Plumbing issue in rented shared house.

Former Member · February 2006

Hi, I hope someone is going to be able to help us. This is a shared house we are talking about but NOT a student house. We have a toilet, sink and bath upstairs, and then downstairs through the kitchen we have a sink and shower. There is also a very unpleasant and cold toilet in the back yard.

We dont know if this has anything to do with it, but about a month ago we ran out of bog roll, and a couple of us used newspaper until supplies were resumed! A couple of days later one of us had a bath (we usually use the shower downstairs), and this is where the problem started. The bath emptied about halfway, but then the bath water started coming up the toilet. Luckily it didnt flood but they both stopped half full. It drained away very slowly (ie 48 hours), but then now if you flush the toilet, it fills up and the bath fills with water too. So we got onto our landlord (let direct from him, not through an agency or anything) and he turns up that evening with a plunger, takes one look at the situation and leaves saying he will get us professionals in and for us to use the downstairs shower and outside toilet in the meantime. That was on Jan 30th and it is now the 26th Feb, and we still have an out of use bathroom. We have been onto him several times, and he says he is sorting out quotes and stuff. Noone has been in to look at it, so we dont know how true this is. One of my housemates also got a bit arsey on the phone to him, and he was told that as we have a "working" toilet and shower, he doesnt have to do anything, and we should think ourselves lucky that he is sorting it out at all. We are making the best we can of the situation, using toilets at work etc whenever we can, but we cant control our bowels, and sitting on a toilet seat that feels like it is made of ice in the pitch black is not pleasant!

There have been good times, like everyone waiting on weekend mornings to see who would break first (and have to warm up the seat for everyone else, who will then follow in pretty quick sucession), but after a month it really is not a laughing matter anymore. What can we do to get him to clear the pipe quicker (idealy before the extreeme cold whether we are meant to be getting at the end of this week)? And what could the implications be for us If half a copy of the Daily Mirror is found to be what is blocking the pipe?

Any useful advice would be much appreciated, and sorry its a bit of a long post!!

Former Member · February 2006

Whichever clever sod used newspaper should sort the unblocking. It's hardly the landlord's fault that someone couldn't be bothered to buy more bog roll.

Do it yourself. If one of you blocked it, then you'll probably have to pay anyway.

Former Member · February 2006

Have you tried to unblock it yourselves? Or perhaps you could pool together to call someone out, with Mr Newspaper wiper paying a larger portion. If iit's usefull, I've had drains unblocked with a high pressure thingy for £70 approx...

**helen** · February 2006

Hi there - welcome to the boards.

First off, do you have a Tenancy agreement? It's probably a good idea to dig yours out if you have, to see what your landlord agreed to do in terms of repairs. If it says that they will be dealt with and still nothing, then you could perhaps take the agreement to an advice centre for more information on your rights.

There is also lots of information here about how to deal with disrepair in rented accomodation.

However, your situation sounds pretty urgent and if it comes to it, it sounds like it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to try and get a plumber out yourselves (it's good practice for when you are in your own homes)- do any of you have family/friends in the trade who could help you out/ can your parents recommend someone? It's a good idea to put this to the landlord first though to make sure he is happy for you to get someone to look at it.

I hope you get your problem sorted soon.

Take care

Former Member · February 2006

Get a metal coat hanger and unwind it. You can then rebend, stick down the pot (Obviously keeping hold of the other end) and fish about to unblock things. That's how I unblocked our toilet once Mini-mini-ninja has put a whole packet of wipes down our toilet.

Former Member · March 2006

Thank you everyone for your replies. Spookily we were awoken at 8am monday morning by the landlord and some drain men, who the landlord had booked a week or so before allegedly. However the news they had was initially not especially good. The problem is (luckily) nothing to do with the newspaper, but the drain has collapsed, partly underneath the kitchen. They are going to have to dig it open, sideways under the extention to rebuild it, which sounds like quite a job. Only the drains from the bathroom are affected, as the downstairs plumbing enters the drain after the collapsed bit, and runs to the sewer in the back alleyway apparently.

The landlord has appologised to us for the delays, and agreed that we can live rent free until the drains have been rebuilt (March rent was due today). We agreed to this as long as he confirmed it in writing, which he has done, and his wife has just dropped the letters round. We are now hoping it takes him as long as possible, as we dont mind dropping the kids off in arctic conditions by torchlight when its saving us just over £200 a month each in rent!!

As an aside, one of my housemates spoke to one of the drain men, about the Newspaper and he said that although not ideal, Newspaper is more suitable for flushing than a nose tissue, which apparently wont break down the same way as bog roll or newspaper. Is this true, or are they pulling our legs???

Plumbing issue in rented shared house.

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