ceiling leaking in new apartment

I moved into a new 2-bed apartment in October. Just before Christmas, during a spell of heavy rain, the ceiling in the 2nd bedroom we started hearing dripping and within no time the ceiling was sodden.

I phoned the builders (they're still on site - there's another 6 blocks to go up so they'll be there for another 2 or 3 years) and they came up and "fixed" it - they said there was a pipe outside that was coming in and it hadn't been sealed in properly. They also said they would repaint the ceiling once it had dried up.

The next week it rained again and the water ended up coming through the ceiling and down the walls. They fixed it again, this time pulled the ceiling down in the two bedrooms and put up new ones. The builder told me that they also put up insulation into the ceiling - not because it was suppsed to be there in the first place but just because they decided it would be good to put it there while the ceilings were down anyway.

They have only repainted the ceilings last week and already there is a new wet stain the width of the room in teh second bedrrom again. I called the builder and he says its a different problem to the initial one and that they can fix it from outside (on the balcony above the room) and they will repaint the wet stain.

I'm not happy about this because I'm thinking that above the celing must be bloody soaking and that we could get all manners of problems like rotting plaster and mildew (maybe worse?) is a few years.

I've told the builder this and he's fobbed me off saying that the prob is fixed and all thats needed is a paint job.

Does anyone have any idea what I should do here? Should I be calling my solicitor? What potential problems could arise from painting over this?

This is tricky, your concerns will probably not get the respect they deserve unless you engage the services of a professional, chartered engineer or architect. This will probably cost about €1200 (ballpark) but it will show the builder you mean business. In the meantime I would take lots of photos of the affected areas and date them (digital camera would be ideal). If you do not wish to go to the expense of hiring an architect just yet I suggest you write to the builder, outline the problems to date in detail, express your concerns clearly and state your anticipated outcome and a timeframe for this. In any case if your apartment is Homebond covered you are protected against rain (and smoke) penetration for the first 5 years after purchase.

I think you should be wary of going legal just yet. Write to the building site manager/contracts manager rather than the foreman (if you havent done so already) as it appears that they are trying to sovle the problem. The fact that they attempted repair and replaced the ceiling would seem to indicate they are sincere, If they dont take any further action then force the issue legally.

Thanks for your help Carpenter. I'll take pictures this evening. I checked out homebond on the internet as well and then rang the builder again. I told him the wet stain was spreading (which it has done by about 3 feet over the weekend) and told him I wasn't happy at all. I told him that I was on to the surveyor who did the snag a few months ago and that it had a "homebond guarantee with 5 years smoke and water..." and at that point he says they'd take down the ceiling again and find out what's happening AND fix us up with a few bob for a damp stain on the carpet too.

Thanks too, ludermor. You're right and I really didn't want to go down that route but couldn't think of what else to do (I know shag all about the industry). Well it seems that subtle threat has done the trick. If nothing happens though I'll do a letter like Carpenter says and go up the chain of command like you said.

Thanks again, I'll let you know how it goes.

I had a similar problem with a 2 bed apartment and it proved very frustating to get it sorted. The builders went through several solutions before the problem was solved. Turned out to be a hole in the asphalt in the balcony upstairs.

I'd ask the builders to supply a dehumidifier to dry out the walls and keep at them to get it sorted. When the problem gets sorted (wait for a good spell of rain to confirm), ask them to paint again.

buttonmoon said:

Thanks for your help Carpenter. I'll take pictures this evening. I checked out homebond on the internet as well and then rang the builder again. I told him the wet stain was spreading (which it has done by about 3 feet over the weekend) and told him I wasn't happy at all. I told him that I was on to the surveyor who did the snag a few months ago and that it had a "homebond guarantee with 5 years smoke and water..." and at that point he says they'd take down the ceiling again and find out what's happening AND fix us up with a few bob for a damp stain on the carpet too.

Thanks too, ludermor. You're right and I really didn't want to go down that route but couldn't think of what else to do (I know shag all about the industry). Well it seems that subtle threat has done the trick. If nothing happens though I'll do a letter like Carpenter says and go up the chain of command like you said.

Thanks again, I'll let you know how it goes.

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Not to scaremonger, because I think you've acted reasonably to date but be sure to memo all conversations with the builder and document all work where possible with photos, memos etc.