To feel totally alone with this issue in my home and to ask for help as a lone parent

[Htoo]

I am so exhausted and stressed. On my own with dd 1. Last night noticed a tiny bit of water under the skirting board downstairs, next to pipe connecting to radiator. The wall above skirting board is a shoe size mess of crumbling plaster and is wet. I assume a pipe is leaking in the wall. Do I call insurance? Will insurance go up massively if I do this? Is this a huge and horrendous job? Does it mean the structure of my home is now ruined? Why is it not gushing water? It’s not any worse this morning but clearly there is a problem. Who do I call for this, a plumber or plasterer or both? I have no money and feel so alone

*shoe BOX size

A plumber first J think. See if friends / family/ fb can recommend a local one who will call and assess without a call out fee. It's probably just a leaking radiator pipe.

Plumber and don't panic!

@letmego24 thanks I think it is but as it’s behind the wall and part of it is now crumbling, how will it be accessed? Is that not really difficult to fix?

Have a look on Checkatrade if you can't get a personal recommendation.

@Phineyj is the leaking water dangerous? It’s only teaspoon amount but I’m worried

I'd call a plumber, find a recommendation for one on a local Facebook group. Ask him if he thinks it should be an insurance job. But I'd imagine not, you'd have the excess to pay (which might be around the same as what the plumber would charge) and your premiums next year would increase. The plumber will have a plaster he knows to make the wall right once everything has dried out

I’d leave it until tomorrow so you’re not paying emergency call out rates. They should be able to cut out a patch if they need to get behind the plasterboard, it won’t mean the whole wall needs to be ripped apart. Once the leak is fixed a plasterer can come and patch up any damage

Deep breath and try to calm down. You’ve got a dripping pipe, just behind your plaster board by the sound of it. Plaster crumbles easily
when wet- after all, think what wet plaster is like?!

a plumber will be able to sort this easily.

@Flangeosaurus but how do they find the part leaking? With a camera? How much to re plaster? I literally do not have a clue about these costs

@ChannelyourinnerElsa thanks, so you would just pay for it yourself? Do you know very roughly how much?

No it's not dangerous. It might cause damage and if it is a pipe leaking behind the wall it might be a bit of work to put it right. But it won't have affected the structure of your house. it sounds like you have insurance so if it does turn out to be big then they will help. However from what you have said it sounds like it's just a small leak.

Does your insurance have an emergency call out service - I pay a bit extra each year for plumbing and electric cover and if I have a problem they will send a tradesman even for small jobs.

If it's a water pipe that's burst turn off your stop cock, which is possibly under your sink.

Radiator water is not dangerous. It may be dirty/stain but it's not going to give off fumes or burn a hole in the floor.

It really depends where you are in the country! I’m in the North West and a plumber would charge a £60 call out which would cover the first hour, then around £60 per hour from then. I’ve had a ceiling patch repair by a plasterer done last week when the roof leaked and the ceiling collapsed from the wet and that cost £180

Can you share a photo with us? I'm confused by your description. Most likely you have a small leak at a joint in the pipes. That's a very easy repair. For now I'd put a hard towel down to protect the floor and wait till Monday to get anyone out.

Whatever you do, don't show this amount of panic when a plumber does come over.

Put a bowl under the drip and take a deep breath. Then follow the other advice. Monday will be fine.

💐

I agree. Leave it till tomorrow.

Today ask family/friends for recommendations for a plumber.

Your wall will need to dry before you get the plaster sorted. It's a cosmetic thing, so if money is a bit tight you can wait a bit to do this.

We need to sort out a patch of plaster on a wall following a issue with a flat roof. We are leaving it till the Spring. The wall has dried, a bit of plaster has dropped out, but the wall itself is fundamental sound.

Get a plumber preferably recommended by a neighbour to give you a quote. He won’t charge for looking and will explain what needs to happen. hope it will be inexpensive but if not you’ll call the insurance company to claim. There will be an excess to pay eg the first £50. Your premium may go up when you renew but you’ll be able to look for a cheaper price.

@SoNiceToComeHomeTo do insurers need to know immediately though? I just checked I have emergency cover for free but i don’t think this would be covered under it?

We haven't mentioned our issue to the insurers as we will sort it ourselves.

If you want to involve your insurance company then you could give them a call today and say it's a small radiator leak. But I am not sure if this will be covered by your emergency cover anyway. In order to claim anything you will most likely have to submit quotations anyway, which you can't do until you have spoken to a plumber.

If you can’t find any personal recommendations I would also go to checkatrade.com and advertise the job and see who comes back to you. I wouldn’t advertise on Facebook as recommendations might just come frim plumbers dad/wife/cousin etc

Are you saying you have paid for cover so that a plumber will come out? If you have then you could give them a call and see what they will do. I had this and when a pipe sprung a leak they came out and fixed it. However you might have to wait as it depends on where their plumbers are.

Its not an insurance issue really. Its a small leak on a heating pipe, probably a loose joint or similar.

Call a plumber who can find the leak and sort it, then the area will need to dry out and be repaired. Again a simple job that you could actually learn to DIY, or find a local handyperson who can fix it up. Few hundred pounds for it all most likely.

You'll possibly find a plumber who can also do the repairs - look for a plumber/ home maintenance/ no job too small kind of person.

Do you have the sort of extra cover where they will send a plumber free of charge?