Problem with water pressure in shower!

jillyb

hey guys

Just moved into a new place and theres been a few problems.

The main one with ourr water pressure in the showers. Our showers aren't instant - we're not used to this so had to figure out settings to time it etc.

There are two showers, one off the bath and one not.
The pressure from both are like someone weeing on you!!
I thought maybe I could replace the shower hose and head and that might help but in the other shower we can't do that.

I need to ring the property management anyways for the plumber to come out to tend to another job, do you think there is anything he could do?

We haven't signed the lease yet. Maybe we could neg with them getting one power shower in.

thanks

woolymammoth

are you sure the showers aren't pump assisted? it's possible of course there's a plumbing problem, but it's more likely that if both showers are the same, there's a pump somewhere you haven't found just yet. have a look around, likely to be near the hot water tank. once you find it (if it exists) just find the power switch and turn it on. assuming that your water is gas heated, if you don't have the radiators on, you should have plenty of hot water for a shower in half an hour or less. If the radiators are on, give up to an hour. Don't be afraid to get onto the LL straight away though if it still not working.

I f*cking hate sh!tty showers :mad:

djimi

Id second that its probably the pump is not switched on or not working. Happened to me in my current place when I moved in. The pump is usually in the same press as the hot water tank.

If the pump switch is on and its still not working then the pump is knackered and the landlord needs to fix it.

Moonbeam

We had this in Balbriggan as water pressure there is so bad.
I had to go get an electric pump installed to pump water to the whole house,it is noisey but so worth it.

Pkiernan

Is the dwelling a house or part of an apartment complex.

If it is an older house, you may well have a gravity fed system, in which case a pump would need to be installed.

If you are in an apartment, it might well be, as other have suggested, that an existing pump is not working.

jillyb

hey guys

Thanks for replies. Its a duplex apartment in a block. Fairly newish. Boiler is on same level as showers.The plumber came today to fix the heating and I asked him about the pump and he had a look and said there wasn't one. So can't increase the pressure.

Which is ridiculous.. showers is like its dribbling on us.
We were thinking of asking for an electric shower.. know its a long shot.
Or would a pump be easier??do you think they'd put one in. We haven't signed the lease yet.prefer an electric but beggars can't be choosers

woolymammoth

i prefer leccy showers for the instant showery goodness. but unless you buy a good one the pressure is sh!te when you turn up th heat. If you can figure out the heating times for hot water, the pump option has good pressure. Also, you can change the shower head with low-flow heads, or even airated heads. this can help make pressure feel better while reducing the amount of water used.

alansimpson

In Ireland water pressure is low because showers etc are fed from a header tank usually in the attic rather than from mains. It is the vertical height difference between water level in tank and appliance being used that defines pressure. Sometimes tank is on the some story giving a head of pressure only 1.5 m or 0.15 bar.

If you can find where this tank is and it is over 2 m vertical distance above an appliance then you probably have a plumbing problem like taps or shower fittings too small. Horizontal distance distance shouldn't make a difference.

Sometimes taps and shower fittings are rated for higher pressure supplies found in other countries. Take fittings off shower down to the valve and judge the flow visually if it is good a new shower head may do the trick.

Eco shower heads use less water by mixing air with shower stream and giving the appearance of a powerful shower however they may still need a good head of pressure.

Electric showers like Triton or Myra would be my preference.

What is the flow rate out of the other taps in the house? The cold tap in the kitchen is directly from mains. If they are similar to that then its the shower causing the problem .

If the flow is not good you may need a booster pump. Easy enough to fit if you can get your landlord to do it. As others said they can be noisy, but they only run when needed.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10026454&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=pump&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=search&ts=1291912904000&isSearch=true

djimi

I enquired about getting an electric shower put into my last place (to a friend who knew about that kind of thing, not the landlord) and they said that the effort in putting an electric shower into an apartment would basically amount to rebuilding the bathroom and half the ceiling! Basically its not going to happen if its not done when the place is built initially.

You could try and get a pump installed, but to be honest if you havent signed the lease yet then why not just go find another place which has the utilities you want and save yourself the hassle? Theres nothing worse than a bad shower; its absolutely miserable.

woolymammoth

djimi wrote: »

I enquired about getting an electric shower put into my last place (to a friend who knew about that kind of thing, not the landlord) and they said that the effort in putting an electric shower into an apartment would basically amount to rebuilding the bathroom and half the ceiling! Basically its not going to happen if its not done when the place is built initially.

*sniff*sniff* bullsh!t!

i'm sorry djimi, but your friend was talking sh!t.

I moved into a house in 2007, had no electric shower, or any 'capacity' for one! Was in the pace only a few days before i got pissed off with the shower. Called the LL and explained that, in my opinion, there was a problem with the shower, i.e. low pressure, cold water (even though hot water tank was boiling!). Told him the house really needed an electric shower. Had one in in 3 days. Zero works or retro fitting. the thing just needs the water pipe and power! I cannot fathom why any major remodeling would be needed!

In fairness, not everyone will have a understanding LL. The existing tenants had been asking for one for a while, i guess i tipped the scales. At the end of the day, only real cost to him is the price of an electric shower or a plumber. After that, usage costs are the problem of the tenants.

djimi

It probably depends on the apartment. I was told that in order to put an electric shower into my place it would involve having to remove part of the ceiling in order to sort out the electrics and that if the water pipes werent in the right place then that woiuld be awkward to get at as well. Im no plumber so they could have been talking rubbish, but it made sense.

djimi

Im talking about an apartment as well, not a house.

woolymammoth

djimi wrote: »

Im talking about an apartment as well, not a house.

fair enough, my bad

in my house at the time, the shower was put in place of the existing one, so the pipes were already there. They brought a cable down the wall and covered it in though, didn't do any major wall & ceiling busting

jillyb

hey guys

I called the plumber later that day asking him could it be cos there is low water pressure in the area for the last while over the weather but he said that wouldn't affect us cos ours is off the immersion and coming from the tank.

The taps in the house are fine its just the showers. He fitted a new hose for me in the main bathroom cos the other one was too short and checked the pressure.So we waited to see if that would improve it but it hasn't.

Got an email from property agents yesterday saying to drop in the lease as soon as possible.

So we feel we have to ask them to either put in a pump or give us one electric shower cos the water flow barely washed my hair and there's still shampoo practically in it after.

Before i say it to them, is it their obligation to fix this for us?
or are likely to say just put up with it.
They've been good so far this week we moved in getting plumber out straight away to fix the heating etc

thanks

athtrasna

The landlord is not obliged to provide pressurised water showers. Ask and they might put in a pump, more likely than an electric shower as there are fewer cosmetic issues to sort out afterwards. At the same time, your landlord might decide not to spend this money. They have provided washing facilities, regardless of pressure that is their only obligation.

Even without having signed the lease, if you have paid rent and moved in you are probably classed as having a Part 4 tenancy so would be subject to those break clauses and notice periods.

obliviousgrudge

Could be limescale, do you live in a hard water area?

Probably not is if you live a new house though

jillyb

hey guys

So here's the update. Emailed the property agent explaining the very low pressure etc and how it was so bad we had been showering elsewhere etc. So she said she's get onto the Plumber and the Landlord.

She emailed me today saying:

" I had a discussion with Plumber re: shower he said that the pressure is normal for those showers. At present alot of properties are requesting to have the more powerful showers removed from properties as the water meters will be installed in all properties in the near future.
Let me know your thoughts at your convenience"


When the plumber was out he did mention this but surely a decent showers outweighs any additional water charges when it comes in??


A lot of people have electric showers aswell and they'll hardly remove them.


what do people think??



thanks

juzzy

seems like they should do something about this for you if its unusable.
Having a workable shower is a basic requirement.
did previous tenants ever complain of it to the letting agent to your knowledge?

jillyb

I reiterated to the agent that decent showers outweighs any additional water charges when it comes in and said your welcome to test them out- which they did by just turning up yesterdat without calling ahead. Basically she said her showers the same and you'll just have to get used to it.She said previous tenants never complained before

The previous tenant happened to call yesterday evening to collect post and I asked them about it. He said yes the pressure was awful and he complained but nothing was done about it. Does this give us more of a chance something should be done?

quietsailor

jillyb wrote: »

I reiterated to the agent that decent showers outweighs any additional water charges when it comes in and said your welcome to test them out- which they did by just turning up yesterdat without calling ahead. Basically she said her showers the same and you'll just have to get used to it.She said previous tenants never complained before

The previous tenant happened to call yesterday evening to collect post and I asked them about it. He said yes the pressure was awful and he complained but nothing was done about it. Does this give us more of a chance something should be done?

You have the beginnings of a problem here;
1. no landlord or agent should arrive at the house without giving suitable notice - 24 hrs is considered the norm. - an agent especially should know this. If you end up staying in the house you should point out to them that you want 24 hrs notice in future. Don't get nasty about it, just make it clear that you won't tolerate that happening again.
2. The agent just lied to you when they said the previous tenant never complained. At best, being charitable, they forgot to write down the previous complaints. Thats not very reassuring if you have complaints during the tenancy.
3. They know there is a problem there - weak showers - and they are trying to avoid it. If you can move somewhere else DO, that house sounds like it will be trouble for you.

From your description it sounds like your 2 present showers are simple gravity fed showers. Fitting either a power shower or an electric shower will require a lot of the house to be torn up depending on how far the bathroom is from the fuseboard. In both cases (assuming you only have a gravity fed shower) new wires will need to be ran from the fuseboard to the back of the shower - that requires carpets & floorboards to be lifted up which in turn requires furniture to be moved. That is no easy or cheap job so a LL will try to avoid it as much as possible.

**Note: There are 3 types of shower
1. A gravity fed shower that simply takes water from a tank through pipes to the shower head.
2. A power shower is a pump that increases water pressure but doesn't heat the water
3. an electric shower is one that is fed cold water by gravity and increases the pressure (pump) and heats it

jillyb

hey thanks quietsailor

Yeah they're gravity fed showers alright and the one in the main bathroom is off the bath.

O/H rang them today as I was getting fed up and she was quiet rude tbh.
Said she'd get back to us this afternoon but didn't.Said she was getting quotations etc but I doubt it as she never informed me.

As of this evening, we developed a leaky radiator, discovered that the pipe under the sink is leaking and previous tenants must have known as a bowl was catching the water and overflowed on everything.

Also the heating stopped working. Same problem we had 2 weeks ago just after we moved in. The water level on the system for the heating went down to 0.

This is getting ridiculous. Aren't we right to be annoyed?
Only in 2 weeks and the place is only 3/4 years old!

godwin

jillyb wrote: »

hey thanks quietsailor

Yeah they're gravity fed showers alright and the one in the main bathroom is off the bath.

O/H rang them today as I was getting fed up and she was quiet rude tbh.
Said she'd get back to us this afternoon but didn't.Said she was getting quotations etc but I doubt it as she never informed me.

As of this evening, we developed a leaky radiator, discovered that the pipe under the sink is leaking and previous tenants must have known as a bowl was catching the water and overflowed on everything.

Also the heating stopped working. Same problem we had 2 weeks ago just after we moved in. The water level on the system for the heating went down to 0.

This is getting ridiculous. Aren't we right to be annoyed?
Only in 2 weeks and the place is only 3/4 years old!

This sounds like the 3 years old apartment I just left ,upon moving in i pointed out to the landlord that 1 storage heater in a 45m2 room wont be enough over winter and that the other apartments in the complex have 2 storage heaters in the same size space , said he would get another put in , 6months later no heater and I was left in freezing cold apartment , also wrote to him to say the every time it rained water pissed in under the door and soaked the whole hallway and caused damp and mildew, he said its not possible , so i took a video of the water leaking in... his excuse it was 'extreme weather' , then the roof started to leak , told him and it never got fixed. In the end I just found a better place and moved out , but broke the 1 year lease and didn't pay him the last months rent , so if you're having problems now leave a.s.a.p and in the mean time put of signing the lease as long as possible , there is lots of choice out there so why be stuck in a ****e hole

jillyb

hey guys

Here's an update. The letting agent said that she put the two options to the landlord; pump or electric shower on the 22nd of December.

She was awaiting his decision as both costly choices she said.
So we've waited the christmas period and up till now.
Heard absolutely nothing.. which is strange as she was anxious for us to sign the lease and we haven't as of yet. Sick of waiting now.

I know some people said to move but there's nothing equal out there at the moment and don't want the upheavel if we can avoid it. Would like it to be remedied or a rent reduction- as we can use one of the showers in the ensuite- which is in my sisters room even though its inconvenient but a bit more powerful until we sort something for the main bathroom ourselves, maybe with the saving on rent get an electric shower in ourselves.

Going to email them and don't know how harsh to be. any suggestions?? Could withhold rent thats due end of month but not sure if thats the right way to go.

Thanks

athtrasna

jillyb wrote: »

Could withhold rent thats due end of month but not sure if thats the right way to go.

It's absolutely the wrong way to go. The landlord has done nothing wrong or in breach of your rights, whereas witholding rent means the landlord can issue you with a non-payment notice.

As for a reduction in rent? You took the apartment as it was. Why would a landlord reduce your rent. The apartment clearly has a power shower in the ensuite and while it may be inconvenient, expecting a rent reduction because the other shower isn't as powerful is unrealistic.

jillyb

athtrasna wrote: »

It's absolutely the wrong way to go. The landlord has done nothing wrong or in breach of your rights, whereas witholding rent means the landlord can issue you with a non-payment notice.

As for a reduction in rent? You took the apartment as it was. Why would a landlord reduce your rent. The apartment clearly has a power shower in the ensuite and while it may be inconvenient, expecting a rent reduction because the other shower isn't as powerful is unrealistic.

Hey athtrasna,

The three of us took the apt under the impression that there was two bathrooms with adequate shower facilities, ie they were both power showers. The main bathroom which two of use has a gravity fed shower which is so poor power its unusable.

We're paying enough rent to not have to use another person's ensuite which is very inconvenient. Anyone i've asked has advised me that they should remedy this.. I don't think its much to ask for and i didn't think in this day and age, gravity fed showers were the norm.

Joey the lips

This whole thread makes for an interesting read...

Needless to say all your questions would have been addresed in the

plumbing and heating forum but just to give you a little guidence on the situation

In ireland generally apartments are pumped and houses are not(unless specifically made that way)

The apartment contains a negative head 1.5 bar pump and this pumps everything.

The house relies on gravity and comes from the attic.

The reason the taps were not working was because they were either

1. High pressure or 2. The tank in the hot press requies a negative head pump..

If either of this is the case techanically speaking the lease can be determined to be void as the plumbing is or was not working correctly.

See you in the plumbing and heating forum soon.


Lastly on the Triton T90. You cannot fit these in apartments

athtrasna

We have a duplex..shower in the bathroom is gravity fed, and while not powerful is adequate. Shower in ensuite is pumped.

I guess different people have different ideas of what comprises adequate shower facilities. Any house or apartment I've ever lived in has had a mix of gravity and power showers, I've never come across two power showers, and some of the other posts in this thread explain why that's the case.

Pkiernan

jillyb wrote: »

Hey athtrasna,

The three of us took the apt under the impression that there was two bathrooms with adequate shower facilities, ie they were both power showers. The main bathroom which two of use has a gravity fed shower which is so poor power its unusable.

We're paying enough rent to not have to use another person's ensuite which is very inconvenient. Anyone i've asked has advised me that they should remedy this.. I don't think its much to ask for and i didn't think in this day and age, gravity fed showers were the norm.

Unfortunately, your expectations are not a part of the contract you signed.
If you withhold rent you are breaking your terms of the lease.
Given that LL have no real rights anymore you are effectively punishing the LL for no reason.

How would you feel if your employer decided to illegally withhold your pay for a month?

From what you have posted your LL is in full compliance with current renting regulations.

To be honest your LL is probably better off with different tenants, and you sound like you would be happier elsewhere.

Instead of wrongly withholdling rent, why not call the LL and ask if you can move out a bit earlier. Who knows, he may take a higher road than you and allow you to break the terms of the lease without penalty.
You could offer to try to find new tenants and to stay there until new tenants are found.

jillyb

hey guys,

Thanks for all the responses, they were very helpful.

Heard back from the letting agent today and the landlord has agreed to put a pump in for us! Great news... so hopefully alls well that ends well.