Tips On Minor Home Repair

Some of the common breakdowns that we encounter in our homes are mostly related to the items that we use daily. This is unavoidable due to fair wear and tear. This will occur even the items are of very good quality. Some of the items are:

a. Leaking tap/mixer, waste pipe, bathroom ceiling if it is a multi-storey home.
b. Choke bottle trap, floor trap.
c. WC Flushing system e.g handle broke, float valve faulty, mechanism faulty etc.
d. Shower hose, handle broke/leak.

Most of the above items can be easily DIY. Not neccessary to engage tradesmen to replace them as they will charge a price for their servces and including their special skills, material/part/accessories, time, transport, profit etc.

For leaking tap/mixer. Check whether some of the parts are worn out, example rubber gasket. If it is parts fault, then just purchase these items from the hardware shop found at the neighbour shops. With proper tools, dismantle the tap/mixer and
replace them. But first to turn off the water supply at the source (meter area). If the tap/mixer had been used for quite some time, it is usually wear and tear and it is necessary to replace the whole tap/mixer.

For waste pipe open the parts to check. Sometimes the leak may be due to choke waste. Open up the pipe, clear the choke and the leak will stop. Tighten the joints may also solve the problem. If wear and tear is detected. Replacement is required. This can also be DIY.

If water is leaking from the ceiling of the bathroom, it means the neighbour's (above unit) bathroom floor waterproofing had failed. Under this circumstances, the situation its a bit complicated as the house owner above had to be involved. Usually, the repair cost is shared between the unit that suffers the leak and the neighbour whose water had seeps to the unit below.



There are 2 methods of repair:-

i. Polyurethene Grouting (PU)- pressure grouting or
ii. Re-waterproofing the floor of the unit above.

Such works had to be carried out by specialist contractor. This is usually arrange by the Town Councils (public bldg) or the Management Corporation (Strata Title Building). The authority will get the contractor to repair and recover the cost from both parties.

Item (ii) is more disruptive and costly. If PU is possible, item (i) should be used. I will elaborate on other repairs in my next posting.