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Original poster

Toilet leaking into kitchen - it is emergency yes?

30 replies

WishIWasSomewhereElse · 02/01/2021 19:11

We rent. I noticed after flushing the loo that I could hear water behind the cooker/kitchen cupboard (where the soil pipe comes from the upstairs bathroom). I could also see water splashing.

I phoned the landlord who told me to turn the cooker off at the mains fuse box, then asked if it was an emergency and if we could cope with it till next week.

To be honest the thought of water from the loo, running behind the cupboards and cooker, not being able to use the cooker for days doesn't appeal.

I managed to move the cooker. There is a lot of polystyrene that was in front of the stack (never noticed it before), most of it is lying in pieces on the floor, and when the toiler is flushed you can see water dripping.

I filled a bucket with water and poured down (without flushing), to see if was related to the cistern instead of the pan, but that also has water running down.

I'm scared as I was told if they come out and it's not an emergency I will be charged £££ which I can't afford, but don't like the idea of water running into the kitchen every time nature calls. Also if I was told to turn the cooker off at the fuse box, surely that is an emergency?

OP posts:
sunshinesupermum · 02/01/2021 19:14

I'd count that as an emergency.

Original poster
WishIWasSomewhereElse · 02/01/2021 19:15

Appears they are just going to send an electrician to take out the cooker but leave the leak?

OP posts:
Finfintytint · 02/01/2021 19:15

Doesn’t matter if it’s an emergency or not, it’s your landlords responsibility. Don’t be fobbed off. They need to get someone out ASAP.

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Home improvement
thisislovelyme · 02/01/2021 19:15

They can't leave you without a cooker surely?

Original poster
WishIWasSomewhereElse · 02/01/2021 19:16

I really don't want waste running into the kitchen for a few days

OP posts:
nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 02/01/2021 19:16

Do you have small kids? If so then say yes it is a bloody emergency, I have a xyear old and soiled water pissing all over my kitchen! Its a health hazard!

Finfintytint · 02/01/2021 19:16

It’s a health hazard.

Original poster
WishIWasSomewhereElse · 02/01/2021 19:17

@thisislovelyme It appears so, it's toilet matter that is concerning me more. Poor DD hasn't eaten yet, and I feel too grossed out to even make her a sandwich!

OP posts:
Original poster
WishIWasSomewhereElse · 02/01/2021 19:18

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut she is 10, so not under 5 therefore not classed as vulnerable.

OP posts:
RedMarauder · 02/01/2021 19:20

Yes it is an emergency as you have raw sewage entering your kitchen.

If you have children or anyone in your household who could be considered vulnerable due to medical conditions, then make sure your landlord is aware.

Original poster
WishIWasSomewhereElse · 02/01/2021 19:27

@RedMarauder Thanks, they said that DD doesn't count as she is over 5. I have bipolar and asthma, not sure if that counts though.

OP posts:
Original poster
WishIWasSomewhereElse · 02/01/2021 19:32

Even worse DH will be home soon, hungry and desperate for the loo!

OP posts:
LBOCS2 · 02/01/2021 19:33

It's an emergency and what's more you're potentially without a bathroom and/or kitchen while it's being resolved. Those tend to be the thresholds for providing alternative accommodation under most insurance policies, quite apart from the environmental aspect of it being raw waste coming into your kitchen.

I would ask the landlord to send someone as an emergency to fix it, and if they refuse, ask for their insurers details as you'd like to speak to them about arranging alternative accommodation while it's being resolved due to the health hazard aspect of it.

Lineofconcepcion · 02/01/2021 19:34

I'm a landlord. I'd come out and inspect the same day then take a view. Tbh it's difficult to get a plumber out at the weekend. Mine is very good and will come out, but we have a number of properties so he looks after us. And I would call him out in this situation to ensure the fabric of the property is not compromised and damage kept to a minimum, and to limit the inconvenience to the tenant . The way I look at it is what would I do if I live there. Sometimes you have to put up with stuff for a limited time. My boiler broke on a Friday after 5pm. I called the plumber and asked him to attend Monday. The parts took a few days, so i was without hot water or heating for 7 days.

If the toilet waste pipe is leaking near electrics it's an emergency. The way people on here behave over a bit of poo 🙄

RedMarauder · 02/01/2021 19:36

OP it depends on how bad your conditions are. If you are counted as disabled due to one or both then you need to tell your landlord

Also you cannot be left without a toilet and neither can you have a food preparation area where there is raw sewage.

nosswith · 02/01/2021 19:43

Water near electrics. Which part of needing to be fixed today or the leak stopped does the landlord not understand? At the very least he or she should be visiting this evening to check.

HighInTheHills · 02/01/2021 19:45

It's not just a "bit of poo" though is it @Lineofconcepcion? Why are you trying to make out it's not a big deal?!

it It's raw sewage, in her kitchen, where she eats and prepares food. That is a health hazard and pretty bloody disgusting. So not only is her kitchen/cooker out of action, her toilet basically is too.

I'm a landlord and if one of my tenants rang and told me they had this issue I would be busting a gut to get it fixed immediately and putting them up in alternative accommodation until it was sorted. It sounds as if should be covered under landlord insurance anyway.

It's the kind of thing you would class as an emergency in your own home and get sorted pretty damn quick, tenants are not lesser humans and they deserve it being sorted just as quickly.

dalrympy · 02/01/2021 19:54

Yes if it's waste water raw sewage, then it if definitely an emergency. How does it smell?

Lineofconcepcion · 02/01/2021 20:01

@HighInTheHills

It's not just a "bit of poo" though is it *@Lineofconcepcion*? Why are you trying to make out it's not a big deal?!

it It's raw sewage, in her kitchen, where she eats and prepares food. That is a health hazard and pretty bloody disgusting. So not only is her kitchen/cooker out of action, her toilet basically is too.

I'm a landlord and if one of my tenants rang and told me they had this issue I would be busting a gut to get it fixed immediately and putting them up in alternative accommodation until it was sorted. It sounds as if should be covered under landlord insurance anyway.

It's the kind of thing you would class as an emergency in your own home and get sorted pretty damn quick, tenants are not lesser humans and they deserve it being sorted just as quickly.

Read my post . . . 'If the toilet waste pipe is leaking near electrics it's an emergency.'
JesusInTheCabbageVan · 02/01/2021 20:03

I'm a landlord... The way people on here behave over a bit of poo

Looks like your landlord is on here, OP.

nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 02/01/2021 20:07

Its raw sewage in your only food preparation area, water near electricity, no use of a toilet, no use of a kitchen and potential structural damage due to unsealed leak. Stress to the landlord that it is sewage not just water from the cistern and if it isn't fixed within 48 hours you will be contacting an emergency plumber yourself and taking it out of the next rent payment/paying it yourself and taking the landlord to small claims court.

GloGirl · 02/01/2021 20:07

@HighInTheHills

It's not just a "bit of poo" though is it *@Lineofconcepcion*? Why are you trying to make out it's not a big deal?!

it It's raw sewage, in her kitchen, where she eats and prepares food. That is a health hazard and pretty bloody disgusting. So not only is her kitchen/cooker out of action, her toilet basically is too.

I'm a landlord and if one of my tenants rang and told me they had this issue I would be busting a gut to get it fixed immediately and putting them up in alternative accommodation until it was sorted. It sounds as if should be covered under landlord insurance anyway.

It's the kind of thing you would class as an emergency in your own home and get sorted pretty damn quick, tenants are not lesser humans and they deserve it being sorted just as quickly.

Exactly this.
BringPizza · 02/01/2021 20:08

You cannot live with no electricity or cooker in the kitchen, and human waste trickling into the kitchen. It is an emergency OP, call the landlord back Flowers

GloGirl · 02/01/2021 20:08

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut

Its raw sewage in your only food preparation area, water near electricity, no use of a toilet, no use of a kitchen and potential structural damage due to unsealed leak. Stress to the landlord that it is sewage not just water from the cistern and if it isn't fixed within 48 hours you will be contacting an emergency plumber yourself and taking it out of the next rent payment/paying it yourself and taking the landlord to small claims court.
If you can find emergency accommodation thats what I would do in place of a plumber. Probably tomorrow rather than Monday. You cant be expected to put up with it.
BrightonForWine · 02/01/2021 20:13

That's very much an emergency.

You can't use your toilet now. Unless you have another toilet, then it's an emergency!