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Shower and Bath Faucet Cartridge
adamskm
We have had a number of units (10) in our condo building have their cartridge break. Our maintenance man tells me this happens without any warning. I have been reading on the internet that there are signs e.g. dripping tap, changing water temperature while showering or a hard to move lever. Any and all info on signs that the cartridge is going and how condo boards are handling it would be most welcome. He tells me none of these signs happened, the cartridge just blew causing a water leak to the floor below, sometimes ceiling damage to the condo below. Has anyone had any experience with this happening? If there is damage to the unit below the owner refuses to pay. Any ideas on who would be responsible
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0 Replies
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MarkH
I can’t address the responsibility issue – it could depend on a number of factors, such as who owns the piping in the wall; is it internal to the unit or is it in a ‘common property’ wall at the edge of the unit? Check your condominium plan and see if it addresses the issue, also, of course, check your bylaws.
From a practical point of view, know where the water shut-off valves are that serve the shower! In my experience, showers and bathtubs don’t have ‘local’ shutoff valves like sinks and toilets do; you may need to know where the shut-offs to the unit are located. It may not be obvious! In our redeveloped building, the plumbers put the shut-offs in some walls and the wallboard people covered them over. We found them after a heating pipe burst and created a flood, when the wallboard had to be replaced.
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GibsonT
This is an excellent discussion. Did you know that over 60% of condo insurance claims result from water damage; mostly from plumbing but some also from building envelope issues?
Re shutoffs: some of my recent reading has illustrated that some condos are proactively sending a plumber to show each resident where the shutoffs are in their suites. If there is a major issue, how quickly can your complex water be shut down to prevent major damage? A major issue in high-rises! Others are considering changing vulnerable plumbing at condo corp expense, irrespective of who is ‘responsible’, to reduce risks.
A last initiative, but showing a lot of promise, is water detection systems – to identify leaks early and quickly and to alert residents.
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