Leaking shower

blindside88

Well lads,

Firstly apologies for the long post. Looking for a bit of advise. I noticed a leak coming from an en-suite shower into the corner of the bedroom behind it a little over a week ago. I’ve had the plumber out a few times since. We’ve located the exact area of the leak (corner of the shower block between the base and the tiles). Plumber had tried to seal it several times. Most recent effort was yesterday morning where he inserted a tile effect finish where the previous plastic beading had been and sealed with silicone. He noticed that a couple of the lower tiles had some movement when pushed on and put some silicone over the grout between these also. He had said if this didn’t fix the leak the bathroom would likely need to be redone and that it’d be an insurance job as very expensive. Still have the leak when I tried the shower this evening. I’m going to call the insurance company on Tuesday but I’m wondering if home insurance would likely cover the cost of this or just the cost of locating the leak? I know all policies vary but just looking for a general idea.

Thanks in advance

Sleeper12

blindside88 wrote: »

Well lads,

Firstly apologies for the long post. Looking for a bit of advise. I noticed a leak coming from an en-suite shower into the corner of the bedroom behind it a little over a week ago. I’ve had the plumber out a few times since. We’ve located the exact area of the leak (corner of the shower block between the base and the tiles). Plumber had tried to seal it several times. Most recent effort was yesterday morning where he inserted a tile effect finish where the previous plastic beading had been and sealed with silicone. He noticed that a couple of the lower tiles had some movement when pushed on and put some silicone over the grout between these also. He had said if this didn’t fix the leak the bathroom would likely need to be redone and that it’d be an insurance job as very expensive. Still have the leak when I tried the shower this evening. I’m going to call the insurance company on Tuesday but I’m wondering if home insurance would likely cover the cost of this or just the cost of locating the leak? I know all policies vary but just looking for a general idea.

Thanks in advance

Your insurance will usually cover any damage caused by the leak. Repair /paint ceiling underneath for example.

I've never heard of a policy paying out for an incorrectly installed shower tray or a bad tiling job. I doubt your insurance will cover the cost of taking the bottom row of tiles off, removing the tray, installing classi seal, refit the tray and tile. Even if they did you'd pay an excess of 150 /200.

I'd hazard a guess that you could get all of the above done to a good standard for under 400 euros

blindside88

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Your insurance will usually cover any damage caused by the leak. Repair /paint ceiling underneath for example.

I've never heard of a policy paying out for an incorrectly installed shower tray or a bad tiling job. I doubt your insurance will cover the cost of taking the bottom row of tiles off, removing the tray, installing classi seal, refit the tray and tile. Even if they did you'd pay an excess of 150 /200.

I'd hazard a guess that you could get all of the above done to a good standard for under 400 euros

Thanks for that. I think it’s more so that the damage has been going on a while, we bought the house in the last year and only noticed because I was vacuuming the room behind when the wife was in the shower. Seems a very small leak and the plumber recons it’s going on since before we bought the house. The tiling is probably done 15 years or so

Sleeper12

Unless you are spending over 1K I can't see how claiming on the insurance is a good idea. You have your excess, when policy is for renewal you may not get quotes from other companies as you now have to tic the box that you have claimed in the last 5 years. Your policy will increase & they might increase the excess on leaks on all future claims. Then you have the tradesmen involved. Many increase their price for an insurance claim. I'm a property owner for almost 30 years. One claim for around 600 euro for damage to my roof during a storm I still regret. They clawed the money back over the next few years & to this day I have a higher excess for storm damage.

Another thing about an insurance claim is that they usually pay out for a leak that flooded the place in a short period of time. If the water damage has been caused by years of neglect then they don't pay out. There is a clause in the policy about you having to properly maintain your home. This means repairing leaks in a timely manner. The damage to ceiling & walls could have been going on long before you took out insurance from your present company

I haven't seen your home but I stand in 5 to 8 baths & showers everyday & see plenty of leaking ones. Maybe once a year I see one that requires ceilings & walls to be replaced. Usually the work required is remove bottom row or two of tiles & remove the tray. In rare cases the tiles further up too & plasterboard. The same tray can be used but you fit classi seal around the edge. Tray is plumbed back in & new tiles, tiled down unto the tray. Done right this will never leak & you will never seal it with silicon again. Another option & it doesn't cost a lot of extra money is to remove all the tiles in the shower, replace plaster boards,tank & retile. Tile in a contrasting colour to the rest of the bathroom is usually a goo idea.

I think the insurance company idea is a bad idea. That's my opinion & I'm happy for anyone to post I am wrong & show how it worked out for them

blindside88

Thanks for that. Appreciate it.