Flushable wipes

Hi, have had investment property for 3 years, recently got a new tenant. Since we have had the new tenant toilet has blocked 3 times in 3 weeks. $1500 plumbing bills for emergency call outs. The plumber has now told us it is because they use flushable wipes. In the previous three years. We have had no bills for plumbing. Should I be paying these plumbing bills or is the tenant responsible?

 

Really frustrating - I'd slug them for it. I would've warned them after the very first callout that if they did it again, its their expense.

 

i agree, flushable wipes should be banned

 

I'd be getting a report from the plumber and requesting an inspection of the property with the PM. I'd be checking the bathrooms/toilets for the offending wipes and taking a photo of them. Then hit the tenant with the bill. Else you'd be paying 500 a week for plumbing.

 

You can flush just about anything provided it fits down the pipe but many things shouldn't like wipes, tennis balls, pets, kids' toys etc.

 

And that might stop one household’s plumbing being blocked, but down at the sewerage processing plant, they (we taxpayers) are spending a fortune on collecting ‘flushable’ wipes.

That’s because they don’t break down and they block the machinery,

According to Melbourne water, only thing that should be flushed is toilet paper, pee and poo!

 

easy fix
Elemental Thunder Down Under Portable Toilet

 

After the 1st callout the PM should be asking the plumber what is causing the blockage and ensuring the tenant is aware that any further blockages will be at their expense.

 

I think $500 to pressure blast the line is a bit steep.

 

at a previous tenancy, we had been accused of using flushable wipes, or flushing baby wipes. The owner had a plumber do MASSIVE amounts of work just before we moved in. Funny thing is, we used resuable baby wipes, and never actually used baby wipes at home, so I guess the plumber just did a crap job...

Cheers,
Inertia.

 

Tenant after the first.

 

I do charge tenants for clearing blockages if it is determined baby wipes or "flushable" wipes are the cause as I include a clause in my leases to state they cannot flush anything but toilet paper.

If they are relatively new tenants and you cannot see proof they are using these wipes it may be bad timing with the tenancy change and actually from the old tenants. If its blocking weekly I would say that perhaps the plumber isn't fully clearing them while attending to the issue?

 

Cheers guys, the first time the plumber came out was organised by the pm, their report said the pipes were blocked because the property had been idle for an extended period. Unfortunately this was incorrect as when the tenant left, my dad moved in and I paid him to repaint the house, it was tenanted straight after and only empty for 1 week. So the second time the pm the was unable to get a plumber out and so I organised someone else to come and they spent a long time making sure it was clear at 6pm on a Saturday tho and his assessment was the first people didn’t clear the blockage only poked a small hole through it which is why it blocked again. The third time is the first time that I was told by the plumber that it is the wipes that is causing the problem which is why I hadn’t acted sooner. The 2nd plumber is definitely clearing them. I’m really pretty annoyed how expensive it is already but I’ll probably pay it. But I’ll be telling the PM that any further bills will be directed to the tenants. I’m not sure what’s in the contract but I will have to start adding no flushable wipes in.

 

I had a flashback for a second of a topical Propertychat thread

Landlord wants to evict me for not flushing the toilet properly

 

Tenants putting things down the toilet that cause a blockage is the tenants responsibility, and flushable wipes ARE NOT FLUSHABLE. There was actually a big court case against the manufacturers by one of the water providers (urban utilities I think) over it.
The only question here is whether they did it, or the previous tenant did it and it just happened to cause a problem now (possible, probably less likely).

The other issue is that the Plumber(s) suck, but it's really hard to argue given the circumtances. What SHOULD have happened is that the Plumber came out first time, cleared the blockage with something like a jet rod or electric eel. When it came back later, they'd agree to go out and investigate, using the CCTV camera to find out exactly what the blockage is and why it re-occurred. You'd have the option of using the camera first time but realistically most people don't bother until it's a reoccuring issue because it costs more. Sometimes the Plumbers will be able to tell you they found the wipes sitting on the bench or next to the toilet etc which is pretty much a slam dunk.

 

I think my tenants believe I'm a broken record - any time someone calls with a blockage we go through the whole spiel of 'if the plumber finds anything down there that shouldn't be there - anything other than toilet paper and human waste, then it's a tenant expense'... this is before a plumber goes out the 1st time, to have a plumber go 3 times is concerning - a property manager should be on top of that the 1st time round, maybe the 2nd if the plumber didn't get any evidence first time round (usually though, the evidence comes out in all sorts of delightful ways)

 

What ? you want us to pay for stuff we do not care about ?