I have a small leak in my kitchen ceiling...
So I contacted my landlord after observing the leak for a week. I received the following reply:
"Hi Goose,
Thanks for your update on the leak. Is the rate of leak several drops to a pint per hour? per day? (Sorry jollyrgr and Odyssey, I should have gone with the measuring cylinder and graphs) Is the leak confined to the same area that was defined by where you placed the plastic container? (Why would I put a bucket under a leak?) We either have a very slow drip which may subside or get worse. (It's been leaking for two months... I don't think it'll subside) It will be a lot easier to track if it gets worse. (That's reassuring!) Is the rate of leak less since we had the plumber come? (No) There may not be an immediate correlate of leak timewise directly with the usage of water upstairs, since it may take time for the water to wend its way downstairs. Is the leak a big nuisance to you? (No, I love Chinese water-torture) Since the leak is a very slow drip, it might be reasonable to continue to monitor.(It might not be...) I am afraid that if we get the plumber to come again, he may have difficulty in finding this leak as before. He did find the basis of the rapid leak which was from the bathtub trap overflow. (For which I am thankful) Does that sound reasonable? (No!) What is your feeling on the matter? (I don't think you really want me to answer that!)
Many thanks, Land/Landlord/Professor Landlord. (Seriously, he signs his emails "first name/full name/title")
Anyone got a sledge-hammer? I feel like renovating!
3 comments:
We call sledgehammers the "universal front door key" in my line of work....:-)
So is the landlord the drip or the drop?
He's the "drip"... hopefully the ceiling doesn't end up being the "drop"!
Is the ceiling beginning to bulge? If so, every now and then gently push up on it. Eventually the wet piece will give way and fall out due to weakening along the wet-dry boundary. But there will no visible sign of having been "helped along the way" (unlike the sledgehammer approach). Let it fall into your bucket and keep it there as (increasingly soggy) evidence. When it's dropped out you will a) have a view into the ceiling that might reveal the source of the leak, and b) have good cause to force the landlord actually do something.
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