Flooding at Dad’s house – no heating or hot water (+video)

[Batfink]

Hello,

There was flooding at my Dad’s house which has given us electrical problems and no central heating or hot water. I’d be very grateful for any advice what to do.

I have made a video of the problem:

Heating Problem

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The flooding led to a fuse which made the green switch in the centre of the fuse box go down. When I tried to switch it up it sprang back down again.

On the advice of an electrician I flicked all the switches on the left of the green switch down and raised them one by one until the green switch went down again.

This established the ‘Basement Manifold’ to be the switch that made the green one go down again. I know the manifold has something to do with a pipe or a pump. There is a toilet and shower in the basement but I’m not exactly sure what the Basement Manifold switch is referencing.

When I flick the immersion switch up and put on the heating and hot water this makes the green switch go down again as you can see at the end of the video.

Ps sorry for the mess, I still have to clean up everything from the flood.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

There’s water in your electrics on those two circuits best to get a sparky out to make sure everything’s dry and in good order

 

[Batfink]

Thank you for your reply Shaun.

I got an electrician over. He was shocked by the extent of the damage and said there was nothing he could do (at least for the time being).

The flooding was caused last Friday by a cracked pipe (likely caused by a digger because building work is going on there) and was exacerbated by torrential rain. Thames Water got some tankers on Saturday morning and sucked the water out. This took until Saturday night. Unfortunately (and ridiculously) the crack in the pipe wasn't fixed and Sunday morning the water level was exactly as before on the Saturday morning. It took the whole of Sunday to remove the water again. The builder wanted to repair the pipe on Monday but luckily Thames Water insisted they come on Sunday to do it. Thames water own a pumping station and I think possibly the communal area between my Dad's and his neighbour's houses.

My Dad is having troubles with his memory and is getting confused - I'm worried he might even be showing early signs of dementia. His house insurance lapsed in July and he didn't renew it.

The electrician was a good man, he didn't charge us for the visit but gave us his thoughts. He told us we need to start getting angrier, and getting on the case of the owner of the house. My Dad phoned the owner on Tuesday and he said he'd contacted his insurance company and was going to get back to my Dad, but he hasn't yet.

There's a pump and I think the underfloor heating controls in the cupboard under the stairs, which would have been submerged. There's another pump in the boiler cabinet which would have been submerged.

The wooden floors are swollen and warped and don't close. There are wooden floors in the basement which are potentially going to buckle. Things I assume are going to rust. The utility machines being half submerged in water for 2 days - even if they're not problems now, how do I know this hasn't severely reduced the life of them and they'll falter in a few months after a claim has been made?

My Dad's car got water in it. He got a mechanic over yesterday and can drive it but there could still be problems waiting to happen.

We don't know what damage has been done to the electricals.

We still don't have hot water and heating, and we can't go on like this, especially my Dad as he's currently got cellulitis.

Crack in wall:
Crack in Wall - https://streamable.com/8slc6x

From bedroom:
From Bedroom - https://www.sendvid.com/zew5q383

Utility room:
Utility Room - https://www.sendvid.com/ikvgd8k4

Water in car:
Car water - https://www.sendvid.com/gly526ip


I assume the next step is to get a proper surveyor in to look at the damage?

I'd be grateful for people's thoughts on this and what they'd do in my situation.

 

[Dan]

Thank you for your reply Shaun.

I got an electrician over. He was shocked by the extent of the damage and said there was nothing he could do (at least for the time being).

The flooding was caused last Friday by a cracked pipe (likely caused by a digger because building work is going on there) and was exacerbated by torrential rain. Thames Water got some tankers on Saturday morning and sucked the water out. This took until Saturday night. Unfortunately (and ridiculously) the crack in the pipe wasn't fixed and Sunday morning the water level was exactly as before on the Saturday morning. It took the whole of Sunday to remove the water again. The builder wanted to repair the pipe on Monday but luckily Thames Water insisted they come on Sunday to do it. Thames water own a pumping station and I think possibly the communal area between my Dad's and his neighbour's houses.

My Dad is having troubles with his memory and is getting confused - I'm worried he might even be showing early signs of dementia. His house insurance lapsed in July and he didn't renew it.

The electrician was a good man, he didn't charge us for the visit but gave us his thoughts. He told us we need to start getting angrier, and getting on the case of the owner of the house. My Dad phoned the owner on Tuesday and he said he'd contacted his insurance company and was going to get back to my Dad, but he hasn't yet.

There's a pump and I think the underfloor heating controls in the cupboard under the stairs, which would have been submerged. There's another pump in the boiler cabinet which would have been submerged.

The wooden floors are swollen and warped and don't close. There are wooden floors in the basement which are potentially going to buckle. Things I assume are going to rust. The utility machines being half submerged in water for 2 days - even if they're not problems now, how do I know this hasn't severely reduced the life of them and they'll falter in a few months after a claim has been made?

My Dad's car got water in it. He got a mechanic over yesterday and can drive it but there could still be problems waiting to happen.

We don't know what damage has been done to the electricals.

We still don't have hot water and heating, and we can't go on like this, especially my Dad as he's currently got cellulitis.

Crack in wall:
Crack in Wall - https://streamable.com/8slc6x

From bedroom:
From Bedroom - https://www.sendvid.com/zew5q383

Utility room:
Utility Room - https://www.sendvid.com/ikvgd8k4

Water in car:
Car water - https://www.sendvid.com/gly526ip


I assume the next step is to get a proper surveyor in to look at the damage?

I'd be grateful for people's thoughts on this and what they'd do in my situation.

For future reference you can upload videos to posts. Just drag and drop the file into a post and the forum does it all for you.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I would start going to who caused the pipe damage and claiming on there insurance

 

[Murdoch]

OP- see my comments on the sparky forum you also posted this on

 

[PETE 123]

Home insurance first port of call i would of thought as they would have all contacts to help you.