Norwich council house leak causes kitchen ceiling to fall

A city mum-of-five has been left injured and infuriated as a leaky house nightmare has left her fearing that her kitchen ceiling is about to fall through.

All of Stephanie Breame's children are under the age of 10 but she doesn't feel their Bowthorpe home has been left in a fit state to live in.

She noticed a leak coming from a pipe in her St Mildreds Road home last December and called the city council for help.

She said: “They came out and simply tightened the pipe and we obviously thought that would be the end of it, but unfortunately it wasn’t.

The Norwich carer has been unable to prepare or cook any food in the kitchen for eight days (Image: Sonya Duncan)

“Shortly after it started leaking again, and they just kept coming out to tighten it repeatedly, but they weren't listening to me when I told them the pipe needed to be replaced.

“In July I heard dripping, and there turned out to be a crack in the pipe. Which meant water from the bathroom was getting down into the kitchen.”

Stephanie, a carer, and her husband Craig Breame, 38, have been asking for the pipe to be replaced for months.

The leak started in December and it has destroyed the family's bathroom voice (Image: Sonya Duncan)

Now their upstairs bathroom floor is lumpy and mouldy from water damage, and the wet and warped floor means the toilet lifts up and leaks.

Stephanie said: “It stinks. I suffer from mental health issues, and it’s made me so panicked and anxious.

“Every time my kids use the toilet, I panic that they will fall through the floor, and I won’t allow guests in my house anymore because I am too ashamed.”

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The hole constantly deposits debris and mould onto the surface (Image: Sonya Duncan)

The leak has caused extensive damage to Stephanie's bathroom and kitchen. She also lost tiles as water got behind them, and she found water damage on her kettle, Alexa and coffee and sugar pots.

As well as this Stephanie has been unable to use her kitchen for eight days due to constantly falling debris and black mould which has begun to take refuge on the damp surfaces.

Stephanie sustained an injury to her arm after slipping in water from the leak a few weeks ago (Image: Sonya Duncan)

She said: “I’m not sure if the electrics are safe, and the falling ceiling and mould aren’t very appetizing – I don’t think it’s hygienic to prepare food in there.”

And similar scenes can be seen in her bathroom, she said: “The bathroom floor is ruined, it is lumpy, and mouldy, It’s horrible stepping out of the shower onto a mouldy floor, it makes me feel so dirty.”

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The kitchen ceiling has started to fall through due to the extreme damp (Image: Sonya Duncan)

Stephanie and her partner have been working as much as they can to decorate the house but they do not want to while they are so unsure that their house is safe.

Stephanie said: “The council just keeps saying they will come to check the electrics, and that they will send a carpenter to check the safety of the house – so we wait all day and they never come.

Stephanie said she wants them to replace the ruined bathroom and kitchen due to the ongoing leak (Image: Sonya Duncan)

“It just feels like they don’t care.”

To make things worse, a few weeks ago Stephanie sustained a nasty injury after slipping in the bathroom a few weeks ago. She is awaiting results of an MRI and is currently having to wear a splint.

The pipe has been replaced this week, but both rooms are still in desperate need of repair and the bathroom floor is still full of water.

Stephanie is worried every time her children use the bathroom as she worries they could fall through the floor (Image: Sonya Duncan)

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A Norwich City Council spokesman said: “Following the bathroom leak in Ms Breame’s home, our contractor visited yesterday [Tuesday] to make sure that the repair had been successful and to determine what work is needed to fix any damage.

“This will include work on the kitchen and fitting new bathroom flooring, once the affected areas have dried.

"We’ll be in touch with Ms Breame to continue organising the necessary repairs.”