GEYSER REPLACEMENT CLAIM

ASSESSMENT

Black Bird Construction was contacted by the client’s insurance company to assess and conduct repair work. An assessment took place at the client’s property in Sea Point, where various items were inspected and a quotation was then generated and accepted by the insurer and client. Below is a breakdown of what transpired during the claim and excerpts of the assessor’s findings have been included as a means to explain the various building work required to repair the damages. The scope of work has also been included along with photos of the damages before and after the repairs were completed. We hope you enjoy the post and if you would like to learn more about Black Bird Construction please feel free to contact us.

REPORT

Plumbing Repairs:

The new geyser has been fully installed with the hot water supply running correctly. A PIRB certificate will be submitted shortly along with the invoice for the repairs.

Resultant Damages:

I have provided a breakdown of the various damages affecting the property. The resultant damages inside the apartment are as follows:

Flooring (Parquet):

Due to the geyser burst, an immense amount of water poured onto the kitchen floor and bled into the adjoining passageways connecting to the lounge and the bedroom.
This has ultimately led to the parquet flooring to lose its adhesive properties causing it to lift very badly.
Moisture based damages have affected the timber making up the parquet panels causing the panels to swell and expand.
The only way to rectify the floor is to lift the flooring, prep the floor’s surface and refit the blocks. Thereafter the flooring will need to be sanded thoroughly and coated with a sealer.
The flooring in the kitchen is made up of vinyl planks and seems to be in fine condition. There was no lifting or planks peeling from the screed. I do have my concerns though, as the adhesive keeping the flooring down could potentially lose its adhesive properties and dislodge. This may be a latent issue and I feel it is important that this is brought up in case any issues occur at a later time.

BICs:

All of the lower BICs have been very badly damaged by the geyser water.
The BICs lower panels and bases have split, peeled and can clearly be seen warping.
In order to gain access to the geyser and replace the cylinder, our plumbing team had to dismantle the section of the BICs serving as an encasement for the geyser cylinder. This has ultimately led to some of the panels to break slightly due to the stripping. These panels can thankfully be repaired and salvaged. There are panels that have unfortunately been severely damaged by the water causing the timer to swell and warp – please see attached photos as a reference.
These above-mentioned BICs will all need to be disassembled, new materials purchased and the BICs reinstalled as per the existing design and layout.

Paintwork (Walls):

The walls have subsequently been very badly damaged due to the replacing of the geyser. Graze marks left behind on the walls can clearly be seen in the area where the geyser is.
We will need to paint the wall from end to end to ensure a quality finished paint application.

Skirting boards:

The skirting boards will need to be attended to while the parquet flooring is being repaired.
Due to the sanding machines, the skirting boards tend to get scuffed and they will need to be sanded and decorated with a sealer.
The lengths of skirting boards in the central foyer just outside of the kitchen have been drenched in water and have subsequently pulled away from the walls – refer to the attached photos as a reference.
Badly affected sections of skirting boards that were damaged by moisture will need to be removed, prepped and reinstalled thereafter to ensure a quality finish.

Carpentry works:

The doors in the immediate area and the connected passageway have been damaged slightly and have swollen at the bases causing difficulty to open and close the doors properly.
We will need to remove the doors, plane them to size and refit them.

Paintwork (Carpentry works):

Paintwork repairs will be required to bring the doors and skirting boards back to their original condition.
The doors in the property are all painted with white enamel while the skirting boards are coated with a tinted wood sealer.

Note | Unforeseeable & Latent Damages:

Unforeseeable damages:

The kitchen took the brunt of the damage and is therefore the worst affected section in the property. At the time of the assessment it was very difficult to determine the state of the damage to the cupboards. It is recommended

Latent damages:

Due to the quantity of the water that poured from the geyser cylinder, it is apparent that the base of many of the walls were drenched in water. This ultimately leads to rising damp and subsequently blistering to the paintwork in the area.

Electrical Issues:

The tenant stated that she had been experiencing electrical faults in the apartment. I feel a reserve should be allocated to electrical related repairs if necessary.
A thorough test will be conducted at the property before any repairs are to be conducted.

SCOPE OF WORKS

BELOW IS A BREAKDOWN OF THE REPAIR WORK CONDUCTED TO THE RESULTANT DAMAGES AT THE AFFECTED PROPERTY:

Geyser replacement:

Drain existing geyser.
Create larger opening via the trapdoor to remove the existing geyser.
Remove existing geyser from site.
Supply and replace the existing geyser with a new 150L Kwikot High Pressure geyser and trip-tray.
The geyser includes with a 5-year warranty.
All required materials and labour included in price.
New geyser installation works to be SANS10254 compliant, as well as PIRB compliant.

Compliancy work | PIRB certificate submission:

Additional works needed to ensure that the geyser installation is compliant.
PIRB compliancy certificate to be submitted once the geyser has been fully installed.

Rubble removal | Site clearance:

Clean and clear all rubble from site.
Ensure that the client’s property is left in a clean and orderly manner before vacating entirely from the site.
Dispose of faulty geyser.