I am so sorry, Jan. Good luck.

Oh shit. That's horrid.

Oh no! So sorry, jan.

TERRIBLE!!!

bastard.

My whole flat will need to be redecorated. After I just got it looking so good. Thankfully insurance will cover it.

Oh that sucks Jan. *whuffles* Leaks are the worst.

Holy shit. I'm sorry, Jan. There aren't really any words. This sucks.

oh wow, that's horrible. I'm so sorry.

Luckily it's insured - but they won't be paying for all those hours of inconvenience.

Grrrr.

Thank God I didn't go away for Christmas. The neighbour is back, he said his flat is dry as a bone so it's a leaking pipe somewhere. He's turned off his water supply to his flat and the torrent has stopped, it's just drip-drip-dripping through the ceiling (and the light fitting - eep!). But he won't have any water supply to his flat until this is sorted out because, obviously, it can't be switched on again until the leak is isolated and repaired.

Thankfully I am not a panicky person and I also tend to have stuff around the flat that 'might come in useful one day'. So that huge plastic sofa cover I bought a couple of months ago is over my lovely, brand-new sofa, and the faux-Shamwow that I bought at the Ideal Home Show last year have been worth their weight in gold tonight.

I've also been taking pictures, pictures, pictures, for the insurance claim.

But, fuck, having to get the flat redecorated after I've just had it all done. I am SO pissed off.

Silver lining: I may be able to claim the cost of the new floor, as this one was soaked and laminate hates water.

OMG, what a disaster. So sorry, Jan!! (And so glad you're insured.)

My condolences, essexjan!

I'm currently screaming (albeit hoarsely) because I have come down with the worst cold/flu I've had in ages, right before I have to make a huge Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow (waaah me)! I'm currently "doctoring" it with vodka and orange juice, and if I'm not better by morning, my husband and son will quickly discover the joys of preparing a ham feast (with mom/wife bossing them from the sidelines).

I gave my neighbour the number for our building owner. I know they have an out of hours number for emergencies. The owner just called me to let me know that a plumber will be on his way as soon as the insurance office opens at 8, and the insurers will be in touch with me about repairing the damage.

At the moment I'm good. Everything is mopped up - I cannot praise the Shamwows enough for how amazing they were at soaking up the water, along with a ton of towels - and I have the heating on to dry things out.

My place is liveable, but the living room, kitchen and bathroom will need to be redecorated, and I'm worried about any problems with the electrics and the ceilings - my living room ceiling has a decorative finish so I can't see what damage there might be underneath that.

The neighbour said that he can't see anywhere this leak is coming from, but when he turned off the supply to a tank in his loft, the leak stopped. The pipes clearly go under his floor somewhere, so he'll have to have his floor up to isolate the leak and fix it. My supply isn't connected to that tank, so it's nothing to do with my water supply, I have my own supply direct from the outside main.

aaargh, Jan!

I don't believe him. He's done something bizarre and horrific that's caused the plumbing to klafooey. I don't even want to think about it.

OMG, Jan, that's awful! Major major whuffles to you! Let's hope the plumbers can sort it out stat!

Oh god what awful luck! I'm so sorry, Jan. Why couldn't this have happened BEFORE you redecorated?!

I hope everything with repairs goes smoothly, sweetie. We're sending soothing thoughts for you and the kitties.

Oh no. Wow. The Horror!

The plumber and electrician have both been and gone. The plumber isolated the leak - it was a valve connected to Hell Neighbour's shower pump which the plumber said had, in his opinion, been loose for years, and it finally gave way.

The electrician checked all my light fittings (water was pouring through the lights) and outlets, and all seem to be ok, except for one in the kitchen which is flickering a bit. I can use the cabinet lighting for a few days to see if this will dry out. If not, my contractor is coming round next week to survey the damage and give me a quote for the work, so he can include it in the quote if it has to be replaced.

The damage to my flat is covered by the insurance on the building, which covers damage due to 'escape of water and/or oil'. The insurance will also cover the electrician's fee (£150). However, although the building owners arranged for the plumber to attend my neighbour's flat because it was an emergency, that is not covered by the insurance and so the cost (paid for by the building owner) will be recouped from the neighbour. (I have my own separate insurance to cover plumbing emergencies.)

I was talking to Laurence, the building owner, at length today and he said that, if Hell Neighbour doesn't pay, then that is one more weapon they have against him to try to get him out. Laurence said that HN had been extremely difficult to deal with today, yelling at them, and at one point they hung up on him, he was so aggressive. WTF? They were trying to help.

Apparently after Laurence had confirmed to HN that a plumber was coming, HN said that he would arrange his own plumber. Laurence refused and said that, as it's Christmas Eve, there'd be a cancellation charge of £250. He also said to me that he wanted to be sure that the leak was properly shut off and dealt with, by a fully-insured plumber arranged by him, rather than some fly-by-night cheapo cowboy that HN would probably have brought in.

So, for now all is calm. I am tired beyond belief. I've been up for 12 hours, and in a state of great stress for much of that time. I've made the brownies, and the cinnamon roast pineapple for dinner tonight, but I think the caramel sauce will not be made - I'm so tired, and dealing with burning sugar is probably not a good idea. So I'm going to take a nap so I'll be a little fresher for the drive up to to London later this evening.

Also, someone sent me this.

≡ Click to see image ≡

Oh, Jan, how frustrating! I'm so sorry for all the mess and inconvenience.

I have to admit that one of the first thought slitting through my head was "Will this help the landlord to give neighbor the push?"

Glad you have Shamwows and macros to help you through this. Putting off the caramel is a good idea --- as you say, exhaustion + burning sugar = accident waiting to happen. It's impressive you got any of the cooking done, considering!

Whuffly Christmas to you.

'escape of water and/or oil'.

Egad, imagine if it had been oil!

Ahhh!

This couldn't happen at a worse time of year. All the trades charge double, are hard to get hold of, etc. Lots of whuffles to you, Jan.

::belated whuffles::

What a stressful thing to happen. Glad it sounds like it's beginning to be resolved.