Crazy...

[Shaun]

We have a burst water pipe under our kitchen. Contacted the insurance company and they've sent out plumbers to locate and fix the problem. The plumbers they've sent are from Liverpool; they left at 4am this morning to get here. The job is going to take a few days so they're travelling back to Liverpool this evening and driving back up tomorrow again. Crazy or what! Surely it would make more sense to sub contract the job to someone that resides in the same country? :eek:

[Shaun]

It gets crazier...after being in just under an hour, lifting up part of the sink unit...umming and ahhhing....taking a few pictures of the problem, they've now left and are on their way back to Liverpool and said the insurance company will be back in touch in due course to arrange someone to fix the problem. I thought that was their job? <sigh>

.....there's still a pool forming under my kitchen!!

[Excalibur]

Ah well, they're obviously assessors. ;) :D :D The plumber from round the corner will be there in a week or two. :bang:

[BeerFunk]

That is crazy!!

Did you shut off the mains, or is the breakage before the mains valve?

The thing is, it's ultimately your premiums paying for all of that :(

[Shaun]

That is crazy!!

Did you shut off the mains, or is the breakage before the mains valve?

The thing is, it's ultimately your premiums paying for all of that :(

The leakage is apparently just within the confines of the building structure, but just to the outside of the main stopcock. So I don't think there's a way to shut off the leakage without shutting off the water supply to my neighbours.

[Excalibur]

The leakage is apparently just within the confines of the building structure, but just to the outside of the main stopcock. So I don't think there's a way to shut off the leakage without shutting off the water supply to my neighbours.

Surely you've got your own stop tap, usually under the kitchen sink, on the rising main?

[Shaun]

Surely you've got your own stop tap, usually under the kitchen sink, on the rising main?

You might as well be speaking another language. I'm clueless with anything DIY.

The leak is just to the outside of the stop tap. If I turn it off the water supply to the house turns off, but the water leak still flows as it's on the other side of the tap.

Did that make sense? :D

[Excalibur]

You might as well be speaking another language. I'm clueless with anything DIY.

The leak is just to the outside of the stop tap. If I turn it off the water supply to the house turns off, but the water leak still flows as it's on the other side of the tap.

Did that make sense? :D

Yes. Trickier. In that case, it's not bound to be your responsibility.Probably is, but not necessarily. Up to the Meter is Water Board. After that, it all depends. If it's shared, then it's anybody's guess. Sorry.

Edit: Bet that's why the first lads did naff all. Could be worth a call to your Water Board. Don't let them mend it and bill you though.

[Creature]

if teh leak is indie your boundary then its up to you to get sorted as waterboard will say not there problem - they will of coarce offer to fix it a a rather inflated price tho

[Marc J]

Up to the Meter is Water Board.

What's a water meter?

We're in Scotland, remember :D

Sorry to hear about your leak Shaun....hope it get's sorted soon!

[Excalibur]

What's a water meter?

We're in Scotland, remember :D

Sorry to hear about your leak Shaun....hope it get's sorted soon!

:Censored: Scottish smartarses. :p :D :D

Didn't know you were unmetered. Learn something new every day.

[BeerFunk]

Yes, unmetered, good pure (ish) water - not so good if it's collecting under your kitchen floor though :(

[NKR]

There will be a stop tap in the pavement outside your house. It will be a little cast iron flap with W or water on it. If you can get in there you will see what type of fitting you need to shut it off. If you are in a semi then they can be shared between two properties.

[Excalibur]

There will be a stop tap in the pavement outside your house. It will be a little cast iron flap with W or water on it. If you can get in there you will see what type of fitting you need to shut it off. If you are in a semi then they can be shared between two properties.

If he's in a block of flats............................................. .................................................. .......................:eek: :eek: :eek:

As to semi's sharing, I once fitted a new pipe to an extension a mate and I had built. Two days later, next door rang my mate to ask when he was going to turn the water back on! :eek: :eek: Fortunately, I'd left the old pipe intact, as opposed to cutting it off flush as I really should have done.

[Shaun]

Well, the Plumbers made the long arduous journey back up from Liverpool to start on my burst pipe this morning. They left about 7pm after ripping up half my kitchen, then having to go hire a pneumatic drill to get through the concrete that was under my floorboards. After spending 10 hours trying to fix the problem they left with the leak still flowing and the promise to return to try again tomorrow.

I wouldn't mind so much but I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. Looks like it'll be a mad scurry around on Xmas Eve. :eek:

[Corabar Entertainment]

OMG Shaun.... I hope this is a very small leak?

[Shaun]

It's hard to tell till they actually reach it, but going from the sound it's making it sounds like a small stream is flowing. It's also filling up somewhere under the floor. It sounds like a bath filling up when I put my ears to the kitchen floor. Hopefully it'll be sorted tomorrow, and hopefully there's no damage to the foundations.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Good God... they've hardly rushed to sort it out! I'd be worrying as to where it is all going!!!!

Best of luck for tomorrow Shaun

[Penfold42]

Good God... they've hardly rushed to sort it out! I'd be worrying as to where it is all going!!!!

Best of luck for tomorrow Shaun

Ditto - hope you get it sorted mate. :)

[Jiggles]

Shaun, Is that your house I see floating past mine in the sea? :confused: :D

[NKR]

Good God... they've hardly rushed to sort it out! I'd be worrying as to where it is all going!!!!

Best of luck for tomorrow Shaun

If he is on strip foundations and suspended timber floors it will all be hanging about in the void under there, which isn't ideal, but will eventually soak away naturally. Watch for any damp rising up your internal walls and soaking wall and floor coverings (floor coverings - yes floor coverings as the water could rise up the internal sleeper walls and soak joist ends, which leads to migration along joist into boards suspended above it and dampens floor coverings near the walls.)

If they have had to have a go at concrete under the floor boards you could be on some form of raft foundation so its probably just soaking away underneath. However it is odd to find a cast slab underneath your suspended timber floor.

Ahhh okay - unless of course your kitchen is a converted garage or other ancillary building and the floor level has been raised using joists off the existing cast floor. But it would be unusual for water to be drawn from piping within the cast slab.

Any photos just for my morbid curiousity of course. Sorry I like buildings and the way they are put together.

[DJMaxG]

It's madness, Our plumber was local ish (within the West Midlands) took on work in Derbyshire, from a contract he has, but he is allowed to refuse work.

Your insurance company must have "preferred" contractors to use.

[Excalibur]

If he is on strip foundations and suspended timber floors it will all be hanging about in the void under there, which isn't ideal, but will eventually soak away naturally. Watch for any damp rising up your internal walls and soaking wall and floor coverings (floor coverings - yes floor coverings as the water could rise up the internal sleeper walls and soak joist ends, which leads to migration along joist into boards suspended above it and dampens floor coverings near the walls.)

If they have had to have a go at concrete under the floor boards you could be on some form of raft foundation so its probably just soaking away underneath. However it is odd to find a cast slab underneath your suspended timber floor.

Ahhh okay - unless of course your kitchen is a converted garage or other ancillary building and the floor level has been raised using joists off the existing cast floor. But it would be unusual for water to be drawn from piping within the cast slab.

Any photos just for my morbid curiousity of course. Sorry I like buildings and the way they are put together.

Yeah, photos please. They're often better than a thousand words. As Neil says, it sounds "interesting" to say the least. Suspended wooden floors over concrete is not particularly unusual. Burying the water pipe in the concrete is unhelpful as far as repairs go. If it's an older property, and has copper pipe, then that's a problem. Nowadays, plastic is fairly rot proof. The pipes into our two bungalows here was copper, and rotted under the foundations. I had to replact them both, and it was a nightmare. Good luck.

[BeerFunk]

If it's an older property, and has copper pipe, then that's a problem. Nowadays, plastic is fairly rot proof. The pipes into our two bungalows here was copper, and rotted under the foundations. I had to replact them both, and it was a nightmare. Good luck.I've heard quite a few plumbers curse the new PVC piping, and still swear by copper for permanent installations.

The other thing to bear in mind is that mice/rats cannot chew through copper.

[Excalibur]

I've heard quite a few plumbers curse the new PVC piping, and still swear by copper for permanent installations.

The other thing to bear in mind is that mice/rats cannot chew through copper.

They can't chew through plastic if it's inside six cubic metres of concrete. :p :D :D

Seriously, yes the little rodents do indeed love all forms of plastic. Grrrrr. As far as I'm aware, plastic is fine, as long as used correctly. Plumbers don't use much Copper nowadays. Usually the last few visible inches of an installation. :D