Water pipe burst in house we're supposed to buy

[Sobloodytired09]

We are supposed to be buying a house but have been told that a water pipe has burst and the ceiling has come down. It is an empty house and apparently had water leaking for three days. The owners are apparently speaking to the insurance. We haven't exchanged or completed yet.

Am I right in thinking this is a disaster!? I've never had a leak before, but I'm guessing with this much water that the electrics will be ruined, and the house will be at big risk of damp?

If anything like this has happened to anyone else any advice would be really appreciated!

@Sobloodytired09 Hey! Thanks for replying. I can’t tell you how similar our situations are! It’s unbelievable . We are also waiting for the insurance report, although it’s only been a week since they attended the house. The house is sitting in water and no drying is taking place! We are feeling the pressure from the chain to exchange and complete and we are also looking for a rental but really struggling. I am so stressed. I have no clue how this is going to turn out! We decided it would be best to sell and move into rented so we’re not holding the chain up but I’m so worried the house we’re buying will never be fixed and we’ll never make the stamp duty break at the end of June. Who knows if it’s the right decision to sell anyway?? Suppose we will only know in time.

Keep me updated on how yours is going! Honestly, I feel better knowing that there is someone else out there who knows how I feel! xx

Sorry to hear about the floods. A friend has had an underfloor slow leak. The builders bought in dehumidifiers and then her parquet floor dried and lifted. It turned out this is a common problem and the drying should have been done differently. Just in case it's applicable.

I would write this one off tbh. My parents cut straight through a pipe in the floor upstairs and it was only on for about 2 hours as poor dad was so panicked he was concentrating on throwing the water out the room downstairs rather than turning off the mains.

It tooks months to dry. The industrial dryers were working 24/7. Electrics had to be partly redone. Floors changed even though we were scooping like mad.

If they didnt start drying immediately then forget it. The whole house will be a growing petri dish.

@LemonSwan oh my goodness this sounds awful. I’ve heard that it can take months to dry too, which concerns me! Can’t believe that after 7 months since this purchase started, this is what it boils down to. Gutted.

Honestly unless you are going to rent for as long as it takes to fix which could be months I would walk away. I presume everything was turned off no heating which means there could be more pipework ready to go kaput any time if they have frozen up.

It was awful but it was also one of those family events that decades later has become quite humorous when we recant memories of my mum thrusting us kitchen knifes to stab the ceiling with.

I cannot express enough the sheer amount and speed of that water. Having seen the damage from 2 hours of 'leak' I really feel for you with a 3 day 'leak' (I put in quotations as its really not an appropriate word)

Really you should consider it a flood house. If its the house of your dreams and you have the time and money then sure do it. But please dont underestimate the damage which is likely done here and the scale of the job at hand. Think back to brick, dry and redo fixtures and finishes.

If you love it so much you want to go ahead I think you need your own independent specialist assessment. Dont rely on the insurers if they are faffing. Ours had the dryers delivered the next day.

There are two ways in which this claim may be settled.

There is reinstatement of the property or diminution of market value. Insurers will go for the one which is the lesser in value.

There are restoration companies who can take care of the drying. This needs to be agreed on a room rate rather than day rate. Look up Rainbow International, ServiceMaster or Disaster Care Platinum. I wouldn't recommend Balfour or Polygon. They will be able to put in a temporary fuse board to start the drying process.

The drying can be targeted where tenting is used. This reduces the drying time. The drying usually takes 6-8 weeks in this type of incident.

The adjuster who is looking after the claim will be putting together a schedule of work or asking a Surveyor to do this which will be priced. The make also be asking the property owner to provide reports for the market price of the property pre and post incident to work out settlement on best terms.

@noideabutstilltrying that’s helpful knowing the process! Thanks!

@Reddottys12 it's no problem, it's what I do for a living 🙂

Just thought I'd do a final update on here. .

We have been waiting to see what the insurance would cover. It kept been delayed and the vendors told us the insurance company had said yesterday the report would be issued. We received a call from the estate agent yesterday saying they were either going to do the minimum it needed and put it back up, or do it up really well and try to make more money off it.

So that's the end of that! Think we should go for a new build next time!

@Sobloodytired09 after waiting all that bloody time!!! How rude! Sorry that it’s come to this!

Thank you @Reddottys12. I have to be honest, I am quite annoyed. We had been waiting for the report, and it seems a coincidence that the day that the insurance report was going through is when they decide to do up and relist.

We had offered over what it was worth I think in retrospect, and our survey and a builder had found some things that were going to cost us more money (pre-leak!) so I'm trying to tell myself that they might have saved me some money in the long run.

How is your purchase going?

@Sobloodytired09 honestly, I would be super peeved too. You’ve been so patient and then they’ve turned around and done this. You could have spent the last 3 months looking for a new property.

We are no further along. No insurance report and the house is still a big wet mess so we’ve come to the decision that we will look for another property. We’re on the hunt but honestly there’s not much on the market in our area so it’s proving difficult.