What sort of tradesman would I need to fix this...?

[ChatterMonkey]

Have a leak showing on the kitchen ceiling.

First thought it must be connected to the bath which is directly above damp patch, but just had a plumber out who has ruled out any leaks or anything to do with the pipes under the bath. Said its all dry under with no obcious leaks when running the taps. He thinks its more likely to do with these pipes on the exterior wall, which is on the other side of the damp patch. He thinks that when it rains, rainwater is getting in here which makes sense.

But i have no idea what sorr of tradesman i need for this. Plumber wasnt interested in going near it. What should they look like? I assume there shouldnt be the gaps around the pipe in the brickwork.

You need a can of expanding foam and a ladder.

So its something i could do myself...?

Im useless at DIY and would be worried i would damage the pipework

It looks like the other ones have been cemented around, is that preferable or is expanding foam just as good?

Sorry i know i sound so useless and should be better with these things!

Isn't expanding foam cancerous? Think there is some kind of hard setting putty that can be used instead. That's what was used here when a new boiler flue was fitted.

A skilled handyman, not some bloke who says he can do stuff, but an insured skilled one.
It's a builder kind of thing, but builders will be far too busy. Handyman are often people who've worked in other trades but don't want to take on the big jobs.

Are you sure that’s the issue? It would seem weird that it’s suddenly a problem

I'm no expert so I don't know if this is the correct advice.... But I also would try the expabding foam and see if it fixes the issue first. It's pretty cheap and easy to do and I can't imagine a big issue if it doesn't work and you need to remove it.

Isn't expanding foam cancerous?

Only after you have consumed at least 2 large cans of it 🙂

One thing I have found with leaks ( sinks,baths). Is sometimes when you run the tap and look underneath you can’t see a leak ( dry ) . But fill the sink/ bath up and let the plug out , the huge amount of water going down sometimes reveals the leak that couldn’t be seen with just running the tap.

Those holes around the outside don’t look big enough to let that much water through. But It wouldn’t hurt to cement around them neatly.

If you have a wet patch on the ceiling, my guess is it’s a leak somewhere.

The plumber has left the bath panel off so that we can monitor any slow leaks or similar, in the meantime I'll get the holes filled up, as a pp said, it wont do any harm.

Then see if it dries up after that, if not then we carry on investigating.

It could have been triggered by some really heavy rainfall we've had here recently, so something thats been pretty minor before has got worse by the heavy rain possibly?

Got someone coming out this afternoon to look at it so hopefuly he can fix it.

Also noticed that the bottom of the skirting board under the damp patch has some mould on it, so maybe points towards water getting into the wall? No idea if thats how it works though.

Also sometimes even with a bath full of water the leak wont show, but add a person into the full bath and it can open up then so maybe try that too

Yes he did say to use the bath as normal and monitor, so will have a bath tonight and see how it drains/what it looks like underneath during and after.

The plumber should be able to sort it out but probably cannot be arsed to get some ladders out of the van

A builder / bricklayer / roofer capable of some basic pointing if the plumber wont help , ideally done with some sand / cement not just some squirty foam !

You need a bricklayer/builder.

Don't use a can of expanding foam, it will look shit.

Most expanding foam degrades in sunlight. It's okay if it is covered by mortar or whatever, but otherwise it's just a temporary patch.

Found a handyman type guy who came out and had a look, and is going to fill it in tomorrow so hopefuly will resolve the damp issue. Fingers crossed...