Thai neighbor blaming me on water leak into their condo...

[chilly07]

 Water rusts reinforcing rods which causes concrete to fail.

Leaks are covered by insurance.

[CM Dad]

This kind of a problem is why I would never buy a condo or even a house in a gated community.  I don't want to live that close to people and don't want them living that close to me.  I am actually a very friendly, tolerant guy who is always willing to help others, especially my neighbors.  However, I just want my privacy.  I currently rent a rather old house that is actually a bit run down, but it is surrounded by two rai of land and cannot even be seen from the road or by the closest neighbors.  I have resisted buying anything here even though I am settled and have a Thai family simply because the various governments over the past more than three decades have not made me feel very wanted or secure.  I have kept my home and land in my country in order to have an alternative for myself and my family.  That said, I love Thailand, feel like it is my home after 30+ years,  and hope to live here until I die.  My family can then either move to my country or sell the property there and use the money here.  I have provided an education for my wife and children and they are bilingual as am I.  I do wish that the government appreciated expats like myself who have worked here, paid taxes here, and spent millions of baht over the years, but I am not holding my breath.

[moe666]

16 hours ago, banagan said:

Agree, this is the sensible approach. However, the neighbor going on about checking for concrete damage, could be just ignorance or prelude to a shakedown... I mean, concrete damage! Its water, not acid! 

Water is the universal solvent, over time concrete can be damaged by exposure to water. If there is a crack it can migrate to the rebar and cause it to rust

[banagan]

4 hours ago, terminatorchiangmai said:

Fix it and get on with it.

Water coming from your location is your responsibility.

Start of on good foot with your neighbours for the max 2000 baht  extra costs.

I've no problem fixing it if my condo is the cause. My concern was more about, what if they try some sort of shake down. Like when a farang slightly bumps into a car, and all of a sudden there's 50,000 bahts worth of damage. 

Anyway, probably just overthinking it. Of course I want to solve this so everyones happy, just don't want to be taken for a mug.

[Funkymover]

yes i had a leak from upstairs as well,, what you find is all the plumbing for sinks showers, baths, etc,, come through the ceiling and are above your suspended ceiling tiles,, so basically , everyones plumbing is in the condo of the person directly underneath them. so yours is in the condo below,, and if they are as old as mine is, they are rusting and leaking.. I got the condo management to fix it for me and gave them a couple of thousand baht

Edited October 12, 2019 by Funkymover

[Airalee]

3 hours ago, CM Dad said:

This kind of a problem is why I would never buy a condo or even a house in a gated community.  I don't want to live that close to people and don't want them living that close to me.  I am actually a very friendly, tolerant guy who is always willing to help others, especially my neighbors.  However, I just want my privacy.  I currently rent a rather old house that is actually a bit run down, but it is surrounded by two rai of land and cannot even be seen from the road or by the closest neighbors.  I have resisted buying anything here even though I am settled and have a Thai family simply because the various governments over the past more than three decades have not made me feel very wanted or secure.  I have kept my home and land in my country in order to have an alternative for myself and my family.  That said, I love Thailand, feel like it is my home after 30+ years,  and hope to live here until I die.  My family can then either move to my country or sell the property there and use the money here.  I have provided an education for my wife and children and they are bilingual as am I.  I do wish that the government appreciated expats like myself who have worked here, paid taxes here, and spent millions of baht over the years, but I am not holding my breath.

That’s quite the dissertation with regards to your relationship with Thailand, your wife, children, neighbors, the government etc. etc.

 

I have but one question.

 

What do you suggest the OP do with regards to the water leak?

[banagan]

7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Ah, so building is 18 months old then

More like 40 years ????

[banagan]

3 hours ago, moe666 said:

Water is the universal solvent, over time concrete can be damaged by exposure to water. If there is a crack it can migrate to the rebar and cause it to rust

Yes, but not over 2 or 3 days.

[banagan]

6 hours ago, Aussieroaming said:

Check with your Juristic and if the condo has a maintenance team then get the condo maintenance team to see whether the leak emanates from a common service line or whether indeed it is from inside your condo. 

 

Check the Juristic Insurance Policy, we all contribute to an insurance policy in our condo development that provides some limited coverage for damage.

Good advice, thanks.

[The Theory]

On 10/11/2019 at 7:50 PM, banagan said:

Yes, my builder did mention this, if it's an old leak it will be obvious. I am going to bring another builder plumber, just so I get the full picture. 

Old leak or new leak by your contractor, it does not matter. If there is a leak from your unit, you are the one who is responsible for it. It does not matter when happened or who caused it, IF It is from your plumbing.

Edited October 12, 2019 by The Theory

[jonwilly]

The room below me complained of a leak. I could not understand how it could come from my room as there is a concrete floor between us.

The condo manager took me to see the damage in room below, caused by leaking from a water pipe exiting my floor.

I had had major work done back in 2003 when I moved into the cond. The leak was not from the shower or wash basin both done back then. The leak was traced to the Hong Nam floor drain and a local handyman came around and 'Grouted' all the tiles on the floor and paid special attention to the area around the Floor drain.

Now a month on no report of water leak from room below. 

I paid out B1,000 for damage done and similar amount for the successful repair, good man to have on call.

Here in Chiang Mai we have had several minor shakes from earthquakes over the years which I feel may have contributed.

The Condo manager who I know well and trust was adamant that any leak from room above is the problem of that room owner.

 

john

[HLover]

On 10/11/2019 at 6:08 PM, banagan said:

If it was caused by my builder, they probably won't admit it anyway

That is a safe bet. 

[The Fat Controller]

We have had two leaks in our rooms for rent, both times it was from old leaky grout on the bathroom floor.

 

One renter had a spotless bathroom, however her liking for strong, acidic cleaning fluid had destroyed the grout between the tiles.

[Matzzon]

On 10/11/2019 at 1:08 PM, banagan said:

Is the burden of proof on them?

Nope, the burden of proof is only reserved for farang.

[illiterate]

THey need to start putting showerpans in their contruction projects. Maybe there is some reason i can't fathom as to why they don't. 

[JimmyTheMook]

12 hours ago, CM Dad said:

This kind of a problem is why I would never buy a condo or even a house in a gated community.  I don't want to live that close to people and don't want them living that close to me.  I am actually a very friendly, tolerant guy who is always willing to help others, especially my neighbors.  However, I just want my privacy.  I currently rent a rather old house that is actually a bit run down, but it is surrounded by two rai of land and cannot even be seen from the road or by the closest neighbors.  I have resisted buying anything here even though I am settled and have a Thai family simply because the various governments over the past more than three decades have not made me feel very wanted or secure.  I have kept my home and land in my country in order to have an alternative for myself and my family.  That said, I love Thailand, feel like it is my home after 30+ years,  and hope to live here until I die.  My family can then either move to my country or sell the property there and use the money here.  I have provided an education for my wife and children and they are bilingual as am I.  I do wish that the government appreciated expats like myself who have worked here, paid taxes here, and spent millions of baht over the years, but I am not holding my breath.

 

Nice you educated your wife.

[Ron jeremy]

Never a problem when you rent.

[Ron jeremy]

16 hours ago, CM Dad said:

This kind of a problem is why I would never buy a condo or even a house in a gated community.  I don't want to live that close to people and don't want them living that close to me.  I am actually a very friendly, tolerant guy who is always willing to help others, especially my neighbors.  However, I just want my privacy.  I currently rent a rather old house that is actually a bit run down, but it is surrounded by two rai of land and cannot even be seen from the road or by the closest neighbors.  I have resisted buying anything here even though I am settled and have a Thai family simply because the various governments over the past more than three decades have not made me feel very wanted or secure.  I have kept my home and land in my country in order to have an alternative for myself and my family.  That said, I love Thailand, feel like it is my home after 30+ years,  and hope to live here until I die.  My family can then either move to my country or sell the property there and use the money here.  I have provided an education for my wife and children and they are bilingual as am I.  I do wish that the government appreciated expats like myself who have worked here, paid taxes here, and spent millions of baht over the years, but I am not holding my breath.

Couldn't agree with you more, well said.

[Elkski]

When did the leak start? Where is the leak in relation to your  shower? Tell him to pay someone to open up his ceiling  to investigate.   Are there separate meters for each unit? And shut off valves? It's either your pipe  or the condos  or his.  The showers  and things over seen in Thailand  as a shower tile guy in USA  are just amazing.  Tile Grout is not waterproof.  Thailand needs to start using membranes and flanged drains and not having showers  spray everywhere  including tiled sides of tubs

[FritsSikkink]

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:33 PM, banagan said:

Cheers, if it has come from my condo I've no problem paying to repair it. My cynical side is just expecting some sort of attempted shakedown. 

Water flows down, if you live above him and have a dripping problem, it is you. Not a shakedown but an issue caused by you or your builder. That still makes it your issue first and you will need to talk to your builder try to retrieve something from him.

Edited October 13, 2019 by FritsSikkink

[ylmiri]

This problem of old rusty water pipe that leaks really cause a lot of problems. The water pipe in my kitchen is so rusty I dare not use the water for cooking even when it is filtered, I only use it for washing plates.  I bought water to drink and cook.

The owner of the condo which I rent just refused to do anything. It would cost him quite a lot of money to have the pipe dug out and replace.

  For quite sometime I was thinking why don't the builders today lay the water pipes in hollow space so that they could be taken out or repair easily. The top part could be cover by ceramic  but a blue print of the layout must be available otherwise you would be digging up the wrong place. So when they dig for the pipe they only cut out the ceramic which could easily be replaced. The pipe is laying nice in the hollow space could be easily reach and repair.

   In old buildings the pipes were all buried in cement it takes a lot of work to dig them out and make a mess of the whole place,.

   Anyone knows the new method of laying water pipe or outlet pipe that would not be cemented in concrete?

  It doesn't make sense to pour concrete on pipes when the pipes leak how are you going to know where it leaks? You need a jackhammer to dig . It makes a terrible noise when I am taking a nap.

   I hope they use their brains when they building the new condos or houses.

 

[banagan]

On 10/12/2019 at 10:29 PM, The Fat Controller said:

We have had two leaks in our rooms for rent, both times it was from old leaky grout on the bathroom floor.

 

One renter had a spotless bathroom, however her liking for strong, acidic cleaning fluid had destroyed the grout between the tiles.

Never thought of the tiles. My bathroom has been re-tiled, but there's a corner not finished yet, as they haven't installed the sink... Maybe that's the cause. 

[jonwilly]

The Handyman grouting the tiles and floor in my hong nam.

A knowledgeable man, he paid particular attention to the floor drain top left which he considered the point of leakage.

Now no reports of leak from the room below mine.

 

john

Edited October 14, 2019 by jonwilly

[Elkski]

13 minutes ago, jonwilly said:

The Handyman grouting the tiles and floor in my hong nam.

A knowledgeable man, he paid particular attention to the floor drain top left which he considered the point of leakage.

Now no reports of leak from the room below mine.

 

john

Unless he used a waterproof  grout like an epoxy  grout it is still leaking just maybe much less and evaporating before it forms a drip below.   there are just so many things wrong with these drains in the floor and the shower drains in Thailand.  Just imagine this drain pipe coming up through a hole in the cement floor most likely not sealed between the pipe and the cement. Then somehow a drain is placed on top of this pipe and supposedly there's some magical seal between the tile and the drain and somehow magically water never gets under the other tiles looking for ways to follow gravity