To think this leak needs fixing quickly?!

[FermezLaBouche]

Yesterday I posted about the plumber coming round to work out why water was coming through my ceiling in drips. Turns out the U bend thing in the toilet is leaking. Plumber said he'd arrange with letting agency a time when he could fix it and in the mean time just use a bowl to catch the drips.

Well, due to the small space under the U bend, I can only fit a small pot underneath. This needs emptying every 15 minutes! I have been surrounding the area with towels all yesterday afternoon, all night and all day today. I now have no more dry towels and have had to begin using clothes to soak up the leaking water. From the toilet too. Nice.

I am really pissed off now. I am doing my damnedest to keep the water soaking up, as I'm sure it can't be good in the long term for water to be coming through the ceiling. Surely also this is dangerous from an electrics point of view?

Should I ring the agency again? I only hesitate as I've had to contact them a few times since moving in a week ago and I get the feeling they're getting a bit sick of me. But equally, this needs sorting!

I would definitely call the agency again and demand to know when it is going to be sorted, as it is unacceptable. And a Friday afternoon, so call them now in case there's nobody in/around who can do anything until next week.

Also, I don't know about the layout of the bathroom, but could you fit a larger, shallower container in under it? Like a baking tray or a loaf tin? Or one of those long thin rectangular plant containers?

That's unacceptable. Yes, ring the agency again. Who cares if they get sick of you? Their job is to manage the flat and it doesn't sound like they are doing a very good job of it.

I would also suggest putting a couple of bleach blocks (you usually only use one) in the cistern, it will make the leak a little less unhygenic.

How sure are you that the water is coming from the trap, and not from the cistern?

Apart from during a flush, or if the pan is cracked, a trap does not usually leak, and only contains a couple of pints

Go and have a good look at the cistern, and wrap kitchen roll round all the pipes you can see. It is very common for a cistern leak to occur where the supply pipe goes into a threaded white plastic tube ciming out of the bottom of the cistern, underneath the ball cock.

A cistern can also leak if it is overfilling due to the ballcock being worn out, clogged with grit, or out of adjustment. Cistern water is clean.

p.s.

If you ever have water dripping through a ceiling, it is best to make a hole in the plasterboard, by pushing a skewer or similar though it, to let the water run straight out rather than pooling. The hole should be as near as you can measure, directly underneath the leak.

A bit of filler and a dab of paint will fix the ceiling easier than if it falls down due to a water bubble.

Listen to PigletJohn, he knows about this stuff. But also ring the agency again: it sounds as though if it stays like this all weekend the whole ceiling could come down.

Oh hell! I mean thanks for the warnings, obviously!
I've had another look - it's definitely coming from the, er, poo pipe bit. Will absolutely get a bleach block asap - I have really not relished wiping up bog water.
Piglet John, that sounds really sensible about the skewer, I can absolutely see the logic. At the moment, though, I have no way of getting that high (old building, high ceilings). I am going to email agency now. Sorry to not acknowledge all replies - panicking a bit now!

Right.

Emailed agency and they do definitely work Saturdays, so I would expect it to be sorted tomorrow morning.
I am keeping all correspondence in relation to this, as there's no way I'm getting into shit over any damage. I'm just uber-panicking because it's an old building and what I would call "posh," so I really don't want any damage to occur (esp after living here 6 days!)

Thanks again to you all.

Ring them, don't email them: it's too easy to ignore an email.

I did ring and got the answerphone - assuming they finish early on a Friday. They open at nine am tomorrow, if I haven't had a response by ten I will call again. I know I am a bit cowardly about things like things like this, and being assertive and all that. I just assume I'm somehow in the wrong all the time.

Have you looked in the cistern? Is it full to the brim? Tie up the float to stop the cistern refilling, and flush the WC once, to empty the cistern.

A WC pan only holds a pint or two. There is no way it can leak out more than that unless it is being refilled.

Ring an emergency plumber - get a recommendation if you can.

Get a written quote & get the leak fixed asap.

Pay the bill then get a written receipt that matches the quote.

Give the bill to your agent (take someone assertive with you) & politely yet firmly ask for the money to be put into your account asap or taken off next month's rent. Get a written receipt off the agent.

It's your agent's fault that they didn't get it fixed sooner so now they can pay for the emergency plumber.

Why does the plumber need to arrange with the agency when to fix it?

I'd be treating it as an emergency situation. You can't empty the container every 15 minutes if you're asleep. I doubt the landlord would be particularly impressed (with the agency - if they're holding things up) either.

I don't see how stopping the cistern from refilling will stop the leak though if the leak is between the toilet bowl and the sewerage system (unless the custern is constantly leaking into the bowl which isn't uncommon).

However (based on my own system) I am not sure how it can be leaking as there aren't normally any plumbing joints in that region are there? I know you have said that it is definitely coming from this area - are you 100% sure it isn't coming from the pipe joining the cistern to the bowl, dripping onto the waste outlet and then dripping off the waste outlet. I'm not trying to patronise just double check as there is no way I could have a leak in this area on my system unless actually cracked although appreciate that systems are different.

You can attempt to reduce the amount of water in teh toilet bowl by repeatedly ramming a toilet brush down it which will push the water over the bend. You can get rid of quite a lot liek this and will either reduce the volume available to leak (allowing you a good nights sleep) or lower the water levell below the leak.

Finally - can you do anything to stop the leak. There are various putties and silicons that you could use as a tempory fix. Worse case scenario can you bind it tighly with cloth. It should slow the flow and absorb the leakage too stopping the drip temporarily.

If it isn't sorted by tomorrow the best fix is a product called SIKA 4A and cement. It's a professional water stopper.

But a quick joint check and replacement by a plumber is far preferable.

haunted
I don't see how stopping the cistern from refilling will stop the leak though if the leak is between the toilet bowl and the sewerage system

A WC trap only holds about a pint, maybe two if it is an old syphonic. So if it is the trap that is leaking (and I don't think it is) then it can't keep leaking all day and all night unless it is being refilled. It can only leak until the water level reaches the crack or loose joint. Then it will stop.

We are told that this leak is filling basins and drenching towels. So there is a source of water. It is most likely coming from the cistern, which is designed to refill whenever water is used. Many modern cisterns have an overflow that goes into the pan rather than through a pipe through the wall.

So my money's on looking in the cistern to see how full it is; tying up the ballcock, and flushing the WC to empty the water out of the cistern and down the drain.

I did add the caveat that the cistern could be leaking into the bowl.

I didn't interpret it as being such huge volumes, just a very small pot which doesn't take much volume to fill and the toilet being refilled regularly by normal use.

And I agree - not convinced about the waste pipe being the source of the leak unless it is a crack rather than leaking joint. In this case emptying cistern would def help and could keep the toilet functioning as OP could refill the cistern on an as needed basis.

Could you find a large polybag with no little holes in and place it under the pipe to collect the water, might save you having to empty the little pot so often.

what was the answer?