To be so unbelievably stupid?

[iamanidiottt]

Moved into our house 3 years ago. Noticed very quickly on that the bath was leaking into the kitchen. Perfect!

Got a plumber out, had the bath resealed, new shower, new taps, sink resealed. Etc. nothing stopped it! So we started saving for a new bathroom. Only thing for it.

Except then i got cancer (still having treatment) so that went on the back burner and instead we just ruined towels trying to stop the fucking drip into the kitchen.

We've had more plumbers than I've got fingers come and try and find the bloody leak.

Then I was thinking hmm 🤔 it's been a while actually since we've had a leak what's changed?

The fucking bath tray that I've had for 5 years a lovely wooden one that I've been using in the bath had to be binned because I was sick on it during my chemo nausea that happened unexpectedly in the bath. It always hung over the edge of the bath I knew that but I didn't know it was going over the side and down into the floorboards and the kitchen... if fitted perfectly on our old bath so I thought because even though it was a bit big it was fine

All these plumbers couldn't figure it out because I took it off the bath when they came round so they could see the bath better...

I'm going to call the insurance company in the morning and see if we're covered for accidental damage to replace the flooring.

Please make me feel better about this 😂🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I hope the treatment goes well for you. A leaky bathroom is such an annoying problem to have to sort out when you have such big things to be dealing with.

I'm trying to visualise what's happened and can't get my head round it.

Is a bath tray one of those things that goes across the bath and holds soap etc that you might use while you're having a soak?
I've never used one as an adult but we had one in the house when I was growing up.

I can't picture how the water from the bath gets onto the tray or how it gets onto the floor. If it was dripping, wouldn't you notice it when you got out of the bath?

It's a wooden thing that holds drinks and things like the photo attached.

It overhung by a good 4 inches and when the iPad groove isn't filled by an iPad and the water was hitting it I think it was going directly off the side of the tray on to the floor. It makes sense tbh because the 'leak' under the bath where the floor boards are very wet wasnt actually near anything that was wet. So no crack in the bath, no leaky pipe, just very very wet, and I can't believe it took me 3 years to work it out 😳

Definitely something I would do but I would like to think I’d figure it out much sooner! Surely someone could have seen the water running off the tray…

Blame the big C, probably a legitimate distraction or even if not no one would make the point.

I hope everything is going ok and you get the flooring sorted.

I didn't notice because it wasn't an issue when I had a bath 😂 it was an issue when my husband was having a shower! So I bathe every day because I've lost a leg and it's easier for me to bathe than have a shower.

The bathroom was always covered in water after his shower (it's not now because the tray isn't helping spray water all over the shop)! I would go in and be like wtf did you shower yourself or just the floor!

I guess it could have been prevented if I'd taken it off the bath after my bath but it was handy to keep the shower gels etc on

@FrumptyMumpty tbh he's blind as a bat without his glasses on and it's steamy. I should have taken it off the bath after my baths but it was handy to have and I didn't think 🤦‍♀️

Ok.

After reading the updates, I think the thread title needs changing.

"How can my husband be so unbelievably messy when he has a shower?"

At least you finally got to the bottom of the problem.

Wait, your husband just left a big piece of wood across the middle of the bath while he was showering, let water spray off it all over the bathroom floor and then neither of you had absolutely no idea why the ceiling underneath was leaking? Was there no shower curtain or anything?!

Honestly I'm a little flabbergasted...

Tbf to you it’s usually a leak. Although a continuous leak would have caused more damage.

I had a friend whose bathroom always smelled damp. She assumed the dc we’re getting water everywhere at bathtime.
They decided to move to a bigger house and the people they were selling to became absolute nightmares picking fault and demanding money off for every little thing.
Eventually the sale went through and two weeks later a very irate buyer tells them the dining room ceiling has come down.
Turns out they did have a leak underneath their bath and didn’t realise.
Friend was delighted.

Oh dear 🤣🤣
I can imagine myself doing something similar sbd I love how you and your DH are a right pair 😁

The silver lining is that at least it’s not done massive re-piping job that would cost thousands to do and cause a lot of disruption.

Not a bathroom, but I took my car to three mechanics for a "clinky rattle" sound that came from the front right side (passenger in the USA). Took all three on test drives and they heard the sound. They took wheels off looking for pebbles and even emptied the gas tank - nothing. Visiting the fourth mechanic, he did the test drive while I sat in the passenger side. Same rattle as always, -- until I reached down and picked up my can of Diet Coke that I always have when driving. Guess what was clinking? I don't drink when the car is moving, so it only clinked when the car was being driven. At least mechanic #4 did not charge me for the test drive!

Make sure it definitely is that causing it. Leaks that go through the ceiling are normally continuous, I can't see that causing it.

My DH is a plumber, you would be glad to know the first thing he would say when someone thought they had a leak was to check if there’s anything that would make a splash. At least you didn’t shell out the money for a new bathroom.

This might have been a lot worse. You might have installed a new bathroom but saved your nice wooden bathtray to use on the new bath and been wondering from day one where the leak is coming from...

Don't be so hard on yourself. You have solved a long-standing problem! Honestly, you have so much going on. Try to be kind to yourself even though you might be rolling your eyes at yourself right now x

I once got a plumber out because the water pipes in the bathroom were vibrating , something weird to the pipes was happening

…it was my sons electric toothbrush which he’d left on and which was lying on top of the towel rack next to the pipes

This xx

I once got the water company to come out and check our water pressure as nothing we did solved the issues. (Hard water area, descaled taps, turned up
Pressure on water tank, limited water by not flushing when in shower etc)
The water company took about 10
Seconds to assess the situation and turned the stop cock on fully 🤦‍♀️

We spent a fortune on repairs that didn't work, only to discover it was a quick fix that I spotted by chance and repaired in 5 mins. These things happen

Glad you got to the bottom of it

A similar thing happened to me. Unlike you though I procrastinated about getting the plumbers in and just had showers instead. I discovered what the "leak" actually was by accident so I can use the bath again. I didn't have the cost of plumbers because of laziness. So, you can pat yourself on the back for at least being proactive - even with a serious illness. Well done.

🤣🤣🤣😂🤣

you removed the tray thingy so they could see the bath better!

that's the kind if thing I'd do.

im so sorry about your leg & the cancer treatment, I hope you get the best outcome possible. 🌷

If it makes you feel better I sent back a faulty dishwasher as it wouldn’t drain and kept beeping. Got a new one the next day and the same problem happened. Quickly realised that whilst waiting for a new one we had capped off the drain outside and so the water had nowhere to go and there was no fault whatsoever

Not long after we moved in we identified a problem with our bathroom leaking into our kitchen as there was damp around the light fittings. We resealed the bath and all was fine. Until a few months later when I found water pouring out of the light fitting while my husband showered. He was lying in the bath with his elbows hanging over the side and letting the water run off his arms onto the floor and through the floor boards. Easily done!

It might be worth investing in a more robust shower screen/curtain set up if your husband creates that much mess showering, but truly you haven't been stupid.

You've been distracted by a horrible illness and were just applying Occam's razor where the simplest explanation is normally the right one.

Most people would assume, including your numerous plumbers that a leak originating in the bathroom means a leak in the system.

At least you've figured it out now and can concentrate on nicer things to spend money on that an unneeded new bathroom.

I was off to a school choir rehearsal one day, the last to leave the house, and couldn't get the burglar alarm to set. I knew the insurance would be invalidated without it but had to take the risk.

So mum called the engineer to come round and sort it out. Lovely chap spent over 2 hours checking every bit of the system. Last place was the garage, where mu house rabbit was based. He found a small wire going down the side of a wall and through the ventilation brick into the cellar. My lass had assumed it was a tasty root and nibbled through it. That was a large bill for sharp teeth!

Mum had a new bathroom that leaked and brought thw kitchen ceiling down. Twice. The first time it was because he hadn't sealed the bath. The second was not, as the idiot claimed, because I dared to wash my not very long hair I'm the shower (yes, he tried to fob Mum off with that!) but because he'd not sealed the pipes properly. Such a cowboy!

Your husband left a flat surface funneling water over the side of a bath during every shower for years? Wow. That takes some doing...