine wrote: »

Agreed the tenant in this case. It is no odds whether the tenant or a guest caused the blockage. If it was caused by a fault in the toilet that would be another matter.

It might of course be caused by a fault in the toilet or with the pipes! if an older building it is probably the pipes as deposits build up on them over years and can then come away from the wall of the pipe and cause a blockage in the same way that built up grease from busy kitchens can cause blockages.

triple nipple

Nice to see a good landlord, fair play

Santa Cruz

The best approach would be to have the blockage cleared first Having done so it should show why the drains were blocked e.g. baby wipes etc. thrown down. If it points to tenant fault then tenant pays

Arbiter of Good Taste

In the lease that my tenants have signed, it specifically prohibits them from flushing baby wipes and the like down to toilet

secondrowgal

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

In the lease that my tenants have signed, it specifically prohibits them from flushing baby wipes and the like down to toilet

Do you know what's scary? That you have to actually list this type of thing in a lease...

Wabbit Ears

I would not entertain any blocked drain or toilet demands.

A landlord isn't a tennents mam or dad.

Next you'll be removing hair from shower plugholes and emptying the bins.

Tigger

any tenant that pay for this without clear proof of cause is a fool

Pawwed Rig

I wouldn't have even told my landlord about this. I would have just sorted it myself

Balmed Out

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I wouldn't have even told my landlord about this. I would have just sorted it myself

my thoughts exactly, what next my light bulb has stopped working and all the dishes are dirty.

If after getting it unblocked a plumber said due to age or poor design id then say it to the landlord.

Mongfinder General

Balmed Out wrote: »

my thoughts exactly, what next my light bulb has stopped working and all the dishes are dirty.

If after getting it unblocked a plumber said due to age or poor design id then say it to the landlord.

It could just be a hefty dump.

ZENER

Tenant pays. Had this situation twice in the same property recently.

Distance from toilet to suir is about 4 feet, no other connections to the pipe. It's a downstairs loo that's been there 8 years without a single issue with past tenants. It had been blocked for 3 days but he decided to call us on a Sunday evening about it.

Anyway, I went to look at it and it was just blocked with loo roll and crap. They didn't even attempt to clear it other than repeatedly flush the toilet which caused a flood. I unblocked it myself but told them that the next time they'll have to call the plumber themselves and pay him for his time.

It's disturbing that some people don't have a clue about basic things like unblocking a loo or a shower pan.

Ken

dubscottie

Tenant. Do a bit "housekeeping" for my landlord and the number of times I have had to deal with so called smelly or blocked sinks/drains is unbelievable.

I had a blocked toilet to deal with.. The tenant thought by sticking more paper down it would make it go away.. Nope..

Tenants need to get a bit cop on.. Bleach down the plug hole for example, will stop me having to pull your matted hair out the plug hole..

Chloris

Wabbit Ears wrote:

I would not entertain any blocked drain or toilet demands.

I completely agree there.

My upstairs neighbour blocked the toilet with baby wipes or a huge dump within one month of moving in, resulting in a fountain of water cascading down our walls. The house was brand new. I think (and hope) it was just water from the cistern but she was out on her ear after demanding the landlord deal with it. Rightly so.

Barely Hedged

triple nipple wrote: »

Nice to see a good landlord, fair play

"Fair play" for paying half of something that wasnt his fault? What about personal responsibility/accountability?

Grandpa Hassan

Barely Hedged wrote: »

"Fair play" for paying half of something that wasnt his fault? What about personal responsibility/accountability?

I agree. Why would leaving the tenant to deal with this make the LL a bad one?

Teyla Emmagan

To be fair, clear the toilet yourself a few times and you are much more careful about what you put down it. It is probably blocked due to tenant stupidity, they can't be expecting their landlord to stick their hand down there every time they block it. I have never heard of a loo breaking 'by itself' unless the sewers are backing up or something.

Chemical Byrne

GuitarMusic wrote: »

That might be a good solution as she is a good longer term tenant.

No it wouldn't. It sets a bad precedent. It also sends the message that you are a pushover and willing to subsidise their screw ups meaning they will be expecting the same in the future and might be less careful.

It makes not a shred of a difference if the toilet was blocked by the tenant, the neighbour or the snow yetti - the crux of it is that the tenant is the occupier and through their negligence they allowed a visitor to block the toilet. It is the tenant's responsibility to rectify the situation. Whether they pay for it themselves or seek to recover the cost from the visitor is a matter from themselves.

Don't let yourself be seen as a pushover lest they try to take advantage. Be firm but fair.

Chemical Byrne

Tigger wrote: »

any tenant that pay for this without clear proof of cause is a fool

Any landlord that feels the need to run about after tenants digging baby wipes out of their toilets and pulling hair out of their showers is a fool.

IN my business we sell machinery to co councils which macerate and cut all fibrous debris and solid from municipal waste. basically we make good money from idiots flushing nappies, condoms sanitary napkins etc. If one is inclined to flush earbuds, they're a nightmare because the flex and bend in pipes, as the water passes, they act like a small dam until they've caught and hardened debris etc and you've real problems!!So maybe technically this could be a build up happening for a long time. In saying that, If you manage to fish out an obvious blockage like a nappy or last weeks irish independent, then it's obvious who's to blame! in short, tenant pays but you can be very nice about the whole thing.

The_Morrigan

Mod Note:

Folks less of the judge-y condescending posts.

The landlord/tenant relationship should be built on mutual respect and compromise. If this is a first offence it's not outsides the realms of decency to go halves on a cost with a frank conversation about responsibilities. A plumbing issue is a far cry away from asking the landlord to change the lightbulbs - have a bit of perspective here please.

<Mod Snip>

I think 50/50 considering they're a good tenant seems very fair indeed for as you say a first offence.

sbsquarepants

If it's an apartment, it could be caused by someone else in the block. A couple of years ago the apartment beside mine flooded with sewage - cause was baby wipes blocking the outlet outside. The people who lived there swore they never used baby wipes (and they had no kids in fairness) but the family upstairs had 2.
The end result was nearly 30 grands worth of damage, floors had to come up, furniture was destroyed, plaster had to be chopped out and re-done it was a serious mess!
Miraculously we got away unscathed, due to whatever quirk of plumbing worked in our favour.
Long story short - it may not be the tenants fault at all. Sometimes shít just happens - excuse the pun!

cerastes

Tenant should pay, but maybe a warning of the hazards of nappies, t-shirts, toothbrushes and baby wipes, all that should go down there is poo, piss and paper (toilet, not news/porn/womens own)
Id say you'd pay 25% and clear it, Id also give them advice about keeping drains clear of (long) hair by using those plastic grilles that sit in the drain and also for the kitchen sink to filter out any peelings and crud before it goes down the pipes.

handlemaster

sbsquarepants wrote: »

If it's an apartment, it could be caused by someone else in the block. A couple of years ago the apartment beside mine flooded with sewage - cause was baby wipes blocking the outlet outside. The people who lived there swore they never used baby wipes (and they had no kids in fairness) but the family upstairs had 2.
The end result was nearly 30 grands worth of damage, floors had to come up, furniture was destroyed, plaster had to be chopped out and re-done it was a serious mess!
Miraculously we got away unscathed, due to whatever quirk of plumbing worked in our favour.
Long story short - it may not be the tenants fault at all. Sometimes shít just happens - excuse the pun!

some use baby wipes to remove make up or fresh in up

kippy

ZENER wrote: »

Tenant pays. Had this situation twice in the same property recently.

Distance from toilet to suir is about 4 feet, no other connections to the pipe. It's a downstairs loo that's been there 8 years without a single issue with past tenants. It had been blocked for 3 days but he decided to call us on a Sunday evening about it.

Anyway, I went to look at it and it was just blocked with loo roll and crap. They didn't even attempt to clear it other than repeatedly flush the toilet which caused a flood. I unblocked it myself but told them that the next time they'll have to call the plumber themselves and pay him for his time.

It's disturbing that some people don't have a clue about basic things like unblocking a loo or a shower pan.

Ken

There are a lot of people out there that don't have the most basic of skills or knowledge or indeed "common" sense. Keeps the trades busy no doubt!

MadDog76

secondrowgal wrote: »

Do you know what's scary? That you have to actually list this type of thing in a lease...

I once stayed in a hotel that had a label reading "please do not use in the shower" attached to the hairdryer .......... I can only assume that at some point somebody actually did that!

Tigger

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Any landlord that feels the need to run about after tenants digging baby wipes out of their toilets and pulling hair out of their showers is a fool.

apartment toilets can be blocked for many reasons its not like its a house

The_Conductor

I've had a rethink about this- and have changed my mind.
Its unlikely that one visit where someone flushed a wet wipe (or similar) down the toilet resulted in the blockage. Its just as likely that it is a cumulative event- previous events over the preceding months or even years- could have led to the blockage. As such- as a landlord- while I'd be deeply unhappy about it- I genuinely couldn't say that the tenant was the cause of the blockage- it is just as likely that someone tossing something some time ago initiated the blockage- and it cumulatively got worse- until there was a straw which broke the camel's back.......

Unfortunately- and contrary to what most people would consider to be 'common sense', many people have no idea what are reasonable things to dump down a toilet or a sink. I've had to clear a blockage which consisted of congealed butter from a kitchen sink recently- the person in question (who does use this forum and will remain unnamed)- was trying an Indian desert that featured copious amounts of butter (apparently) and thought nothing of disposing the remants down the sink- which caused an instant blockage- as the pipe was considerably colder than room temperature.

Unfortunately with the toilet-it could be something that was flushed a long time ago and snagged somewhere in the pipe that started the blockage- which was then exacerbated by other matter- before finally becoming fully blocked.

I'd pay it (in full)- spell out the reprecussions of a future blockage (tenant pays in full)- and make damn sure it is specifically mentioned in all future leases...........