Spanish Plumbing Nightmare
My house was built 14 years ago in the typical spanish way. I decided to refurbish the bathroom and modernise it. Let me tell you a little about spanish plumbing so that you can understand my problem a little better.
Many spanish properties has a drain smell problem which is accepted as a fact of life. Like most spanish properties my house does not have a soil stack. I used a local plumber/builder for the refurbishment. He does not speak English and uses a nephew as his interpreter. When he opened up the floor he showed me the drainage system. Underneath the toilet was a 2 feet by 2 feet cemented cesspit. It was full of cockroaches. All the toilet waste drops into this and there is a pipe on the opposite side for it to flow in the drains. They use silicon around the base of the toilet to control smells.
I told him I wanted a proper pvc drainage pipe system and he filled up the cesspit with cement. He used 125mm pipes to take the waste out of the house. He left a piece of the pipe and it said 125mm 3,2 on the side. The bell end of the 125mm pipe was flush with the tiled floor.
When the job was completed I told him that I could smell the drains. He reluctantly dimantled the toilet and I could immediately see the problem. He had used a reducer to connect the toilet bowl but it was 90-110. The toilet waste pipe with the reducer (110mm) was just sitting in the 125mm pipe. It was so loose that I could move it from side to side. Idiotic I know.
We had a bit of an argument and I told him that the join of the two pipes must be a proper tight fit. He told me he sorted this out and replaced the toilet. He did go to the local equivalent of B&Q but could not get a suitable fitting to seal the two pipes. I could see that he was clearly improvising with different bits of pipes and some spare fittings. He put silicone round the base of the toilet.
I recall that he did show me a fitting but said that it protruded too much out of the 125mm pipe and then he could not fit the pipe from the toilet bowl.
I had to return to the UK the next day. When I returned and used the toilet for a day I noticed some water on the floor in the vicinity of the toilet bowl. I noticed that two little holes had appeared in the silicone near the little pools of water. These two holes were on the grout line.
The leak is not continuous. I did not notice it for a day and then I saw a little puddle near the front of the toilet bowl. It looked to me as if somewhere was filling up with water during the course of the day and then leaking out. This is just an assumption. I contacted the plumber/builder but he was on holiday. He returns on Monday and I need to confront him about the leak. I need some advice on what are the possible causes of the leak. I then want to make sure he does a proper repair. I suspect that he will try and improvise again. Temporarily control the leak and get out of my house as quickly as possible.
I obviously want him to correctly identify the source of the leak and then fix it properly.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
PaddyW
My house was built 14 years ago in the typical spanish way. I decided to refurbish the bathroom and modernise it. Let me tell you a little about spanish plumbing so that you can understand my problem a little better.
Many spanish properties has a drain smell problem which is accepted as a fact of life. Like most spanish properties my house does not have a soil stack. I used a local plumber/builder for the refurbishment. He does not speak English and uses a nephew as his interpreter. When he opened up the floor he showed me the drainage system. Underneath the toilet was a 2 feet by 2 feet cemented cesspit. It was full of cockroaches. All the toilet waste drops into this and there is a pipe on the opposite side for it to flow in the drains. They use silicon around the base of the toilet to control smells.
I told him I wanted a proper pvc drainage pipe system and he filled up the cesspit with cement. He used 125mm pipes to take the waste out of the house. He left a piece of the pipe and it said 125mm 3,2 on the side. The bell end of the 125mm pipe was flush with the tiled floor.
When the job was completed I told him that I could smell the drains. He reluctantly dimantled the toilet and I could immediately see the problem. He had used a reducer to connect the toilet bowl but it was 90-110. The toilet waste pipe with the reducer (110mm) was just sitting in the 125mm pipe. It was so loose that I could move it from side to side. Idiotic I know.
We had a bit of an argument and I told him that the join of the two pipes must be a proper tight fit. He told me he sorted this out and replaced the toilet. He did go to the local equivalent of B&Q but could not get a suitable fitting to seal the two pipes. I could see that he was clearly improvising with different bits of pipes and some spare fittings. He put silicone round the base of the toilet.
I recall that he did show me a fitting but said that it protruded too much out of the 125mm pipe and then he could not fit the pipe from the toilet bowl.
I had to return to the UK the next day. When I returned and used the toilet for a day I noticed some water on the floor in the vicinity of the toilet bowl. I noticed that two little holes had appeared in the silicone near the little pools of water. These two holes were on the grout line.
The leak is not continuous. I did not notice it for a day and then I saw a little puddle near the front of the toilet bowl. It looked to me as if somewhere was filling up with water during the course of the day and then leaking out. This is just an assumption. I contacted the plumber/builder but he was on holiday. He returns on Monday and I need to confront him about the leak. I need some advice on what are the possible causes of the leak. I then want to make sure he does a proper repair. I suspect that he will try and improvise again. Temporarily control the leak and get out of my house as quickly as possible.
I obviously want him to correctly identify the source of the leak and then fix it properly.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
PaddyW
