Toilet water leak in rental property

We have been living in this 2yo rental townhouse for 6 months now. We have had many repairs since day 1 of moving in - ranging from electricity, gas, stovetop, rangehood, hot water etc total of 20 plus different tradir appointments (which we took time off) in the last 6 months

the latest one was a toilet leak from our bathroom/toilet upstairs. It appears that the toilet water travelled through the ceiling and leaked through light fitting near our kitchen. This was the SECOND TIME. The first time happened ~ 2 months ago and because it was Easter (plus it was at the height of COVID) we waited 2 weeks for that to be fixed. And it happened again. This time the plumber (who represents the real estate agent) told us that they could not come until 10 days after. And the reason given to us was that “there’s another toilet in the house so it’s not an urgent repair”

I was not happy with that because the toilet water smells (we had to use disinfectant to wipe so many times) and it is very close to our kitchen. Hygiene issue aside, is it fair to say that because we have another toilet so this is not an urgent repair?

 

Where in the toilet is it leaking from?

 

Last time when the plumber came he said it was the pipe connected to the toilet. He pulled the whole toilet out, fixed it and sealed it back again. So I guess this time is the same? The pipe is probably running through the ceiling space

 

Do you mean the pipe that goes from the cistern to the bowl?

Or the pipe that goes from the water tap to the cistern?

Or the pipe that goes from the toilet bowl to the sewer?

 

When I used a property manager many years ago these type of calls would drive me nuts. For example: "Tenant has advised the toilet is leaking, shall I send a plumber? ................."

Okay, my next question would be where is the leak ......

• is it water leaking from the cistern into the bowl (simple but non urgent fix)
• is it water leaking from the hose or toilet tap onto the floor (simple and non urgent if toilet tap is turned off between flushes) and certainly non-urgent if there is a second tolilet
• is it water leaking onto the floor when toilet is flushed (simple, but requires plumber or handyman to replace rubber boot between cistern and bowl)
• or, has toilet overflowed because it is blocked? (URGENT, but probably tenant's fault!)

I don't expect property managers to be plumbers, but I do expect them to ask some basic questions of the tenant before they send a plumber out or call me with the problem.

This is one of the many reasons I have been self managing for over 10 years. (I have actually found it simpler if you have the time and are relatively handy)

 

To be honest I have no idea where the water is leaking from (I’m not a plumber)

I live in a double storey townhouse. The water is leaking from ceiling downstairs through the light fitting - I could see it dripping from the ceiling of my dining area. When I came back from work half of my dining area was flooded with water. The level above its where the second bathroom/toilet is so we suspect it came from the toilet. And the water smelled like ... toilet water. There does not seem to be any thing visibly wrong we could see with the toilet. No problem with flushing, no toilet leaking onto the floor etc. when the plumber called (the first plumber who came and fixed it the first time) he was just telling us not to use the toilet until he is here the week after. If you have a family of 5 living in a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom townhouse I don’t think it is unreasoned to expect to be able to use the second toilet. But again, even if there’s only 1 person living in here I would still expect a functioning toilet not a toilet I am not able to use for a month in my 12 months rental

You comment above implied that I should have known better so I will talk to my property manager again

 

Ultimately you are dealing with the property manager and not the plumber.

So tell the property manager it is urgent as it smells like the sewer and is a health issue, put this all in writing/email with a please respond before close of business Monday.

If you haven't heard back with a favourable outcome by then, I'd flush that toilet every 5 min until the ceiling falls in, just so I could say "told you so"
(Move anything you want to keep first)

It will then become an insurance claim and might be fixed properly.

I would further list off all the other repairs and time you have lost and ask to be compensated for the inconvenience caused to you and your "use" of the property

If you are really lucky the owner might come for a look, and you can tell them exactly what has been going on (as it is likely the property manager isn't) and the owner may also have a claim against the builder for all the defects

*or call your own plumber in, pay for it and attempt to claim it back.
*Is the townhouse part of a body corporate?
*Give notice to terminate the lease due to being uninhabitable

 

I would suggest that if there's water dripping from the ceiling, through a light fitting that this is a very urgent matter. It could be a leak in the pipe, between the floors, so the plumber may think it's fixed, when it's not. This sounds like a very costly repair bill (not your fault) and there could be more trades involved than merely the plumber.

 

Thank you for the replies above with some suggestions
The PM asked us to liaise with the plumber company ourselves to set an appointment (claimed this would be easier). PM also deemed many of our “repair requests” as non-urgent:
- Rangehood not working since day 1 of moving in (Not told when we signed contract but notified when sent us the condition report): took 2 months to fix due to parts
- stove not working: took 10 days to fix
- hot water: inconsistent supply. Alternating between cold and hot water every few minutes. Took 3 weeks to fix. Asked us to turn off solar and use gas to see its better (which didn’t improve)
- Door through garage unable to be locked and stuck: never fixed. Told us to lock garage door and should not be a problem
- NBN port: builder accidentally installed the wrong port. No nbn for 3 months. We connected nbn and could not figure why it didn’t work. Provider sent his technician out and detected the problem. Provided us with $2 a day internet credit (apparently owner knew the issues and didn’t bother to fix; told us we could just use fixed line broadband service like the prev tenants)
Seriously we are so sick of staying at home just to wait for trades person to come. When I brought this up the PM said “you could have asked them to pick up keys from us and they can go in when you’re not there”

seriously the last thing I want is to have water dripping from my ceiling to my dining/kitchen!

 

Thank you so much for everyone who took times to share your thoughts. I will stop replying/whinging here with all my issues

I shall focus on the positives in my life - at least I have a roof over my head and a shelter to protect me from the cold. Have a good weekend everyone

 

So the tenant broke them because they were 'new'.

 

I would have a sample of that dripping water tested in a lab for E coli. I think that would make me sleep better at night.

Also if one toilet is out then surely there should be a reduction in rent till it's fixed?

 

My REA has asked the plumber to liaise with the tenants directly when the tenants are being difficult about coming up with a suitable time!

Just stick to the current issue without bringing up all those past things as it is distracting and clouds the issue.

As per previous advice, put something in writing to the REA.

However, you must allow access to ensure it can be fixed quickly.

And find another place at the end of your lease.

 

The interesting point is that this is a 2 year old townhouse.

more for those ‘new means no repairs’ crowd.

 

It is likely more a reflection on the build quality and appliance quality, or lack there of these days
Some people buy of the plan because of a perception that there won't be any maintenance costs on a new apartment (or hope that the BC will cover it) and this is often not the case.

Opal and Mascot are examples of this, look at the lower brick infill (not load bearing) between floors (wanna go for a swim ???)

 

Apart from the Hygiene i would be very careful with something leaking in ceiling grid and falling out at the light fit-off ,one would think that would trip out the elec's board .The only item i can think of is just shut down the leaking toilet,or if the A-C unit is set-up in the grid then the drains under the a-c units may be blocked ..imho good luck..

 

I would turn off the water inlet tap to the toilet.

Then I would (carefully) take the top off the cistern and scoop the water out.

That would help if it’s a leak from the cistern to toilet and if it is a leak from the water inlet.

If it’s a p-trap you can put a bowl under the waste pipe to toilet connection to catch drips.

I would also put a tablespoon or two of bleach or disinfectant in the bowl to mix with the water that is already there to help with the smell (but don’t over do it).

Then see if the water you can see in the kitchen smells of bleach!