My house is falling apart :(

KnightStalker

KnightStalker

KnightStalker

Soldato
Joined
27 Apr 2004
Posts
5,549
Location
Doncaster, S.Yorks
Oh dear lord, my house is falling apart, 3 years ago, we had a burst water pipe and did a lot of damage to the ceilings (sp?), all fixed, and sorted, 7 month ago, a major GAS leak, luckily it didnt blow, last week, we had a burst water pipe under the sink, which in turn somehow brought the sink to the floor, by damaged the wood, that got fixed, NOW....we have a major leak from the bathroom, a LEAD pipe yes i said lead pipe, has blown, now there is NO stop in the house, i have water gushing out everywhere, electric has blown in the house, i can smell smoke from somewhere, but i think thats from the electric..

Kitchen ceiling (bathroom above it) has caved in, bringing the bath and shower and the loo (only loo in the house) with it, damaged my fridge freezer, all the appliances, washer and all sorts, now the kitchen is connected to an extension, well the extension ceiling is filling with water and is going to cave any minute.

Now this house is rented, with the Yorkshire Metropolitin (sp?) Housing Association, ive rang them and explained, this is what they said in their exact words "im sorry but ill have to get someone to ring you back" that was 1 1/2 hour ago, and still no phone call...this is beyond a joke, thank god for laptops and adsl line....well back to mopping up, like thats gonna do some good..

thanks for listening to me rant at this hour.
 
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I would but i have nothing to grab the tap with and its really far down the hole, its stuck solid, and plus it shuts off next door, and its an old couple in their 70's and im not going to wake them, as the bloke has just come out of hospital from a hip replacement :( im screwed.
 
Wouldn't it be a problem if the water spread to their house though....

Turn off the electricity and turn off the water.

Good luck though, doesn't sound good either way :(
 
If the rest of the upstairs is flooded/flooding and there has been floors caving in as a result, you really ought to leave the house and perhaps call the fire brigade if its connected to another house? They will be able to sort the water out at least!

Either way, it surely just isnt safe to be in there and you should leave asap! Go wake someone up and explain whats happened to them and ask if you can sit in their house until you can get something sorted!
 
ok guys ill bail out of this sinking house of mine, it isnt flooded upstairs, its just down stairs, might give the fire brigade a ring, but is it really an emergency? i just dont know....there doesnt seem to be any sign of it reching the other side of the house just yet, so im not sure. anyway ill leave asap, get my mum (disabled) down stairs first then my bro (mentally disabled) and try and wake my sister (pregnant and a cow lol)
 
if it's effecting the electric i would say it is, turn the mains off at the meter NOW (I would turn it off now anyway - most ceilings have power cables for light fittings etc, and often for the ring mains).

Ring 999, explain the pipe has gone, you've no way of turning it off and you think you can smell smoke but you're not sure (water and mains electricity do not mix).

The operator will decide if it's something that will require a call out, but i suspect the fire brigade would prefer a false alarm to having to turn out to a fire.




First thing tommorow after calling your insurance, write a letter and complain to the housing association - a major burst pipe is a priority call out i would have thought, as it will cost them a lot more if it's left as it causes more damage the longer the water is on.
 
When you get time go see the Citizens Advise and see what they have to say about all of this. Sounds to me that somebody, somewhere should be getting their asses sued off!
 
cheers guys, just an update on the situation, the water board came out (i rang them) and they turned the mains off to both houses, fire brigade did come (water board rang them) and they checked, they said the smell was from connections conducting electric, so i guess you was right to get out, now sat in my front room (all clear) and having a cuppa thanks to my neighbours across the road, gonna be a big job to get the house back to normal, so all the houses valuables are going to a lock up tomorrow, for safe keeping....im starting to feel that this house is jinyxed or something....i dont have a good feeling about it anymore. and still no one has come out from the yorkshire met :( :( appauling service i tell ya.
 
KnightStalker said:
cheers guys, just an update on the situation, the water board came out (i rang them) and they turned the mains off to both houses, fire brigade did come (water board rang them) and they checked, they said the smell was from connections conducting electric, so i guess you was right to get out, now sat in my front room (all clear) and having a cuppa thanks to my neighbours across the road, gonna be a big job to get the house back to normal, so all the houses valuables are going to a lock up tomorrow, for safe keeping....im starting to feel that this house is jinyxed or something....i dont have a good feeling about it anymore. and still no one has come out from the yorkshire met :( :( appauling service i tell ya.
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Glad to hear something is being done at last! For your own health you need to make sure you arent living in there until it is all totally dry. Living in damp conditions can play havoc with your lungs :(
 
oh...didnt realise that at all, so ermm what the heck do i do with a 4 person family, myself included in that 4, we have no friends with a house big enough to hold us all and cater for my mum and little bro....this is a nightmare i wish i wasnt living it...i feel like crying, as i have to take most of the responsibilty of it all being my mums and little bros carer. this totally blows.
 
Glad to hear you're ok, and it sounds like you've got good neighbours :)

re the house, as mentioned make sure you don't move back in until it's fully sorted and dried out.
I would also suggest if possible to put in writing a request to have all the plumbing and electrics inspected, as to me it sounds like they are in serious need of sorting out :(



Knightstalker, try not to panic, at a guess I think you should get placed into temporary accomodation by the HA/council whilst your house is being redone if the house is rented from a housing association, so that shouldn't be a major worry (if that's any help), you shouldn't be left without a roof over your head.


I would suggest getting on the phone first thing in the morning to the housing association and the local council housing offices so they can help sort out somewhere to stay whilst the house is sorted out.
If your brother or mother have any social workers or care assistants contact the department they are with - they may be able to get it sorted faster, and help make sure the temporary accomodation is better suited to what the needs of your family are compared to the normal emergency accomodation.
What i'm saying is, if your mother for example needs a disabled toilet and has trouble with stairs then any temporary acommodation should take that into account (if she can't climb stairs any acommodation would have to be ground floor or have a stairlift/lift).

Also check the insurance policies, as I'm not sure if a burst pipe making the house uninhabitable would be contents or buildings, if it's contents (which I doubt) the insurance company should sort you out with somewhere to stay, if it's buildings (i suspect it is) then it will be the HA as they should have the house covered for that.


Good luck
 
You must be a lot calmer than me to be posting on the net while all this was happening!

I'd either be in tears or in a rage destroying what was left of the house :/
 
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