Hi all, recently I bought and moved into a terrace unit (non-strata landed property) and my neighbour (also newly moved in 1 month after me) inform me that there is inter-wall water leakage into their unit.

My unit comes with a water fixture looking like a decorative waterfall that recycles water when the water pump is turned on. This water fixture is installed on the wall shared with the neighbouring storage room. Apparently when the water pump is turned on, the water eventually leaks into their side of the wall. On my side of the wall there is no water damage so I am not aware of this problem, nor the previous owner / previous neighbour notified us before I bought the unit. On the other hand, their side of the wall is badly damaged by the water and they are aware of it before they bought it over.

Since then my neighbour has hacked their side of the wall, did water-proofing and the problem remains unresolved. Now they are demanding us to hack our side of the wall / water fixture so that we can do waterproofing as well to solve the problem. I am in a dilemma now as I am not expecting this to happen as I am oblivious about the problem till I am told.

Hope anyone here can give me any advice on what can I do. Will they be able to build a case on it if I refuse to do major fixing like hacking the whole wall and rebuild the water fixture as that will be too costly. I have told them I will not turn on the water fixture so the leakage won't happen but they are not happy with the solution.

Note: Both units are preowned, I assume this leakage issue must have happened long time ago but somehow both previous owners have decided not to fix it.

This post has been edited by doxtera: Mar 23 2024, 06:46 PM

If you decide to not turn it on...it is as equivalent to resolving the issue.
So are you gonna hack away that waterfall fixture permanently?

And this is not abt the law now, is about fixing the darn leaking waterfall... It may or may not ne leaking previously... but it is now.
Imagine the neighbor did this to you. what will you feel?

I have no plan to hack it away permanently as of now, part of the reason I bought the unit is because I like the decorative water fixture. They knew about the leakage issue before they bought it, I was later told their previous owner did some fixing but it did not work. And now that they try to fix it, likewise does not solve the problem as well.

If the leaks from your unit, u need to pay for the damages to neighbour's unit too.

Alternatively, turn off the pump permanently. Not only cheaper but less headaches.

Previous owners already washed their hands so pointless to blame them.

Because the properties are not strata, gomen can't help u or them.

However, they can sue your ass for properly damage and claim huge damages in court.

Best to consult a professional plumber or contractor to check the leak and estimate the cost.

This post has been edited by acbc: Mar 23 2024, 07:30 PM

Ya I offer the solution to off the pump, they don't like the solution. And yes, about the claim for property damage I am concern about that as well.

Consult a professional contractor and also a lawyer. Protect yourself first.

of course they didn't like it. it is just a temporary solution at best. what guarantees that you won't switch it on again? it is not like they have a cctv or anything monitoring your waterfall 24x7. it will be too late once water start seeping over causing damages again. put yourself in their shoes. you'll want a permanent solution as well right?