Would appreciate some advise please

[tudorgirl]

SEWAGE RUNNING ONTO JOISTS FOR NEARLY 12 MONTHS

 

l had a shower room fitted under a council grant through an care organisation,

 

from the onset wqe had problems, the tiles fell off the wall due to no prep work, this was redone, the shower ran water from the shower through the door on to the landing, so boards was fitted underneath now showing a rduige which as gone very springy. we just acceprted all the above but since our kitchen started to get condensation more and more but we didn't give a thought to any connection to the shower room,

 

at the same time t5wo of the three of us suffered with severe coughs also the dog did, all with unknow causes. but suddenlty we noticed water marks on our wall by the stack pipe unit, having got the representaive who organised the grant from the council insisted it was just condensation,

 

cutting a long story short after makin an hole in the ceiling it was clearly wet and cold, the person left and said he would see what could be done, after returning with an attitude owner of the company he agreed to have a look but if we was wrong we would have to pay, in between

 

my son borrowed a Probe Camera and looked up the stack and saw no cap had been placed on the sewage pipe when the bath was took out, each time the toilet flushed it went on to the joists etc,

 

the workamn looked at it and made out that he had dropped the cap but it had failed which sometime he said happend but he couldnt show us because he dropped it down the stack,

 

when he went ouytside to his van he took his bag of rubbish which my wife went and looked and found the part he had sawn off which also showed that hge had no capping on, when asked he knew he had been rumbled, the joists in the exact area of the leak was badly discoloured black with some white on which l have been told is dry rot and could be in a larger area than the small area which he had covered.

 

l have had so much stress over this and feel that the comnpany have devalued my property, l would like to sue the builder but not sure who my contract is with, would it be the council, the company or the orgamizer of the grant ?

 

would be grateful for any advise thanks

Edited January 25, 2014 by honeybee13
Paras.

[citizenB]

I will try and find someone who can advise on this. Sounds very unpleasant indeed.

 

Just in case you have to take legal advice, do you have home insurance with legal advice as one of the benefits ?

[tudorgirl]

Don't think we have, really appreciated thank you

[citizenB]

Don't think we have, really appreciated thank you

 

Never mind, I am sure someone will be able to point you in the right direction. I have left a message for site team and I am sure there will be some help over the weekend for you.

[stu007]

Hi

 

Sorry to hear of your troubles a couple of questions if you don't mind:

 

1. Are you a Tenant or a Home Owner?

 

2. Did the Local Authority recommend contractor to fit the shower Room or was it part of the agreement for the Grant?

 

3. Do you have any paperwork from the Company that fitted the Shower Room?

 

4. Were you given any Warranty by the company that fitted the Shower Room?

[tudorgirl]

Thank you all

 

1) Home owner

2) The local authority awarded the contract out of three companies, the other two both came out and did estimates the other first day of the start of the job was the first time

3)No paper work

4) No mention of any warranty, l do feel a twit now for not mentioning about warranty in the begining

 

The local authority made the award to the company as part of the agreement of the Grant

[stu007]

Ok thanks for that now have you made a complaint in writing company and LA yet?

 

Do you not have a copy of the paperwork you completed to apply for/get the grant?

 

In fact it would be helpful if you could give us a timeline on this I.E.

 

Shower Room Fitted - June 2013

1st Fault - Tiles coming off -July 2013

2nd Fault - Water from shower door - July 2013 etc

to date to get a fuller picture

Edited January 25, 2014 by stu007

[f16]

Did they suggest the contractors or did you have to find them? I'm a builder and I hate Cowboys. Trust me.

The white deposit is more likely to be mould.... Hence the coughs reported.

Is it an electric shower unit? If so it has to be fitted by NICEIC qualified engineer and a certificate issued to the homeowner and local council.

[tudorgirl]

Yes and verbally

Shower room fitted Oct 2013

1st fault following first day when tiles fell off over night, replaced following day

2nd fault when shower room finished, water ran onto landing, company returned back and lowered the shower curtain, this didn't stop the wate, some days later they returned and pushed 1/4inch boards under the flooring between the shower and the door, leaving a ridge in the floor covering.

3rd issue of the sewage was in Oct just before 12 months of the start of the job

[tudorgirl]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]48859[/ATTACH]

[f16]

Photo very small. The damp will dry out with out a problem. The leak needs to be sorted first.

How old is the house? Can you answer #8 above

Don't panic or get stressed ..... your in good hands.

[tudorgirl]

Thats interesting, l'm sure we had no certificate but will check with my husband the electrican was the tiler and plumber. what would the black be on the joists? l have added a photo

[tudorgirl]

The house is 1960, thank you for reassurance one images all things

[f16]

Photo very small hard to tell. The water damage to the timbers is nothing to worry about, it will dry out. How old is the house?

Can you answer #8 above

[tudorgirl]

They suggested the builders, we had no choice involvemen,

 

It is an electric shower but sure we had no certificate

[f16]

So the council recommended the contractor?

Good news 1960 build so floor boards NOT chipboard floors. That will dry. The problem is has all sewage been removed and area disinfected?

The "black" area described is wet timber , possibly mould.

[f16]

What make is the shower and model? I can not understand this, What the hell are the council thinking of?

[tudorgirl]

Yes they did recommend the builder

 

The sewage had gone into the joists and between the rafters if that makes sense luck enough we had artexed ceielings with a good depth of paint on, my worry was the thought of sewage where we couldn't get at between floors

[tudorgirl]

The shower is a Mira Advance atl thermostatic

 

[f16]

Ok just googled that. It's a 9 or 9.8Kw shower. Must be fitted and signed off by qualified electrician.

Can you up load photo of fuse board (distribution board) all of it, in particular shower wiring addition. If it means more than 1 photo that's fine, the more the better; plenty of time ..I'm just listening to soul music and necking a few beers

[tudorgirl]

I can't get at it but will get it done in the morning if thats ok, just been reading about the mould my husbands been really ill with the cough and it's been treated as GERD but all medication failed him, l wondering if it could be the mould, the hole where the ceiling came down was left open for some days - l can't thank you all enough

[stu007]

I agree that mira shower needed to be properly installed by a qualified electrician and certified.

 

I had one of these installed as a replacement for my old mira that that gave up the ghost.

 

Now the electrician before carrying out the safety test had to ensure that they asked me and checked that nothing electrical was switched on that could be damaged as the safety test on the mira shower should blow/trip the fuses/rcd at the fuse box. Once the test are fully complete I was given all the books etc for the shower and a tested electrical certificate. (sadly in my case it failed the test but wasn't the shower at fault but the fusebox rcd faulty once replaced tested again and fully passed)

[f16]

Mould spores can cause this cough. There is a spray made by HD mould spray, it is very good and destroys mould completely.

I will await your photos tomorrow. Take care .I will help get it sorted. I don't do the legal bit though

[tudorgirl]

l had a booklet on the shower but no certificate to what l can remember

[f16]

stu007 thanks for "backing" me up on this. This could potentially be more dangerous than the water leak. I just don't want anyone ending up with a Don king hair do and the Al Jolson face.

Sounds like go back to council because they got the contractor. I know one thing I would not have them back in my house.