It’s definite – there has been a significant leak in the so-called “family bathroom”, probably ongoing for over a year. The water seems to have penetrated behind the tiles from the shower, and run down the wall behind the bath, soaking the floorboards underneath. The plumbers have been back, removed the bath, and stripped the tiles off the two affected walls. I’ve now got a dehumidifier in the bathroom to dry out the sodden floorboards – it’s quite amazing how much water it’s been extracting.
I think that most of the floorboards will survive once they’ve dried out thoroughly, but the one closest to the wall will have to be replaced, as it has rotted right through. I’ll also have to have the two affected walls retiled, which is annoying as it’s only a few years since I last had that done. And I’ll need a new bath as well.
The plumbers also moaned about the state of my pipework, which apparently dates back to the 1930s. I’m not surprised – it would be around then that the cottage first got an indoor bathroom. I remember that when Christopher and I first moved in, the hot tap in the bath ran brown from a rusty iron pipe. We had that replaced with a modern plastic one, but left the old copper pipes as they seemed sound. I’ll have to see what the plumbers recommend this time – I want to avoid future leaks if possible, but I see no point in replacing sound pipework just for the sake of it.
