my tenants and the shower...

[fairlyliquid]

I am having some trouble with my tenants in our flat which is a new build (well, it's about 7 years old) and so everything is quite new.

The tenant complains that the shower temp changes while he is showering. I called out the plumber and he said he was 95% sure it was the heat exchanger, particularly since it also sometimes happens in the second shower. They came out as soon as the fault was reported, cleaned the exchanger which was apparently very clogged, tested the shower and said that it was working fine.

Now the tenant says the problem is still happening but the plumber says he has no more solutions. I don't know what to say really - they rightly expect good service but I don't know whether this justifies putting a new shower in.

Does anyone know what it could be?

Could you have a different plumber look at it? Do you manage the property yourself?

You need Piglet John for this one.

We have an electric shower and a power shower. The power shower works brilliantly but the electric shower changes temperature if water is run elsewhere in the house (eg someone flushes the downstairs loo). Could this be the problem?

Thermostat not maintaining the set temperature? Two people showering at the same time? You can use the hot water fairly quickly if both showers are on the go. We have this at home if all of ours are being used and the hot water dips in temperature. Excuse my ignorance, but why do you have a heat exchanger? What system do you have for the plumbing?

We have a really good strong shower (but not a power shower with a pump) that runs off the hot water from the combi boiler, and the pressure and temperature immediately dip if someone runs hot water elsewhere in the house. Cue lots of screaming "I'm having a bloody shower do you mind??".

I thought this was pretty normal. My shower does the same if anyone runs hot water. We just shout if we are going for a shower and no one uses the tap. If it happens in both the showers I can't see how putting a new shower in will make a difference as it clearly isn't the shower. Have you asked if it happens when someone else is using water or also having a shower, maybe they didn't have one in their last home so are not used to this.

Apparently a thermostatic shower avoids this problem. I'm no plumbing expert but it might be worth inquiring.

Thanks everyone. There are two showers, not electric, heated by the boiler which is only a few years old. I have asked him whether it could be related to use of water elsewhere in the flat/washing machine etc. but he just repeats he wants the plumber out again.

I don't have faith in him to check out different possibilities (he has form for getting me to book an electrician when it was the lightbulbs).

Lepsakilf does that mean putting a new shower in? Did it run off the boiler?

Tenant is massive pita lep he even billed me for the lightbulbs that time.

If it's a combi boiler, if something else (washing machine, other person) makes an additional demand for hot water then this will happen. Also, it could happen if he is running the shower on at high pressure (full on)- the boiler can't keep up with the demand.

Go round yourself and run the shower. If it's a hand-held one on a hose then it's easy to stand outside the cubicle or bath and test the water temp while the shower runs for a few minutes. Run it at normal shower pressure (not a trickle, not full-on) then check if running it full-on causes the temp to drop.

Similarly if running a bath from a combi boiler you can't fully open the hot tap and be surprised if the temp dips while the boiler tries to supply that additional amount of water.

It could be that the shower and combi boiler work normally and you just have a very awkward person who wants you to change the laws of physics.

I hope you didn't pay the bill for lightbulbs.

When is his tenancy up?

No I didn't pay for the lightbulbs - but I have never mentioned that I am aware the electrician only had to change them.

Their tenancy is two years with a break at one year. Frankly I think it's worth giving them what they want - their rent is high, they're going to want my blood . They also want a new washer drier as the drier 'takes ages' .

I will run the tests you describe. He swears he showers early mornings when noone else in the flat (one other) is running any water.

All washer driers take ages.

Maybe Stephen Hawking can help with those pesky laws of physics.

I'm going to buy him 'bluff your way in the quantum universe' for Christmas

I offered to buy them a condenser tumble drier as there is a perfect space to plug it in. No, no good, they want a new washer drier that works properly. My heart sinks when I see his name in my inbox.

I suppose it depends how high the rent is lol! If I kept getting cold showers I would be complaining if I was paying a lot of rent, in fact I would leave the tenancy and give notice if it wasn't resolved. So for example I pay a lot of rent (£800+ a week) and as such I expect a certain level of repair.

I've highlighted lighting issues (wouldn't expect LL to replace bulbs of course) and you would not believe how many times I was asked if I had changed the light bulbs. I've mentioned that the washing machine/drier was loud, in fact it was loud and the whole platform it was on had shattered so I saved them an expensive repair later. I'm not sure I would complain about the dryer being slow though, I mean when the person looked around they would know what quality of appliance was there.

The coffee machine wasn't working (steam wasn't coming out of the steam wand in a good enough flow to steam milk lol) I think that bill for the LL was pretty high. Or in fact I've just recently mentioned that the shower sealant is starting to go mouldy due to it coming away from the titles and someone is going to be coming out to fix a whole bunch of little things like that.

So if I was paying a lot less some of these things could come across as quite small and not something you'd look into until the tenancy were to end. But if the rent is high then I think you kind of have to get used to that level of repair because

Whoops pressed send too early.

Because people will expect a tidy finish and level of appliances and if they don't get it then they won't want to pay the price.

Just a thought from the tenancy side of things.

They are overfilling the dryer. Most can only dry half the wash load. They are crap.

Our shower used to do this and I couldn't work it out, boiler full of hot water, heating not on. Just send round the plumber again or a new one.

Is the rent really high enough to offset paying an electrician to change the lightbulbs?

All washer dryers are crap. A new one won't be any better. If he had any clue at all he'd jump at the offer of a separate dryer.

Your tenant wants to come and shower at my place. No matter what time of day or night it's like playing Russian roulette trying to get clean. The water temp varies between scolding hot and freezing cold. The pressure can drop low enough for the motor to cut out. Occasionally we'll get lucky and have a pleasant warm shower from start to finish. The official guff from the EA is it's due to the water company reducing the local pressure to reduce external leaks rather than fix them. So the downstairs neighbour flushing to loo could burn my child. The EA doesn't give a flying fuck either.

So next time your tenant complains, tell him to man the fuck up and stop being a dick.

can you tell the tenant that there are cwrtain thimgs outside of a landlords remit, and showers do often change temperature because of the pipe system and that if hes unhappy with your flat, maybe you can come to an agreement about leaving the contract early??

I agree that the way round this is to arrange a time to go round and try to replicate the problem.

also explain clearly and slowly that washer driers are rubbish and do take ages. If you are offering a separate tumble drier instead, then he can choose.

burnished I know, there's a perfect spot for them too. I think the problem is he's decided all LLs are rubbish and the flat's a rip-off. His tone with me is pretty abrupt. Plus, when they moved in I left them a pack with all basics such as cleaning products, dishwasher tabs, milk, coffee, teabags and a bottle of champagne. Not a word of thanks. Pah!

So what are you going to do?