Leak on bathroom ceiling?

[nameisme]

Hello all,
Please can you give me some advice?
My neighbour in flat below said that water was coming from my bathroom floor onto his bathroom ceiling. I looked at it and there were some orange leak mark stains on ceiling but no bulging in ceiling or anything like that, ceiling looked very flat and no issues.
Ofcouse I am looking at how this leak happened from my side. But my question is this:
He said he is going to get someone from his home insurance to give him a quote for repair? as he said it may have damaged ceiling fibre boards and might need to be replaced, replastered and could cost £1,800 and he has a £100.00 excess to pay which I wants me to pay. Can anyone give me some advise as very stressed by this. What would tradesman likely to say to him based on what I have said?
I said its just cosmetic and I am willing to help with emulsion paint/paint and Ill sort out where leak may have happened and wont happen again and all will be sorted but he said the above and didnt seem interested.
Any advice appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

Hahaha

He could have the wet patch cut out and replaced, and the ceiling skimmed to look neat. It will then need repainting.

Cost will be some hundreds. Not thousands.

If you are responsible, claim on your insurance and let them deal with him.

 

[plastic_peanut]

£18k is quite a figure to pluck out of the air.

I think you have done right, source and fix the leak and offer to decorate the ceiling. Case closed.

Would leave it at that but If he does go down the insurance route wait for their evaluation but wouldn’t they just be claiming against your insurance if there were grounds for it?

 

[nameisme]

Thanks Plastic thats what I did, sorted out the leak, then offered to use an oil-based, mold-resistant, stain-blocking primer and then cover the primer with ceiling paint - job done.
If he gets someone out from his insurance company to give him a quote then surely they would just say "if leaks fixed just paint it up?" no need to claim on insurance.

JohnD but if theres no bulging in ceiling and just some cosmetic superficial damage then would he really need to get the wet patch cut out and replaced?

I read it’s best to repair (ie primer/paint) and not replace a water-stained ceiling when possible (ie so long as its not crumbling, swollen or bulging). Not only is replacing a section of ceiling messy and time-consuming, it’s also difficult to match the new section with the rest.

 

[fenny666]

18k is absolutely ridiculous. Even if it were, it's the insurance companies liability...not yours. Ignore it. They are, imo , trying to intimidate/manipulate you.They want you to give them £100. If you have a leak, then, of course, you must seek to remedy it and inspect the damage it has caused. You've inspected the damage yourself. If it's just staining then there is absolutely no cause for concern as regards the integrity of the plasterboard.

The integrity of the ceiling below you is actually of much, MUCH greater importance to you than of the inhabitant below it. It's specification is designed to protect you from fire spreading from beneath you.

I appreciate they might be annoyed because their ceiling is stained, but ultimately it wasn't your fault, and there's always going to be inherent risks associated with shared buildings. All buildings are not without risk. Hence insurance.

Personally I think they want to extort you for a £100. I'm struggling to advise you on the best course because ultimately they're not my neighbours. I've not got to live next to them.

Based on what you have said, and me being me , if they refused a fair offer, I would have told them to VERY politely get f*cked.

 

[nameisme]

fenny666 thank you very much for your helpful reply.

Your exactly right, they are just upset about their ceiling having stains on it now. They have a reputation and previous occupants have told me they would make their lives very difficult and would complain about EVERYTHING and make something small a big deal. So incident really is true to form.
Unfortunately I tend to get easily stressed so for them making this a big issue and saying "ohh the fibre boards might need to be replaced etc etc etc a big job, you will have to pay us the £100.00 excess!" when all it is. is just superficial and some light leak marks which I have offered to sort out myself for them. But they are still not interested and trying to go though the insurance for some reason. I think they are hoping they can exploit it and hoping the insurance company inspectors will say they should get a new ceiling fitted or just enjoying drama or both" Ohh yes their (cheap looking) scales apparently dont work anymore from the leak.

 

[nameisme]

UPDATE:

Neighbour below said he had insurance company out who he said that (neighbour is a compuslive liar so dont trust a word he says by the way) as water came down tiles in bathroom also that maybe the water went behind the tiles and if so then all the tiles and wall behind tiles will need to all be taken down. Neighbour said apparently the insurance guy would send someone out who has a hand held device to check if there is water damage behind tiles. Neighbour said if this tiles bathroom wall need to come down and be replaced he expects me to give him the £100.00 excess.

Can anyone give me any thoughts on this? btw the tiles look totally fine, not hanging off or anything and water coming down only lasted a few mins.

 

[JohnD]

Have you notified your own insurers that there is a potential claim against you resulting from EOW?

Why not?

 

[nameisme]

Have you notified your own insurers that there is a potential claim against you resulting from EOW?

Why not?

Sorry what I was asking is if some water came though the floor, not very much though, only a couple of mins, will this cause him to have to have the whole tile wall replaced? ie his bathroom tile wall looks obviously fine. I asked a local tradesman and he said "Rubbish hes just trying to scare you, a min or two of some water coming from above, even if it got behind the tiles would not be enough to damage the wall behind tiles so much so that he would have to have the whole tiles taken off and wall behind tiles redone. Also if there is no mold growth or Tiles cracks or holes hollow or loose tiles or blown tiles or cracking or crumbling then most probably there is no water damage behind tiles, certainly not enough to have tiles all removed and wall redone. Also moisture meters don't typically get used to measure moisture behind tiles. Instead, they're used to test subfloors and the surrounding environment. Plus almost all the substrate (wall) behind the tiles are waterproof anyhow in a bathroom. So he's telling you rubbish that they will send someone out with a hand held device to put up against the tiles to see if the wall behind tiles need to be replaced, total rubbish. The words storm in a teacup come to mind with your neighbour"

 

[HERTS P&D]

Call out a plumber with a thermal camera, run the hot tap in the bath and basin then check the flat below. The thermal camera would find a leak within 30 seconds.

Andy

 

[Thomasthepiperson]

Some neighbours are total idiots, who complain about everything and everything. Even the building and planning inspector agreed, the neighbour was trouble.