Bathroom Disaster

[flyernzl]

Last weekend I carried out a property inspection on a flat owned by a family member.

During this inspection I found a very high moisture level in the bathroom floor. Further checks showed quite a few soft spots in the floor.

I told the property owner of this problem, and suggested that she should get a plumber in there urgently to find the leak that was causing the problem.

This morning I have had a phone call from her. The plunber has been, and the leak is from failed sealant around the bath tub.

However, majorly the timber floor is now in a dangerous weakend situation and needs urgent repairs (it is in an upper level of the property).

So - what is her situation vis-a-vis the tenant? Can she immediatly evict the tenant on the basis that the property is now unfit for habitation as this is the only bathroom in the property?

The tenant has been there for a couple of years.

[Damap]

Unless the rules have changed I believe the landlord has to pay for alternative accommodation until it's fixed, (assuming they really can't stay in the house that is).

[John the builder]

it isnt leaking because the "bath isnt sealed" this must be a shower over the bath surely?

open up ceiling under before making decsions as it might be possible to work around the tenant and keep dwelling occupied (and rent) flowing while repairs are done

is this the wc as well?

[flyernzl]

is this the wc as well?

Yes it is.

[Gayle]

it isnt leaking because the "bath isnt sealed" this must be a shower over the bath surely?

open up ceiling under before making decsions as it might be possible to work around the tenant and keep dwelling occupied (and rent) flowing while repairs are done

is this the wc as well?

yes unless there is a shower overhead the bath shouldnt have caused this problem..
The only way water could have breached over the top level of the bath is if the occupants walllowed in the bath to such an extent that water overflowed. No floor would stand up to that and surely that would be just careless use of the bath tub. That would surely constitute negligence and should not be at the landlords expense.

[TheFlash]

The problem is LBP builders do not know how to support plastic bath's correctly which causes the plumbers putty around the bath sinkhole to give a little when the bath flex's slightly due to the weight of the water. The lack of access hole is another mistake especially on ground levels. Like leaky buildings - who is at fault, builder, plumber or bath manufacturer - because i know who is paying the repair cost.

Im dealing with this problem myself - however my builder cut a hole in the concrete slab and didnt fill it in - the water has condensing out of this sub floor hole and starting to destroy the under bath cavity and wall lining. Im trying to retrospectively repair the black moisture barrier under the concrete slab floor.

and this was a LBP who was meant to be doing me a good job - such is life i suppose..

[John the builder]

and this was a LBP who was meant to be doing me a good job - such is life i suppose.

shit happens?

if you can't cope with it don't be an owner

why does every damn thing have to be someone elses fault I am sure the builder did not intentionally leave this as a problem. 99 houses out of a 100 would have the same situation and not present issues later.

[Maccachic]

If they are not competent they should not be hiring themselves out and charging for it. You pay a professional to do a job correctly - not to accept shit happens.

Intentional or not it is that professionals job to know the standards and apply them to the job they are carrying out, if they make a mistake they stand up and fix it.

[TheFlash]

The issue is builders only find out the systemic problems later after the installation has happened - when it becomes well known - no undo feature as a builder.

Installation manuals do not go into enough detail to spell out how to do it and are broad on purpose to limit claim.

The bath over shower units compounds the fact - that you stand over/near the plug when having a shower which just leads to failure - as the floor is cut away at that point to allow waste water pipe.

The English seem to sell bath kits - which includes cradle which supports bath plug hole. (basically a plank with a V cut to go around the plumbing for full support).

In new Zealand you seem to just get the bath with no frame. (builders rightly or wrongly - build the fame and then slate the underside of the bath - and perhaps dont take the special care required for support near the pipe interfaces).

[klauster]

Tenant – Owner – Builder?
In most cases I would assume the party who pays the bill should be responsible. Well, you are right… who owns properties know it, has seen it and can’t do anything about it.

For instance how many hot-water cylinders are installed in NZ without a tray to prevent water damage, renovations and costly repairs. It's common knowledge that a hot-water cylinder will leak at the end. I own properties without HW cylinder tray, I am sure tenants won’t tell me…

[Janshouse]

Ouch.... sounds like this is going to be expensive

[flyernzl]

Cost, including a new downstairs toilet, apparently looks to about 10K.

Tenant eventually decided to stay through the reno, as the builder could reinstall the toilet at the conclusion of each working day.

[FJW]

Last weekend I carried out a property inspection on a flat owned by a family member.

During this inspection I found a very high moisture level in the bathroom floor. Further checks showed quite a few soft spots in the floor.

I told the property owner of this problem, and suggested that she should get a plumber in there urgently to find the leak that was causing the problem.

This morning I have had a phone call from her. The plunber has been, and the leak is from failed sealant around the bath tub.

However, majorly the timber floor is now in a dangerous weakend situation and needs urgent repairs (it is in an upper level of the property).

So - what is her situation vis-a-vis the tenant? Can she immediatly evict the tenant on the basis that the property is now unfit for habitation as this is the only bathroom in the property?

The tenant has been there for a couple of years.

Hey Flyernzl

No one can terminate a tenancy except for a tenancy adjudicator or by way of mutual agreement from the landlord and tenant.

It would be in her best interests to get it fixed due to the obvious.

The problem she may face though is the tenant is entitled to compensation whilst the renovation is occurring. If he has suffered any kind of loss and he / she can qualify and quantify it then he / she is also entitled to another sum of compensation which covers another section of the act.

Best thing to do is talk with the tenant, put in a game plan so its a win / win for everyone.

Hope that helps