Building Regs...Showers in Baths?

[julesapple]

I didn't explain fully this morning as, when I get started, it gets a bit long-winded. The cowboy was here at 9am (previously unheard of) to start ripping out, but he had been doing various odd jobs when we reported the serious leak to Uncle Landlord, and so UL called him in from outside to see the leak. He strenuously denied that it was his doing, said his work was perfect, and blamed us saying we had been misusing the shower (that weekly Orgy Club meeting again) However, UL turned up unexpectledly this morning to check progress and saw the cause of the problem for himself and forceful discussions were had. The cowboy (cowboi in Welsh for Mikey ) is moonlighting and, I suspect he has been threatened with his official boss unless he puts everything right, but I don't know for sure, I've just seen the volte face.

Cowboy disappeared at 2pm, having left an enormous hole in the bathroom floor (all cordoned off safely) so that it can dry out overnight before work starts proper.

And, no, not even a biscuit after the stress he caused me.

Jules

[chris]

Did you spit in his tea?

[julesapple]

Did you spit in his tea?

Eewwwww......no. Apparently any tea brewed by me is undrinkable anyway, probably because I don't drink it, so I wouldn't have needed to spit. And I haven't yet forgiven him for the very personal remark he made. Having said that, this is not a personal vendetta, this is about getting a decent standard of work done in a bathroom. Work he has already been paid for, and which wouldn't need re-doing in a much more major way had he done what he was supposed to do the first time.

Jules

[julesapple]

Just a thought following on from snohare's comments, If he did a bad job first time round perhaps he was told to do it that way by the landlord?

Didn't read this bit properly. There is probably a point here, in that UL is a skinflint and would want the job done on the cheap but I still would have thought that even UL wouldn't want to do it so cheaply/badly that 6 weeks later it needs doing all over again but more so. The cowboy is also UL's drinking buddy so I expect they are well matched. I still don't know what the bargaining tool was, but the cynic in me says there was one. But then, the same cynical bit says there is also probability that the job was done badly the first time, on purpose, so that future work would be forthcoming. Cowboy was quite adamant that we had been partying in the bathroom.

Jules

[snohare]

A thought occurs. If this is a job being done as a homer, then the landlord's insurance may no longer cover the property.
Many insurance companies are very particular about getting properly qualified workmen with City and Guilds certificates and public liability insurance to do even relatively small repairs on bought-to-let properties, never mind anything with safety implications (e.g. wiring, water, and holes in floors). The implications can be serious - the front of a tenement flat fell into the street in Aberdeen recently, nobody pointed a finger in print but apparently it was someone "doing a favour" who removed a load bearing wall...
(Funnily enough I first discovered this while recording damage done to a friend's shared shop roof, "repaired" by a national chain of roofing specialists who had actually stolen the lead and left more damage than before.)
I often think there are two brands of cowboys. The ones that get out of their depth and mess up, and the ones who simply don't give a monkey about the person they are ripping off, they only want money. Sometimes I suppose you will get aspects of both...but working out where running water will go is still not rocket science.

[julesapple]

Sno, that's really interesting about the insurance. I wonder if UL knows about it? We do have a proper contract and both sides are insured (although we only need contents insurance)

The running water issue has bugged us since the job was first done. The shower is housed in a stud wall (with bath on the other side) and the tile grout started to crack years ago after our new central heating system was installed and kettling caused the wall to rattle. We did report it several times back then, but nothing was done. Water then got in behind the tiles and caused the plasterboard to swell and the tiles to lift. We were still reporting this and the drip that had started to come down through the kitchen ceiling and boiler cupboard.

It was then that the cowboy arrived. He took off all of the tiles on both sides of the stud wall, and the soggy plasterboard and replaced them with vertical tongue & groove plastic cladding, which he maintained was waterproof. From what I could see and simple physics, it seemed to me that the cladding was only waterproof if the grooves were horizontal and the water dripped off rather than down the groove. Along the shower tray there was copious amounts of sealant, applied to a dusty shower tray, so it didn't adhere and peeled up. The water then ran down the grooves, past peeling sealant into this trough type arrangement and was funnelled straight into the boiler cupboard via rapidly rotting floorboards.

We pointed out all of the faults in the work immediately after completion the first time, and were ignored, so our frustration was huge. The UL probably parted with large amounts of dosh too.

Anyway, the cowboy is back today (never before 10.30 or 11am though and leaves by 2pm) so lets see what today brings. Yesterday he took out the stud wall and shower tray, revealing that somebody once painted the bathroom olive green and deep purple

Jules

[chris]

I thought plasterboard has to be that water resistant board stuff instead, in a bathroom? We just had to have ours replaced with it (aqua panel) when we had ours re-done. Ours was all mouldy and soaked behind the tiles too.

That's what the chap who did ours said anyway, but then again he could have been talking out of his backside.

[julesapple]

I thought plasterboard has to be that water resistant board stuff instead, in a bathroom? We just had to have ours replaced with it (aqua panel) when we had ours re-done. Ours was all mouldy and soaked behind the tiles too.

That's what the chap who did ours said anyway, but then again he could have been talking out of his backside.

He was probably right, but our shower was fitted more than 15 years ago and things have probably changed since then.

The news today is no work being done to allow further drying time and tomorrow the work will commence to fit piggy back joists and a new floor, and then fit the new corner shower (looks v posh in the photo) and plumb in new pipes behind a false wall (that bit concerns me a little) and seal off the old pipes that come up from floor & down from the old water tank in the attic. Then all will be made beautiful and new floor cover fitted.

It all sounds very nice and I'm very pleased. Just really hope they make a very good job of it for everyone's sakes. After they've done I can finally finish wallpapering with the old maps, seal them in etc.

Much as I loathe the guy, it was quite touching to see him fussing our little old cat when she spoke to him. Most odd to see this big gruff muscle guy and the titchy tiny little cat making friends. Very sweet though.

Jules

[snohare]

it was quite touching to see him fussing our little old cat when she spoke to him.

Well there is the worst and the best in all of us, it's just a case of which is winning on a given day. Call me a cynic, but I think it might be a different matter if the cat had money...
I think normal plasterboard is hygroscopic (absorbs available moisture out of the air like sugar does), that's one reason why it needs to be special plasterboard for bathrooms. Mould will be the other reason, the minerals in standard plasterboard and the paper substrate would be a wonderful breeding ground for all things fungal...
That tongue and groove cladding, if it is the stuff I think it is, is designed to go onto a solid backing, not replace it. The clue is in the name - plastic...
Still, sounds like you are on your way to being sorted. And no biscuits required !

[Mikey]

The trouble with bathrooms is they are wet environments, and the trouble with stud walls is that they shrink and expand dependant on the weather. We never install onto plasterboard as its just not upto the job. We use a product called wedi, which is lighter than the cement based Aquapanel that Chris was talking about, and is secured with washers, which allow for play in the substructure.

On top of this we adhere the tiles using a flexible adhesive, which further allows for some movement, its a bit belt and braces, but why take the risk. Having said all of that, the room will only remain waterproof as long as your silicon makes a proper seal, and the minute you see this start to go mouldy rip it off and replace it.

As a company that supplies and installs bathrooms we offer our customers a two year installation guarantee separate to any of the product guarantees, this way if a customer has any teething problems they are resolved no quibble.

In life you get what you pay for, pay peanuts like the landlord and you get monkeys.

[julesapple]

Mikey, I do wish you were doing my bathroom! Sounds like a great company.

Jules