The seal around my bath came off last night. It was basically a bit of plastic that was just sitting around the edges. there was nothing really sticky behind it to hold it in place. I intended to call the council repairs number on Monday morning to see if i could get an appointment for someone to come and fit a new seal for me.
DD has school tomorrow. So i put her in the bath this morning before she headed down to her grans (her gran only has a shower and dd is scared of it).
I was very careful only to fill the bath with a little water and not to let any spill over in the gap between the bath and wall where the seal is supposed to be.
DD pleaded with me to let her play with some bath dolls while i went next door to put clothes away. She promised she wouldn't make any splashes or let any water get in the gap. Well, 5 minutes later i go back in and there's some water splashed in the floor, and a lot sitting on the edges of the bath.
I get her out and dry her. Then i hear a loud pattering. Water had started to leak through my living room ceiling (directly below the bathroom) in 5 different bits, big holes that i could fit my thumb in. And there was some saggy/bubble bits too where water was lying but just hadn't burst through yet. So i got some pans to collect the water. Then i phoned the council emergency repair number and told them what had happened. By this time, the dripping had stopped.
The man on the phone told me that it wasn't an emergency repair because 'the damage has already been done'. I told him that i was quite worried because some of the leaks were close to my living room light. He didn't seem bothered by this. he told me to pierce a hole in the saggy bits that hadn't yet burst to prevent the damage spreading.
He said that an inspector would be out on Thursday to look at the damage, and then the inspector would make the relevant arrangement for people to come out and fix the ceiling and the bath seal. But this could take a week or two.
He said not to use the bath again as this may cause more water to leak down through the gap.
I asked how me and dd were supposed to manage without a bath or shower for so long (out shower head is over the bath). And he said that as long as our home had clean, running water from a sink, then not having a bath/shower wasn't an emergency.
So dd and I could be left without a bath for up to 2 weeks.
The only people i could ask to help out are one friend and my mum, but they both have showers which dd is absolutely terrified of and will refuse to even enter. The mention of the word 'shower' is enough to set her off (she has sensory issues alongside her ASD and the sound and feeling of water from a shower head really upsets her).
The bathroom sink and kitchen sink can only be reached by dd to wash her hands if she used a little step, so how am i going to wash her hair in it?
I'm probably being really entitled here but by the time the inspector comes out and the repairs are made, it could almost be 3 weeks before i can use my bath and/or shower again.
Does this sound reasonable to you?
Honest answers appreciated.
And any tips to keep us clean and fresh would also be appreciated. I'm going to feel a right hypocrite if i go and use my mum's shower every other day, while dd's hair will be dirty until out bath's fixed.
Or is there an easy way to wash her hair that doesn't involve a bath/shower head? Her hair is thick and really long - halfway down her back.
I'm also concerned about the artex living room ceiling with the holes. Isn't there asbestos in artex? These buildings are about 60 years old.
Disclaimer - the water damage/leaks weren't just from dd playing in the bath today. TBH i think it was just the last straw. Water has been seeping under the bath seal for years and i think has slowly built up on my living room ceiling. I reported this bath seal when i first moved in as it didn't look at all waterproof, but the inspector that had came out a week later told me it was fine.