UKC

Discovered my shower was leaking and appears to have been for some time.

I was just going to get on with repair/replacement but in case it could be a large and expensive job, I thought it better to notify insurance company. Not that I really want to claim if it's just a small job due excess (£350), the possible hassle of dealing with their recommended traders, not getting a say and being told what will be done and when, and not least an increase in next year's premium (yes that was mentioned in the phone call to insurer if I claimed), etc.

I am now waiting for a loss adjuster, but wanted to get an idea of what may need to be done beforehand just so I have some background info.

Does chipboard, stud work, joists, wall insulation (guess not insulation) and particularly plasterboard successfully dry out in situ if given time? Or does plasterboard and insulation specifically have to be removed and replaced and hence need to remove the shower cubicle and all the wall tiles? Probably the wall tiles are not now available so that will be a whole bathroom retile unless I accept a mismatch of new tiles with old - I'm guessing the insurer will not pay for a retile of whole bathroom. Will the shower have to be removed (so tiles will be broken anyway) to allow air to dry out the flooring or does air under the floor allow drying naturally?

I have accessed the back of some of the plasterboard which is behind shower tiles via breaking the plasterboard in one of the adjoining rooms affected and it is saturated at least for 10 cm above floor and appears to be soft and liable to disintegrate. If its integrity has been affected I assume the tiles will fail at some point down the line so really need to come off now?

Appreciate comments for anyone in the know. Thanks.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

I think they will pay for the whole lot to be retiled if necessary. It sounds like it might be to me but I'm no expert.

My friend is having similar with her kitchen and they are replacing stuff to match and re tiling.

She has been able to use her own choice of kitchen fitter so it's worth asking.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

After our cooker fire last month the loss adjuster came round.
I was looking to claim for a new cooker, ain't in over the smoke damage on the ceiling and new wooden pan handles.
He found a tiny bit of scorching on a cabinet door, smoke damage to some grouting and a burn mark (that I can't see) on the laminate floor.
They paid me £5700.00 to get all new doors and replace the floor and tiles.

Conversely 6 months ago a friends house had a big fire and her insurance is quibbling everything.

I guess it's luck of the draw.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Other than the chipboard, I'd say you may be alright, given enough time and no forced drying (dehumidifier) Chipboard acts like a sponge though, swells up the loses all its structural strength. Can't see you saving that.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:
Much of the response will depend your insurance company. My dad recently had a very small but long-term leak in his bathroom from the pipe between wc and cistern. The kitchen celeb came down after very minimal prodding by yours truly. The insurance - Saga I think- are retiling the whole bathroom and new partial ceiling (4sqm) in the kitchen below. He's paying the extra-over for a new bathroom suite and some additional tiling. The company is also paying for him to stay in a local hotel for almost a month whilst the work is being done. I can't see how is taking them so long to do the work but he's not complaining.

I don't imagine many insurance companies would give such a good service but I'm glad they are in my dad's case! Good luck with yours. Oh yes, I'm pretty sure your plasterboard, chipboard and insulation will all be binned, and most likely the tiles will too.

Edit: if you meant rigid board, EPS external wall thermal insulation, then that will be fine, but if it's acoustic insulation in an internal stud partition, then that will have soaked up the moisture and will need to be chucked out. Since you say the leak has been present for some time, I think at least some of the plasterboard will be beyond recovery.

In reply to Fraser:

Thanks to you and others. Yes it will depend on the insurance company's response. Don't suppose loyalty counts - 38 yrs with essentially the same one (original company bought over and that one bought over by current one).

It's fibre glass insulation in the stud walls between plasterboard on either side. On the shower side the tiles seem to be attached direct to the plasterboard that's partly saturated.

My initial thinking was it may all have to come out since I guess the full extent of the damage may not be seen until it is all exposed - need to wait till seen by loss adjuster though before "demolishing" too much. There was no obvious leak as it was running down under shower cubicle and into the stud walls etc. I only discovered it when I saw a tiny patch of mould growth next to the bathroom door architrave and explored what could be the cause.

Still hoping it's minor! However, even if the chipboard floor has to be stripped out that would be a big job as a bedroom and hall will be involved as well as the bathroom to remove all the affected board.

My plumber was telling some of the horror tales of dealing with insurance companies and so he won't do anything now till they see it as it is. Time will tell. Maybe a new bathroom that I wasn't planning on doing in the near future will need to be considered.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Caberfloor boards should be banned from building floors with, unless screwed down they creak, difficult to get up when laid. Horrible things.

Good old tongue a groove boards. Proper flooring.

Well that was a short visit - no cover. A small print change for current year's cover says my leak is defined as fair wear and tear, so this and all consequential damage is not covered. Apparently a few companies have gone this way, and others will probably follow, so check your policies if this may apply to you! I would have been covered last year but this year is now excluded in small print exclusions. If I had known I could have got on with the work and saved a likely increase in premium due to a "claim" on my policy.

Moving forward it at least makes it simple in some ways that I can just get on with work. The difficult part though is how to decide what needs doing!

Options to me seem to be 1. get bathroom companies in to tell me what needs to be removed and what doesn't and get quotes; 2. get a professional (so independent of any works) in to assess damage and report on what works are needed, then seek quotes based on that. Of course if works are to be quite extensive involving removing floor, stud work, etc, I may as well look to a new bathroom/shower replacement quotes. What I don't want to do is just ignore it and assume it will all dry out with no longer term consequences to discover down the line that rot has gotten hold in joists, etc.

If 2. who should I be looking for? Surveyor, damp specialist, or who? Anyone?

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

We had a similar leak and fixed it ourselves but basically had a standard fan blowing air under the shower tray for a week to dry it all out. Seems to have done the trick.

In reply to nniff:
Would be good it it could be that simple. Problem is (ironically) the shower tray is sealed in position! From the bathroom side to allow air under it, the shower screen and some tiling would need to come off to let it be lifted even slightly to let air under. Can't even go from the hall side without damage as if the plasterboard (on the bathroom side) is cut then presumably the shower tiles will fall off!

Only way I would see it drying without removal would be if capillary action (?)/natural drawing out of water can happen through the floorboards and/or the stud walls on two sides outside - hall and a bedroom. Question is does this happen?

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

What are the ceiling and walls like directly under the shower?

Water always takes the easiest route.

In reply to Rick Graham:
It's on the ground floor and accessing underneath the flooring its saturated wet below, and some evidence of mould growth. The seepage water had been held up to joists and flooring due to underfloor insulation. Insulation now removed and so air should circulate to the underneath side of the bathroom floor at least. Whether that's enough?