A Major Leak

There are many things you don't see when buying a old flat. Areas of potential issues are usually covered by build-in furniture. Or owners may strategically place cabinets or beds to cover unsightly areas or pop-up tiles. I was mentally prepared that there will be unforeseen things we need to fix. But that said it still bothers me while we have to deal with the situation.

In our case, a bad leaking problem at the master bathroom where the water is sipping down behind build-in wardrobe. I recalled I was very cautious in checking the two bathrooms for leakage ... and still I didn't catch it. It was only when we inspect the unit a week ago with our ID that he spotted a droplet falling from the bathroom entrance beam. We immediately called Julina to schedule an appointment with HDB to review the leak. This is going to be a problem for our renovation.

So this week we hacked everything in the unit and now that the carpentry is gone we can inspect clearly the magnitude of the seepage. It looks like it has been happening for some time. The wall has gone all mouldy and soft.

The HDB officer has come to look at it yesterday and she is commented that the leak is pretty bad. Great that she acknowledged it, but cold comfort for what's to come. She's going to engage her plumber to check the upstairs unit. 

I've done some snooping online and it seems getting the upstairs neighbours to make the repairs is not an easy process. Most don't want to go through the trouble or pay for it ... it doesn't affect them anyways. So we are crossing our fingers that they would be cooperative. We'll know more next week once they have checked them.