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Neighbour Leak - Damage to my Carpets. What to do?

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  • 08-10-2006 5:07pm
    #1
    Mr E
    Registered Users Posts: 55,514 ✭✭✭✭


    Need some advice folks....

    Was woken this morning by my neighbour to say that she had a leak in her downstairs loo. The pipe to her sink snapped (pressure? I don't know) resulting in a steady spray of water. From the watermark on her wall, the water was about 3-5 inches off the ground in the loo before she discovered it.

    I'm in a terraced house, so her loo backs onto my sitting room. Sure enough, there was a damp patch on my carpet about 2-3 feet away from my wall. If I stick my finger into the carpet 2 feet away from the damp patch, I can feel more damp (so it soaked into the underlay past the visible patch).

    I presume my carpet needs to be replaced, thats a given.

    My questions:

    1. Should it be my insurance, the neighbours insurance or the builders insurance that pays for the carpet replacement? (The houses are VERY new, so a burst pipe should NOT have happened).

    2. I'm going to get the plumber in to have a look at my pipes (since all houses in the block were done at the same time, it stands to reason that the exact same thing could theoretically happen to my sink). Should I use the site plumber, or get an independent plumber? If independent, could it be charged to the insurance policy?

    Looking forward to reading your feedback....


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    #2
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    Was discussing something very similar about an apartment in the Old Distillery complex on Cuckoo Lane behind Fyffes in Smithfield. In that case the pipe feeding into an imersion heater burst during the night and mains water flowed merrily through a 6 floor building until it was discovered 5 or 6 hours later.
    The owner of the apartment was not insured herself, and the builder claimed his insurance was solely to cover structural damage (the Management Company disavowed all dealings in this). The various disgruntled neighbours threatened to sue the girl whose imersion heater pipe had burst- but when they checked they found no cause for suing (its a legal term- obviously they had cause, but legally were not entitled to sue her). So.... everyone replaced their own carpets etc, painted their internal walls, and the Management Company repainted the water marks on external walls and stair cases......

    These things happen, they shouldn't, but they do....


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    #3
    Mr E
    Registered Users Posts: 55,514 ✭✭✭✭Mr E


    The builders are going to cover the cost of getting the carpet sorted. They're also going to send in their plumber at lunchtime today to check my pipes.


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    #4
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,393 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Don't replace the carpets immediately - the floor needs to dry out.

    You need to work out exactly what went wrong first, exactly where tdid the water penetrate, through the wall or the floor?


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    #5
    Mr E
    Registered Users Posts: 55,514 ✭✭✭✭Mr E


    Water penetrated the wall (it was held in the neighbours loo at 3-4 inches up the wall - when she opened the door it gushed out). The rate of the leak was obviously greater than the rate of the water getting under the loo door.

    Chemdry came over last night, soaked up excess water, and left a huge fan to dry up the rest. Its definitely less damp today, ans another 12 hours should do it.


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