Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry 1 Jun 10, 2013 3:15 pm Hi all. I hope someone can help me please. I am the owner of a 5 year old, two storey home. We hired a builder to build the house for us. To cut a very long story short, both showers have leaked. The builder fixed one, and came to look at the other one this week. I am a female, with only a small amount of exposure to building, so I would like to ask if what the builder said is right. He said that the reason for the leak is that there has been movement in the floor under the shower, and as a result there is a leak in the waterproof membrane. He said that it isn't bad workmanship, it is an act of God. Does anyone know if this sounds like a plausible story? It is unfortunate for us that it has happened in both showers. And who should technically pay for this? Is it the original builder, as it is within the 7 year home owners warranty period? Is this the plumber? Is is the owner of the home as normal wear and tear / movement? Or can we claim it on insurance if it is "an act of God?" I would appreciate any advice on this. Thank you. Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 2Jun 10, 2013 6:27 pm Your builder is bluffing you. What he is saying makes no sense.If there has been so much structural movement that it cracked the membrane then it must come under structural warranty. It is more than likely it's defective waterproofing. Act of God? Ha Ha , why would God target your bathroom? He must think he can roll you. I have virtually similar case going to VCAT with one of my clients where I prepared expert witness report I will post the outcome on my blog. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 3Jun 10, 2013 9:28 pm Thank you so much for your opinion. It really helps and is what I suspected. I couldn't understand how waterproofing would crack in a house with normal movement. Our house has moved a little, and we have small cracks here and there. But they are normal (hairline and small). It makes no sense that waterproofing codes wouldn't cover a house with normal settling. I think I might get someone to come and write me a report about what went wrong and what needs to be done to fix it. I also don't want a sloppy repair. I was worried about the damp already in the roof cavity and he told me it wasn't a problem and would only turn into one if it was left. Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 5Jun 26, 2013 9:41 pm For those interested in outcome of VCAT failed bathroom tiling dispute http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog/b ... in-vcat-2/ Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 6Jul 27, 2013 7:22 pm orbitor it is the builder's responsibility to address this. Don't accept any makeshift fix. If the waterproofing is faulty, pretty much the whole bathroom needs to be pulled up and redone. Agree. They use cheap waterproofing or it was friday when they put it and couldn't wait to get to the pub and didn't apply it properly. Tell them you want both bathrooms re done. Leaking showers cant be fixed with a bandaid. Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 8Jun 08, 2014 9:37 am sal032 Hi, What was the outcome? We are having the exact same issue and getting the same story from our builder! Kind Regards Sallie Yes. What happened. Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 9Dec 20, 2014 2:32 pm Sorry, it's been a long time since I've been on here. The outcome was that he fixed it. He stuck to his original story, but he did come and fix it. No leaks since ** touch wood ** Fair trading were great though. They offered to come out and inspect it with him if I had any trouble getting him to do the work. I didn't need to though. Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 10Dec 21, 2014 3:28 pm do you know what type of membrane it was? Fibreglass, polyurethane etc Chances are it was an incorrectly installed bond breaker. I've seen plenty of new houses where this isn't done properly Re: Advice re: leaking showers please 12Feb 24, 2015 4:27 pm Too many waterproofing jobs getting done these days without any reinforcing matt in the corners and coated to thinly with only a single coat , these jobs are all destined to fail with even minor structural movement . If the job is done properly it should take extreme structural movement to cause it to fail . This is the current bathroom with a european laundry. Overall internal dimensions are 3.69 wide and 3.65m deep, including the footprint of the laundry. There is a toilet… 0 10771 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Hi, I've got a brand new (2nd hand) Bosch Hydropower 16H tankless hot water heater. Since it was installed I have noticed it leaks a lot. I took the cover off and it looks… 0 24237 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 18888 |