A Scots dad says he has been living in a 'building site' for weeks after being forced to rip out his bathroom wall and fix a leak in his water tank.
Craig Smith had a "major" flood in his flat in the north of Glasgow on February 14 after his bathroom water tank sprang a leak. The 43-year-old frantically called Queens Cross Housing Association to have the hole plugged – but the service took four hours to send an "emergency" plumber to his door.
Unable to wait that long, Craig tore a hole in his wall and used industrial strength sticky tack to block up the leak himself. He told Glasgow Live the situation would have been a "complete disaster" if he had chosen to wait hours for the plumber to arrive as water poured out of his wall.
He said: "It was a horrendous time because the leak was coming from within an internal wall. I had to take down a lot and was panicking, water was everywhere.
"I phoned them as an emergency and nobody came about. I ended up having to rip the wall down myself and block the leak on my own with blue tack, it was the strong stuff and I filled in the holes. Eventually, a plumber came out and said the system would need to be changed."
Four weeks on, Craig is still waiting for Queens Cross to come out and fix his wall, which he says still looks like a "building site" and is riddled with dampness and mould from the flood. Paying rent of £350 a month, which is set to increase by £20 in April, he says the response from the housing association hasn't been good enough.
His five-year-old son is asthmatic and is staying with him for six months. Craig is concerned that the bathroom, which is freezing thanks to its additional unexpected ventilation, is going to affect his child's health.
He added: "I asked them for a heater because the bathroom is absolutely freezing and was -10C at one point but they said I'm not entitled to one.
"My son doesn't want to go to the toilet because it's that cold there. All my bathroom is damp and mouldy now, it stinks and I have to keep the door closed constantly.
"It's unbelievable and dangerous with the pipes exposed and the dampness, it's shocking. I told them I am going to withhold my rent until the repairs are finished and up to standards.
"If that was an elderly lady it would've been a complete disaster. Luckily I had tools and the initiative to block it."
Queens Cross Housing Association have apologised for the delay and said works have been scheduled for March 17.
A spokesperson told Glasgow Live: "Our records show that we responded to Mr Smith's call about the leak within 4 hours which is our aim for emergencies. The leak was caused by a nail in the water tank and our initial response was to make safe.
"The remedial work to reinstate the water supply was then completed. There are currently two outstanding works orders for a new bath panel and boxing in at the WC.
"Both works orders are scheduled for completion on 17th March. We recognise that it's taken longer than we planned to have all the repairs to the bathroom finished and apologise for the delays.
"We will stay in close touch with Mr Smith until the jobs are complete to everyone's satisfaction."
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