Am I being ripped off?

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sourblade

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Hi guys, I have a problem with the handles and faucet in my bathtub. About 2 years ago I started noticing that every now and then a drop of water would fall out of the faucet when the water was off. While unusual I thought nothing of it. I mentioned it to my landlord and she practically dismissed it.

Fast forward a year and the drop of water has now upgraded to a few drops nearly constantly. The cold water handle also now leaks when turned on. Again I brought it up to my landlord. She said she would look into it. Never followed up.

Another year passes and now there's a constant thin stream of water constantly coming out of the faucet which makes its way under the faucet and to the wall. The underside of the faucet is now corroded. There's now also a thin stream of water coming out of the cold water handle when turned on. This brings us to the present. About a month ago we bring this issue to the landlord again, she says she'll call a plumber. When asked for an ETA she says she doesn't know and will let us know when she hears back from them. She then leaves for her beach house and is gone for a week. She comes back and after a few days (Wednesday) tells us that the plumber will be here on Thursday morning (yesterday).

NOW TO THE FISHY STUFF.

The plumbers come and take a look and say they'll have to replace some piping. They say they'll try and take out some tile from the tub walls but if not they have to go to the connecting room and break down the wall there and install the pipes to then work on replacing the handles and faucets. To top it off they're charging $500+.

Normally I wouldn't care too much but it's less than 24 hours notice and the other room is storage and its going to be a pain taking everything out of there to make room for them to work or risk everything getting dirty and contaminated (clothes, food, other stuff that will take time to place elsewhere). I also realize it's not my bill to pay, even though I offered to give $70 to pay for tiles and for the plumbers to not work through the wall of that other room. They said they would try their "best".

Is this standard procedure here?

 
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Sylvan

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1- What type of lease do you have that you are responsible for up keep of plumbing inside the wall?

2- If you documented that you did notify your land lord of the small drip it is my opinion they needed to take action within a timely manner

3- Take pictures

4-If the shower valve is dripping /leaking what "piping" are they talking about

5- If a faucet / valve draping for a long period of time this can cause the valve seat to have a slit (erosion) and normally the seat and wasters are replaced depending on the type of valves you have

6- Some plumbing codes state the building owner must maintain their building in a safe condition and allowing the possibility of mold inside a wall from water constantly slowing and the condensation drips is not considered safe
 

sourblade

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1- What type of lease do you have that you are responsible for up keep of plumbing inside the wall?

2- If you documented that you did notify your land lord of the small drip it is my opinion they needed to take action within a timely manner

3- Take pictures

4-If the shower valve is dripping /leaking what "piping" are they talking about

5- If a faucet / valve draping for a long period of time this can cause the valve seat to have a slit (erosion) and normally the seat and wasters are replaced depending on the type of valves you have

6- Some plumbing codes state the building owner must maintain their building in a safe condition and allowing the possibility of mold inside a wall from water constantly slowing and the condensation drips is not considered safe

1. No lease, everything is word of mouth. Receipts given at the beginning of the month are proof of payment and that I live there.

2. I have documented stuff but nothing to the extent of involving an attorney. This is one of those landlords that just wants to receive money but drags their feet on fixing things.

3. I have pictures and video.

4. I dont know what kind of piping either. The pipe isnt burst and nothing Ive read online indicates that piping needs replacing when changing out bathtub handles and faucets, which to my knowledge isn't a very difficult job.

5. Thanks, I've read about that and saw youtube videos depicting the process on various types of faucets. Not one mentioned replacing plumbing.

6. That could be but these plumbers are employed by their (landlord's) family business, which just happens to unfortunately be hardware stores. So I'm sure they can skirt around proper maintenance procedures.
 

sourblade

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Here's a picture for you guys. I have video but the file is too large.

20201009_062240.jpg
 

Helper Dave

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What do the handles look like? That spout is in real rough shape. Yikes.

If you have a three handle valve (just guessing from the look of the spout, and tile), that's probably why the plumbers want to change out the whole valve. Anti-scald valves are code these days, and while some plumbers might fix old valves for homeowners, I get why they wouldn't want to do so in a rental.

Post a picture of the handles if you get a chance.
 

sourblade

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What do the handles look like? That spout is in real rough shape. Yikes.

If you have a three handle valve (just guessing from the look of the spout, and tile), that's probably why the plumbers want to change out the whole valve. Anti-scald valves are code these days, and while some plumbers might fix old valves for homeowners, I get why they wouldn't want to do so in a rental.

Post a picture of the handles if you get a chance.

I had to take a screenshot from my video. Hopefully that helps.

202010230919557a1d3071e74804e6.jpg
 

Helper Dave

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Yup. Thought so.

They're wanting to put in a more modern, pressure-balancing valve. Easiest to do from behind the valve, especially with tile, and the three-handle set-up.
 

Mr tee

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To just stop the leak, parts for that Gerber faucet are readily available and not expensive. To upgrade to current code you would need to change the valve.
 

Sylvan

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Gerber 3 and 4 valve shower bodies were the standard as they are all brass and very easy to repair and can easily last decades

Normally it is legal to repair them BUT once replacing the "body" the anti scald type are mandatory in civilized areas

I would like to see the water bill over the past few years

I strongly suggest you read your lease agreement as "Normal wear and tear" are usually the responsibility of the owner
 

Reach4

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I was thinking tenant is not paying, but is venting that changing washers and seats earlier would have avoided the burdensome urgent access later.

If I am correct, then "ripped off" is misleading. I think "needlessly disrupted" might have been a better phrase.
 
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Jeff H Young

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Some things aren't clear. Your question is who ripping you off? the land lord is ripping you off. who the hell cares how much plumber is charging? the owner is a slumlord and playing you a sucker or you are hoping he doesn't raise rent. It probably only needed cheap washers and a new spout. you can rebuild those many times
 

Dj2

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I don't think we have all the facts to decide who is ripping whom.
Maybe the rent is so low?
Maybe they have a verbal agreement that tenants pay for plumbing repairs?
I'm a landlord, among other things, and I gladly replace faucets on the first sight of a drip or any other problem.
I guess this LL is different.
 
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Jeff H Young

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I don't think we have all the facts to decide who is ripping whom.
Maybe the rent is so low?
Maybe they have a verbal agreement that tenants pays for plumbing repairs?
I'm a landlord, among other things, and I gladly replace faucets on the first sight of a drip or any other problem.
I guess this LL is different.[/QUOTE

maybe just a crappy landlord but not ripping him off, just wont fix stuff
 
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Sylvan

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I don't think we have all the facts to decide who is ripping whom.
Maybe the rent is so low?
Maybe they have a verbal agreement that tenants pay for plumbing repairs?
I'm a landlord, among other things, and I gladly replace faucets on the first sight of a drip or any other problem.
I guess this LL is different.


I also own a multi family home and after I testified the first time in court about scalding I changed out all the p shower bodies common sense as one law suit can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars

There is no valid reason to have waited so long to make repairs EVEN if it is a "SLUM LORD"
 

sourblade

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I don't think we have all the facts to decide who is ripping whom.
Maybe the rent is so low?
Maybe they have a verbal agreement that tenants pay for plumbing repairs?
I'm a landlord, among other things, and I gladly replace faucets on the first sight of a drip or any other problem.
I guess this LL is different.


Sadly not everyone thinks like you do. Repairs here are more of an annoyance for the landlady and when she finally does get around to fixing she'll often go for the lowest bidder and parts. Apparently spending a bit more on quality parts and labor to last a lot longer is alien to her.
 

Jeff H Young

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Sometimes excuses don't mean much, at a certain point I don't care why the slumlord is what she is . any different from if I go to somebody's house and repeatedly do poor work, don't show up, overcharge you name it, I could blame it on being a single dad , sick mother , or that I have dementia , but any way you slice it I get fired.
You might get a little more assertive, or move
 
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