Last month
On this page Totterdown Plumbing tell stories of when our services have been required in emergencies, in an attempt to educate people on prevention. Last month in the area there was an instance where a 3 bedroom flat had the ceiling collapse in the living room, causing irreparable damage 2 expensive electronics search as the television, the dishwasher, the toaster, a games console and even a mobile phone.
This happened because the next door neighbour to this flat had a leak above them and they had noticed a small damp Patch on ceiling but did nothing about it. The water ran along ceiling to the flat next door where it collected, weakening the structure of the ceiling whilst the occupants were on holiday. when they returned, it became clear that the ceiling in the living room had weakened to a point where it had fallen into the room causing physical damage to the items listed, but also allowing the water which was still coming to enter the room and cause water damage to the floor. Luckily this was a ground floor flat, meaning that this did not continue to another flat downstairs, in another scenario this would have been completely plausible. In order to prevent what happened, the occupants of the flat next door should have contacted local 24 hour plumbers or their landlord at the first sign of trouble.
This highlights that even the smallest marks can mask are much bigger problem behind them. Upon investigation it became clear that the problem which caused this event was only a loose joint between 2 pipes, the leak was not strong enough to be noticed via a lack of water pressure, or by an increase in water bill. Therefore, the only way this could have been avoided is by contacting the plumber at the first sign of trouble.