Installing A New Towel Rail

 We had a problem with a towel rail. It leaked. Then developed a hole. The regular plumber for the building did not work on Sundays.

I looked online for a plumber on a Sunday. Up popped an advertisement for a 24 hour plumbing service provider.

Plumber 1 'A' - Emergency Service

I called them and they told me I had to pay a call out fee in advance. I did so. The time was about 2.30.

Their plumber was half an hour away on another call.

I got a call he was delayed. About 3.30.

In December  in London. it gets dark after 4. As it got nearer 5 I was losing hope.

Finally I got a call to say that the plumber had agreed with the tenant to call next day at 8.20 am. She would meanwhile leave bucket under the dripping.

I checked the suppliers of towel rails, to the public and trade. They were closed by 5 pm on Sunday.

So the new towel rail would not be available until tomorrow anyway. 

What I and the tenant did not realise, not being trained or experienced plumbers, was that the leak situation could get much worse suddenly, unexpectedly, seriously damaging the property.

Nor did I know where to turn off the water supply.

An hour or so after that I got a call from the tenant. Water was gushing everywhere. I said, call the porter to turn off the water.

The porter called the fire brigade who turned off the water to the flat, and the electricity, to prevent the danger of water plus electricity.

The next day the plumber called to fit the new towel rail.

The cost of a new towel rail and valves was what seemed to me like a huge sun, over eight hundred pounds. Nearer nine hundred total including the call out fee, which was deducted so I had to pay the difference.

I went over to the flat. To my horror, the wooden flooring of the large square hallway and the smaller bedroom beside the bathroom had both sections of what looked like buckled planks.

The feedback I got from the emergency plumbers was that to prevent a recurrence, the system needed draining, which meant ll the radiators in the flat, and turning off the water supply in the building, vast cost.

I contacted the management. I was told that to turn off the water supply in winter meant compensating al the other flats in the block. They suggested I contact their regular plumber to discuss the situation.

Plumber 2

When I called him, he told me that the towel rail was not on the same system as the radiators, but on the hot water supply, which was turned on and off within the flat.

He said the report I received from the other, first, plumber was wrong.

He arranged to come over and check the situation with the new towel rail.

Plumber 3

Meanwhile I had phoned my son, whose plumber was too busy to come to me. However, hearing of my disaster, and expense, he agreed to come over.