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puddingmouse
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23 Oct 2012, 2:32 pm

My flat needs repairs, possible costing thousands of pounds. Two weeks ago, my boyfriend noticed water coming from the floor in the kitchen. He refused to call the landlord because he doesn't do phones. I normally have to clean everything up, so I told him that if he throws out his own rubbish (he doesn't throw away things like food wrappers and beer bottles unless I practically hold a gun to his head), I would call the landlord for him - again. Since it was only a bit of water, I forget about it and he still doesn't clean his mess up. I should've just cleaned his mess up - again - and called the landlord myself. It turns out that we didn't realise it, but water has been accumulating under the floor for a long time. Turns out that it's probably the main waste pipe (the one that serves all the flats) to blame - they think it's blocked. The flat below us have a leak in the ceiling and they're blaming up for not reporting the small amount of water immediately.

I ripped up all the laminate flooring, the sodden, stinking underlay and the lino underneath today. All on my own. I'm trying to clean the flat up, again on my own. I was the one taking time out of work to wait for plumbers. The one arguing with the landlord and the letting agent that the plumbing fault is a fault with the main building, and not our fault - that we only need to pay to replace the floor, which I can't afford right now, but would be manageable. I asked if the building insurance will cover the plumbing repairs. If their is damage to the building below, they will blame me. Never mind that if the floorboards themselves are damaged and I only noticed a fortnight ago, that would've been too late to save them, anyway.

I am totally willing to buy a new floor, but replacing the actual floorboards and paying for building work in the flat below is beyond my means. I will have to get a loan, which my mum won't let me do - she wants me to borrow the money from my dad - but I HATE talking to my dad about anything like this. He is going to explode. He is an insane miser. He is going to be short with me for a long time, probably over Christmas, and I hate that. The worst case scenario is they make me pay for the plumbing, as well. My landlord was very pissed off with me. I'm worried that he won't extend the lease once the tenancy expires and then I'll be back at home with my parents and my boyfriend will be homeless.

I am so tired of being the adult in my relationship. I have Asperger's, as well! I am sick and tired of doing all the housework. He has gone off to do one of his hobbies - avoiding problems, again.

I feel like s**t.



Prof_Pretorius
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23 Oct 2012, 2:43 pm

What a difficult situation. But the landlord needs to shoulder the responsibility for plumbing. That sort of thing ought to be spelled out in your rental agreement.
The real point though, is that it sometimes seems like circumstances "gang up" on us to the point that we are overwhelmed. It's one of the few things I admire about NTs, they can muster a burst of energy (and anger) to get out of such situations. Just a suggestion here, but can't your BF come up with some money to replace the flooring?


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puddingmouse
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23 Oct 2012, 2:45 pm

He can, but I'm worried that it'll come to replacing the actual floorboards and repairing the plaster in the flat below. We are quite poor.

I'm more pissed off with having to sort everything out on my own and meeting hostility everywhere.



Prof_Pretorius
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23 Oct 2012, 6:57 pm

It IS unfair that you've had to sort it all. And no one needs to be hostile over this, plumbing ages like anything else in a house. Over years it gets clogged just through daily, normal usage.
Also,
You could gently encourage your BF to step up a bit and help you.


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Fiona_G
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23 Oct 2012, 7:41 pm

It does sound like the landlord is pushing his luck if he's trying to put the cost of the repairs onto you. I would have someone take a look over the rental agreement. I would have thought legally in most cases maintaining plumbing is the landlord's responsibility. If you live in the UK there's organisations like Citizens Advice Bureau and Shelter who can give free legal advice and even contact the landlord/letting agent on your behalf.