Drainage Problems in 98 Rope St

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For much of 2009, there has been a persistent drainage problem at 98 Rope St. About 5 weeks ago a notice appeared asking residents to note down if their flat was affected.

Many of the flats are suffering from slow draining sinks and showers and the bad smells arising from them.

Since the problem needs to be resolved at the building level, I would like to know when the management plans to have a plumber investigate the problem.

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Please could you let us know when this was logged with the 'customer help line'? In case you were not aware of this, the number is 08450024444.
Thanks,
Chris T

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I spoke to Wood Management on that number today. The staff member could not find an issue description which matched the problem.

I notice today that the notice asking which flats are affected was removed. The call centre person suggested that Wayne Savage might know what is going on with this case.

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Please can you clarify when, in the first instance,  you reported this issue to the managing agent.  Also could you tell us the last time that you cleaned the U-bends under your sinks?

This will help us get to the bottom of an issue that has only just been bought to our attention.

Thank you.

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The drains were attended to yesterday (Saturday 15th August).  Hopefully this will remedy the problems that you have been experiencing at 98.

All the best
Simon.

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Your drainage problem is due to the communal sewage pipe, we had the same problem here at number 7 Rainbow. The accumulation of grease+soap forms a ball which blocks the drainage pipe. We reported the problem to the management and the communal pipe was cleaned up…but it took some time and many phone calls to the management; since the cleaning the bad smell and the noise in the drainage have disappeared.

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I had a call (12th Aug) from Mr Savage to say that they were trying to obtain access to flats 1 and 2 in order to resolve the problem. It seems that the unblocking which was done on 15th Aug has not resolved the problems with my flat on the top floor. Our drainage problems are as bad if not worse than they were before. I'll have to keep trying.

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If you are a tenant you must report this to your Landlord or Letting agent.  Woods will only respond to leaseholders.  I would advise you to chase this up as Wayne is aware of issues with this block.  If you are the leaseholder then Woods should be dealing with this as a matter of urgency.  Please advise if this is not the case.

Regards

Simon.

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I would strongly urge the Management Committee to ask that Woods reconsider their policy of only responding to leaseholders, and they should respond to occupiers too. Blocked drains and any other safety issues constitute a health hazard and should be dealt with promptly. What if the leaseholder is on holiday or in hospital?

If fire broke out for instance, I would not call my landlord to ask him to call the fire brigade.

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You give a totally ridiculous example to justify your position.  I very much doubt if you had a fire, your first point of call would be Wood Management either?

A blocked drain inside an apartment is one thing, the communal pipe is another.  As a leaseholder I would expect Wood to see to the communal pipe, I would not expect them to attend to the plumbing in my flat unless further inspection identified a communal plumbing issue.

In the past I rented at Rainbow and my landlord was in the States.  I had a plumbing issue that was attended to by a plumber, I then forwarded the invoice to the landlord. 

I cant see where there is a problem here.

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SF, sorry I have to disagree with you there.

Last Thursday,  (Oct 8th) the communal drain to Block 5 which is directly underneath our  ground floor lounge window overflowed. There was a very large puddle which smelt. This was a health hazard.

Rather than follow your example, and ring our landlord, I rang Woods direct at 11am that morning, and spoke to Ruan who despite me not being the leaseholder, recognised the seriousness of the problem, and within 2 hours had sent round their repairmen to fix the problem, and a very good job they did too. Not only that, but the repairmen returned on Saturday! to give the same drain a flushing.

I do of course recognise the difference between ringing my landlord to get a problem fixed which is of an internal nature to my flat, and ringing the appropriate authorities direct to fix an emergency such as a fire or a health hazard.

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I cant really see what your disagreeing with.  We have had the same system for as long as I can remember and Wood have always used their judgement on calls to attend to.  Your complaining that we need to change the system because Wood do not respond to tenants, and then your give an example that they do.

What exactly is your issue and what do you expect the board to do about it?

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The issue is of course, your statement of 9th September

“If you are a tenant you must report this to your Landlord or Letting agent.” as Woods will only deal with the Leaseholders”.

The question I am asking is “why, as an occupier, do I have do this in the case of emergencies”  ???

A subsequent event has shown that Woods were quite happy for me to ring them in the case of an emergency.

So, am I correct in presuming your statement of 9th September no longer stands?

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Oh I forgot to add; 'except in an emergency',  ie. if your flat is on fire and you cant dial 999.

There you go, happy?

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I suspect the commercial, cost-mitigating reality may be that Woods view leaseholders, who pay them direct based on annual usage, as their immediate clients, as indeed they should. That said, I am sure they welcome and act on all reports on emergency and other matters of common interest, as illustrated by the communal drain example.

Kind regards

Tom
10, 2 RQ

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Thank you, Tom, that seems a FAR more common-sense attitude than that originally suggested.

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Thank you, although I do not think it differs from the original explanation that Woods (and their predecessors) have always used their judgement on which calls to attend to from RQ occupiers (i.e. internal, external/communal, emergency issues), which I also note that we all think is a sensible approach.

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Common sense is in short supply with some people isn't it?  Thank goodness for internet forums where one can seek the answers to the more challenging questions that life throws at us.

Thank you, Tom, that seems a FAR more common-sense attitude than that originally suggested.

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