Flood and a hole in the kitchen ceiling - lovely!

[merry]

Could have done without this this morning as Mr M is poorly with a terrible feverish cold, but I came downstairs at 8 am and found the kitchen floor flooded

British Gas who are mostly useless and have taken oodles and oodles of our money over the years for a 'service contract' (last time I worked it out it was about £10,000 over 20 years, but we do call on it sometimes so...) were pretty good and sent a chap out from Dynorod (for some reason) who was absolutely amazing, and had it fixed in two hours.

I am so relieved. 'Escapes of water' are terrifying because you don't know where it is and how much damage it might have caused beforehand and how to stop it.

Anyway here's how my kitchen has been left

I don't mind that the hole was left, as I was just so happy to get it fixed, but I have a horror of rats which we HAVE HAD between the floors/walls, so I don't really like looking up there..... and we can't get the hole repaired until the whole thing dries out a bit.

Dynorod guy, a lovely Eastern European, comforted my fears by saying 'vermin. No. They do not go in such places.'

I thought, you don't know me, mate, I am like the flipping Pied Piper, the things LOVE me and love to be where I am...

[Patience]

Oh Merry. This is rubbish. Will you be making a claim on your house insurance for the damage?

And Mr Merry is poorly, too. I hope he perks up soon. The bug going around is quite nasty. I was floored for 3 days but I’m up and around now. COVID is also doing the rounds and one of my friends is down with it. He’s a mature art student and has been mixing with the great unwashed at college.

[OurCreature]

Bad luck with the leak, Merry, but at least you got it fixed quickly. I hope the area round it dries out quickly so you can have that hole boarded over etc. And that Mr Merry's cold is gone soon.

[merry]

Thanks, Patience. I know you've had your fair share of stress and hassle over the years with various things! Cars

Our house insurance won't pay out for 'repair of leaks' but only 'repairing damage caused by leaks' and since i think our handyman can fix that ceiling under £100 it won't be worth claiming, with an obligatory excess of £500.

I am dreading going down in the morning in case a) the floor is awash again and b) Mr and Mrs Ratty have ravaged the kitchen!

[merry]

Thank you, OC.

[Furby]

How horrible for merry and at nearly Xmas too because so difficult to get people out any time to do anything isnt it so lucky b gas managed to help in two hours even nearly Xmas.

Could you not get a big piece of cardboard and balance it or attach with parcel tape so you don't have to look at the hole. I don't think it really will encourage more rats in kitchen because if they can get up there they can get down can't they without waiting for a flood to make a handy hole.

Get well soon for Mr merrys cold.

[dianakc]

Oh heck! Yes, I'm with Furby. I'd get someone to cover it up with some cardboard. It'll stop bits, if not Roland and his Mrs from coming down.

[eccles]

Plumbing leaks are the pits, leaving your house damp for ages as it dries out. Look after Mr Merry and keep the thermostat at safe levels to dry things out.
You are fortunate that the ceiling isn't Artex. All mine are and I recently discovered that because the building is pre-1990s the likelihood is that it has asbestos in it, albeit in relatively small amounts. It is entirely safe if undisturbed but any remedial work requires extra safety measures and care.

[Wildrover]

I had a toilet inlet pipe leak in the night last month and came downstairs to a puddle on the lounge floor and the ceiling paper bulging alarmingly. I had to put a screwdriver through the plasterboard and drain the water into bowls and rip off the ceiling paper. Coincidentally I just agreed a settlement with the loss adjuster this morning. They didn't want to pay as per usual sayng the leak was due to wear and tear and I had to get a letter from my plumber saying it was due to a faulty fitting. They then tried to say that they would only pay for reboarding, plastering and papering for 1/3 of the lounge which is ridiculous - who has two different papers on the same ceiling. On he last call I said further dscussion was pointless and I'd just send all the evidence to the Ombudsman and let them decide. That was on Tuesday and they called ths morning with an offer of £1,850 which was a bit less than the £2,200 I claimed but reasonable.

It's actually worked out quite well for me as I intended to get the ceiling replaced next year anyway as it's 40 years old and the plasterboard has slipped so you can see the outline of the individual 4' x 3' sheets in several places. Also there's no filling between lounge ceiling and bedroom floor so if the TV is on downstairs it's too noisy to sleep upstairs. I'm also going to get the current lights replaced with an LED string running round the perimeter of the lounge. All of that is about £2,800 but the insurer is covering more than half so it's one of those very rare occasions where the leak has worked in my favour!

By the way Merry, one word of advice - if it's slow to dry hire an industrial dehumidifier for the weekend. I had one on for 48 hours and it dried everything out in that period.