Thursday, July 31, 2008

it never rains but it pours!

So last night Pip was taking Lily-Anna up to bed when she discovered water pouring through our bedroom ceiling, down the light fitting, and onto our bed. We think it had been doing it for about half an hour before we realised.
The ensuite bathroom is located directly above and the water was coming from there.
I turned the water off at the mains and turned all the tapos on to drain the system but it was still pouring out.We called out for an emergency plumber who turned up 30 mins later. It was a good deal, we were told, because there was no call out fee. They only charged an hourly rate of £119 per hour!!
The plumber told us it was a simple job and could be done within the hour. It ended up almost going into a third hour by the time he finished! So after VAT that came to almost £300 which I thought I could claim back from the insurers but now it turns out I can't.

Anyway it turns out that it all happened because we've had really hot weather and the plastic brackets that hold the concealed cistern in place had warped and the cistern came loose and emptied itself through our bedroom ceiling.

The original plumbers that fitted it should have used brass fittings but took a shortcut and used plastic instead. Thanks guys. It'll be weeks before we're able to use that room again. Life's good ain't it?!!

1 comment:

bigdaddystevieB said...

how absolutely AWFUL matt!
... and I just don't believe that your insurance doesn't cover the damage.
I always take explanations from builders/plumbers when they talk about previous workmen's work with a huge pinch of salt, but it just seems completely WRONG and unjust!
aaaaaargh!