Should T pay for damage to bath

[royw]

If she reported it and you or the agent failed to fix it I don't think you can blame the tenant for trying to do it herself. The mould may be her fault but if it was curling up it needed replacing. I would have a look yourself, perhaps I'm a bit too cynical but it sounds as though the plumber is looking for a job and it sounds like a lot of money to replace a bath.

[nukecad]

The agent is saying that because the T applied the wrong kind of sealand themselves the bath is "ruined." They need to replace bath, taps, reclad and panels. £995 is their estimate.

I'd be interested to know just how water (leaking or not) has 'ruined' a bath, bath panel, and taps?

Your agent might not have noticed, but those things are designed to get wet.

If it's 20 years old then it's probably time to redo the whole bathroom anyway, but trying to blame the tenant for 'ruining' a bath and taps by not sealing them is simply ridiculous.

[Suleiman]

I went to look at the damage to the bath and was able to see parts where the old sealant had deteriorated, just as the T had claimed. If the agent had been doing their job this should have been picked up at a previous inspection where the T pointed it out.

T has come back and its obvious from the wording of their reply that they had some guidance from "experts" (possible Shelter etc) and are quoting almost word for word the depreciation formulas used by some posters upthread.

They acknowledge that they did an amateur repair. However they are saying that because they were rated as extremely vulnerable and shielding during the pandemic they were frightened to allow anyone into the house - especially work people who had been visiting other homes and people. They say that it is only now that their mental health and confidence has recovered sufficiently to allow them to invite workpeople in to do jobs. I dont think there is any way around that argument.

They have offered a "goodwill gesture" of £150 payable in 3 installments.

The offer is headed "without prejiudice" so I suspect they had legal advice.

[casual_reader]

Is this thread a wind-up?

You are not seriously considering making the tenant pay even a bean, are you?

[DPT57]

I may be missing something here, but if the tenant has damaged an otherwise serviceable bath and possibly surrounding area, (and a second opinion would be needed on that), then it seems reasonable to me that they should make a contribution to its repair/replacement. The level of that contribution would depend on the detail, but if they've been advised that £150 seems reasonable, that would seem a good starting point.

[Codger]

Often the seal fails because the bath moves with someone in it. Then water weakens the wood panel under the bath and you need a newbath.
you can get a sticky upstand to go from the bath under the bottom row of tiles so you wont rely on silicon to stop leaks.

[nukecad]

I've just realised that this is the same landlord who recently had the EICR thread with a wired fusebox rather than a consumer unit.

Couple that with a "20 year old" bath/bathroom and it seems that this property has been neglected by said landlord.

In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if this "20 year old" bath is much older and is in fact the original from when the property was built "in the mid 1980's"

[gnvqsos]

The agent is saying that because the T applied the wrong kind of sealand themselves the bath is "ruined." They need to replace bath, taps, reclad and panels. £995 is their estimate.

Replacing a bath is not £1000-fine the plumber.Asking £700 labour charges for a days work.

[Suleiman]

T has got back to me to the effect that the bath is not "ruined" and that most of the (wrong kind of) material she applied has now been removed by her simply by picking it off! What is left is the "old" sealant/previous repairs which are obviously in a poor state. T is now saying that she does not accept that the bath would have to be replaced as a result of their actions.

It appears that in an initial exchange with the plumber he stated that he believed the bath had "dropped" (thus causing a gap to develop between the edge and the wall) and needed to be removed and re-seated. That seems a long way in cost from having to be completely replaced. The old sealant would have to be removed in any case whatever the repairs might be.

T says they want to see the "original estimate/quote" from the tradesman on their headed paper plus a second opinion from an independent tradesman on their letter head before they contribute anything. It is clear that their trust in the agent is nil.

[Suleiman]

No the bath is not original to the house. It was replaced at the start of the current tenancy in 2001. The previous T had damaged the bath then in place by bathing a large dog in it!

[royw]

Did you look under it? One of mine started leaking because a screw holding it to the wall had come loose. 5 minutes with a screwdriver fixed it (and resealing obviously).

[nukecad]

T says they want to see the "original estimate/quote" from the tradesman on their headed paper plus a second opinion from an independent tradesman on their letter head before they contribute anything. It is clear that their trust in the agent is nil.

If this is your tenant who was recently subject to the agents appointed electricians 'full rewire' fiasco then I don't blame her in the slightest.

It's time that you parted company with this agent, they are using tradesmen who are quoting inflated prices for non-needed work.
(And no doubt the agents are taking a cut in some fashion).

I'd have thought you would have learned that following the EICR nonsense, your tenant certainly seems to have learend this agents/workmen can't be trusted.

[dp17]

Like most have mentioned, given the age of the bath, unless the suite has been well looked after it may be time just to get someone in to replace the bath, and maybe the rest. At 20 years id consider that a full life for a bathroom even at say 15 years ,although I'm not sure what the deposit protection scheme has to say about bathroom life expectancy. As we found with our last tenant 4 years and it was almost
all totally knackered !. And yup they got the bill for some of it on leaving.

[greycarpet]

From a technical point of view, bathroom silicone is very flexible but has its limits if the bath is moving cyclically by the filling and people getting in and out of it and constantly going up and down, yes this is acceptable but only to a certain extent. If the silicone keeps curling then it would suggest that the bath is not in sound repair. I.e. the frame has failed, the walls are warping or the subfloor is not sound.

If the bath is 20 yrs old as you say it might be time for a new bath and to ensure the problems are fully rectified before it is installed.

However a cheap fix for now: more silicone, why not swallow the cost, decent bathroom silicone is about £12 from major hardware merchants.

If it was me, I wouldn't expect the tenant to pay anything, just to tell them that it was stupid what they did and not to do it again. If they are a good tenant I'd leave it at that.

[Suleiman]

The T is a good tenant, never failed to pay the rent on time or report previous promblems promptly. This (not wanting strangers to come into the home) seems to have fallen into abeyance during the pandemic when many people (including some of my own relatives) were shielding.