Electrician, or who for a bathroom fan job ?

[whatknot]

My daughter has a unit in a block of six, three either side, new build about ten years ago

She is on the ground floor, a little while back she had a damp patch appear in the ceiling of the bathroom, its about a foot from the ceiling fan, they thought it may be from the extractor fan outlet pipe which I assume is plastic square tubing (but can't easily see it to know for sure)

What I am not sure of is does she need an electrician? or who? to do the job ?

She did enquire with the resident above but they said they had not had a leak or spillage they were aware of

A thought has only just occurred to me, does the insurance cover it? I will have to ask her to check that out but knowing insurance companies they try to wriggle out of any liability in my experience

 

[worker]

Looks like a leak from above to me...very similar event at my parent's house, except it was water from their bathroom damaging the kitchen ceiling. The leak doesn't have to be very obvious either, a small continuous leak can cause something like this - water always finds a way out. In their case a plumber came and sorted a leak behind the bath.

Of course this situation is more complicated. How handy is the neighbour? Are they willing to take time look for any leaks?

 

[whatknot]

Looks like a leak from above to me...very similar event at my parent's house, except it was water from their bathroom damaging the kitchen ceiling. The leak doesn't have to be very obvious either, a small continuous leak can cause something like this - water always finds a way out. In their case a plumber came and sorted a leak behind the bath.

Of course this situation is more complicated. How handy is the neighbour? Are they willing to take time look for any leaks?

Thanks for yours, as all these places are identical the patch would be to the side of the bath, you can see the line of the bath by the tiles, which initially suggested to me that there had been a spillage upstairs, overflowing bath or shower curtain not fully in the bath but the resident upstairs said they hadn't had a leak, but then they would wouldn't they

She bleached it and it all but went, then gradually came back but am not sure its a continuing leak or just the stain reappearing

I think I will have to try and investigate further, I had a struggle getting the fan off last time I looked and even with the fan off its hard to see whats there

 

[Bingy man]

The upstairs resident could well have a leak that their not aware of no1 suspect would be the seal Around the bath - this can allow water to slowly leak behind the bath , down the wall and eventually through the floor . This would happen every time the shower is used so it may not be evident to the resident as a 5 or 10 minute shower is could be completed before the water finds its way to the flat below. 2nd but could just as easily be no1 is a leak from the waste system- again it might only leak when the bath is being emptied or the shower is in use. Leaks from the pipe work would most likely leak continuously and the evidence would be quite apparent. Another possibility is as you said the resident above may have not had the shower running but the curtain or screen was not positioned correctly-easily done but equally easy to admit and apologise. I would suggest contacting he/ she again and politely explain that there is a good possibility of a leak around the bath area and your concerned that it will eventually damage the ceiling- if no joy then landlord/ letting agent)) or management team etc . If it is a leak, and it certainly looks that way then it will not go away or get better . N b do you have wet central-boiler and radiators as yet another option is a c heating leak ( rads /pipes ) . Good luck

 

[Bingy man]

My daughter has a unit in a block of six, three either side, new build about ten years ago

She is on the ground floor, a little while back she had a damp patch appear in the ceiling of the bathroom, its about a foot from the ceiling fan, they thought it may be from the extractor fan outlet pipe which I assume is plastic square tubing (but can't easily see it to know for sure)

What I am not sure of is does she need an electrician? or who? to do the job ?

She did enquire with the resident above but they said they had not had a leak or spillage they were aware of

A thought has only just occurred to me, does the insurance cover it? I will have to ask her to check that out but knowing insurance companies they try to wriggle out of any liability in my experience

That’s definitely 100% a water stain . That stain would stay dry if the cause is no longer present with no black damp or mould appearing..
Edit If the fan is vented directly to the outside then potentially water could enter the fan outlet and find it’s way onto you ceiling but it looks like it’s more likely the bath / shower- see my other post ..

 

[whatknot]

That’s definitely 100% a water stain . That stain would stay dry if the cause is no longer present with no black damp or mould appearing..
Edit If the fan is vented directly to the outside then potentially water could enter the fan outlet and find it’s way onto you ceiling but it looks like it’s more likely the bath / shower- see my other post ..

The original thought, after the upstairs said they had no leak etc was the fan outlet pipe, could it have a split in the connection and water condense within the pipe and leak through, daughter says it hasn't come back as they haven't used the fan since, (but then its there now?) so need to discuss it further with her

It turns out the insurance is a no go, they only have the buildings insurance within the maintenance/admin charges but she has asked if they can help in any way

Central heating pipes are on the other side of the room so don't think thats relevant

 

[paulrbarnard]

My daughter had some water come in via her bathroom fan. It happened on a day of torrential rain with very strong winds. The vent exit is on the roof but the rain and wind was enough to push the water in. It had never happened before or again since.
A stain from a damp patch can hang around for a long time but shouldn’t come back after repainting if no more water is feeding the damp.

 

[Bingy man]

The original thought, after the upstairs said they had no leak etc was the fan outlet pipe, could it have a split in the connection and water condense within the pipe and leak through, daughter says it hasn't come back as they haven't used the fan since, (but then its there now?) so need to discuss it further with her

It turns out the insurance is a no go, they only have the buildings insurance within the maintenance/admin charges but she has asked if they can help in any way

Central heating pipes are on the other side of the room so don't think thats relevant

I’m no expert on bathroom fans but they are usually designed to cope with condensation as that is their intended purpose after all, depends how it’s terminated where it exists the building. Can be blown into a terminal that is poorly sited but the damp patch is more likely to appear every time it rains and tbh we’ve had plenty of that . Most likely as I say is the shower/ bath . Re : ch pipes-water can travel along a pipe or conduit for quite a distance so although unlikely it’s not impossible. Just needs some through investigation with the consent of the above resident..

 

[Terry - Somerset]

It looks to me that it is most likely a leak from upstairs.

If it is currently dry I would simply spray with an aerosol paint stain blocker and when dry repaint the ceiling.

If still damp then approach the folk upstairs with a bit more vigour noting if the fault lies with their flat, they will be responsible for any damage which could only get worse.

 

[ChaiLatte]

...even with the fan off its hard to see what's there

Cut a 75mm square hole in the ceiling and poke in an inspection camera. Single plasterboard box and blanking plate when you are finished.

Best to do it in the same joist gap as the patch, not one joist over...

 

[HappyHacker]

I have seen a number of extractor fans where the vent tube is either split or not connected allowing the condensation or moist air to escape. I have even seen one formed into a U in the loft so when the U filled with condensation it started running back down the tube and out of the fan. This had rotted all the wood the fan was mounted on so that needed replacing as well. If there is a leak somewhere it may be well away from where it appears.

I would remove the fan unit and have a look to see what is happening to the vent tube, you may even be able to see if there is a leak from the flat above.

 

[whatknot]

My daughter had some water come in via her bathroom fan. It happened on a day of torrential rain with very strong winds. The vent exit is on the roof but the rain and wind was enough to push the water in. It had never happened before or again since.
A stain from a damp patch can hang around for a long time but shouldn’t come back after repainting if no more water is feeding the damp.

In her case the vent is on the outside wall, but we have a lot of high winds and gusts here, so rain could easily be driven into the outside vent but why it would go so far is another matter

Given the way places are thrown together these days I can quite easily see there could be a poor connection or lack of seal in the vent pipe, its hard to tell without major ripping apart

I am awaiting a further reply from her on whether it returns and how

 

[whatknot]

It looks to me that it is most likely a leak from upstairs.

If it is currently dry I would simply spray with an aerosol paint stain blocker and when dry repaint the ceiling.

If still damp then approach the folk upstairs with a bit more vigour noting if the fault lies with their flat, they will be responsible for any damage which could only get worse.

I am awaiting a further reply from my daughter

She says she has bleached it and it stays clear but the stain returns after a while

As to approaching the upstairs resident again, easy said not so easily done, they are a quiet couple who do not like confrontation, I think it will be a case of finding the cause then armed with that approaching the upstairs, should it be from their place

 

[whatknot]

I have seen a number of extractor fans where the vent tube is either split or not connected allowing the condensation or moist air to escape. I have even seen one formed into a U in the loft so when the U filled with condensation it started running back down the tube and out of the fan. This had rotted all the wood the fan was mounted on so that needed replacing as well. If there is a leak somewhere it may be well away from where it appears.

I would remove the fan unit and have a look to see what is happening to the vent tube, you may even be able to see if there is a leak from the flat above.

I will have to have a further look myself next week, I had a hell of a game getting the cover shield off last time I tried, I didn't want to damage anything but son in law got it off, they were reluctant to go further as they didn't want to get to a point of not being able to refit the fan, but will look again myself

I am assuming they would use the plastic moulded tube to the outside but would have to use flexi to join the fan to the tube and that may be where a break is

 

[whatknot]

Cut a 75mm square hole in the ceiling and poke in an inspection camera. Single plasterboard box and blanking plate when you are finished.

Best to do it in the same joist gap as the patch, not one joist over...

Not sure they would be very happy with that plus we have no inspection camera, its not going to look to good with a blanking plate in the ceiling

I am going over again next week and will see if I can get the fan out and may then be able to stick a camera up there, its very close to the fan

 

[HappyHacker]

A mirror on a stick is always handy and cheap.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Not sure they would be very happy with that plus we have no inspection camera, its not going to look to good with a blanking plate in the ceiling

I am going over again next week and will see if I can get the fan out and may then be able to stick a camera up there, its very close to the fan

I bought a really cheap bore hole camera from Amazon. It connects to my iPhone for display. It only needs a 8mm hole and has led lighting built in. I’ve used it for a number of investigations in walls, ceilings and floors. The small hole is very easy to patch and quite often you can find a suitable gap anyway.