A tenant's bathroom leak, a damaged ceiling below, and a shower connection hidden behind the wall

The tenant reported a leak from the upstairs bathroom, with damage to the ceiling below and saturated skirting. An endoscope, removed panels and one targeted opening led to a leaking shower-mixer connection.

Bath panel removed to inspect the concealed pipework in the rented home — Original ADI photograph from this investigation: the bath panel removed during the inspection, before the repair.

What was happening

The tenant reported a leak from the upstairs bathroom. The ceiling below had been damaged and the skirting was saturated. ADI investigated where the water was escaping and kept the landlord informed of the findings and the repair options.

What the engineer did

The engineer used an endoscope camera and removed the bath panel and the boxing around the toilet to inspect the concealed areas. Saturated plasterboard behind the shower pointed to the next step: targeted access through the plasterboard in the adjoining en suite.

What was found

A leaking shower-mixer connection behind the wall.

What happened next

ADI repaired the leaking connection. Visual checks showed no further leaking at the time of the visit; that relates to this repair and is not a pressure-test result for every pipe in the home. The damaged plasterboard still needed replacing as a separate job.

If you manage rentals

A finished plumbing repair is not the same as a finished job. Agree with the landlord who is arranging the plasterboard and decoration before you tell the tenant it is all sorted.

More residential jobs

House with a combination boiler · ADI published case

Damp hallway: a damaged hot pipe under the floor tiles

Water was pooling under the stairs and the boiler had been losing pressure for two weeks. Pressure testing, tracer gas and thermal imaging found a damaged 15 mm hot pipe under the hallway floor, plus a separate leaking WC valve.

Read the case

First-floor flat, two bedrooms · ADI published case

First-floor flat: a leak on old pipework nobody knew was live

The meter showed a small leak with no water in use. When the flat was converted to a combination boiler, some old hot pipework had been left buried under the bathroom floor, still connected and under pressure.