Home inspection after a bathroom renovation

Some of the most common disputes between neighbors start when one of them renovates their bathroom: the dampness it creates seeps into the ceiling of the residents living below. This article looks at the damage a major bathroom renovation next door can cause, and why ordering a professional inspection (bedek bayit) at that point is essential.

Assessing the damage

The fact that the neighbor above you is renovating their bathroom is worth taking seriously. Past the usual nuisances of a renovation, the noise, the dirt, the drilling, the banging, the digging, you have no way to know whether the work actually met code, whether the neighbor hired experts to check the contractor's quality, or whether the finished bathroom would pass a professional inspection.

Warning signs to watch for

How do you know when to start worrying? You do not need to be an inspection expert to know the warning signs. You just need to notice mold stains appearing on your ceiling shortly after, or around the time of, the renovation, and to connect cracks or dampness showing up in your room to the fact that the renovated bathroom sits directly above you.

What a post-renovation bathroom inspection checks

An inspection, especially one following a bathroom renovation, focuses on a few key things. Before you order one and bill the renovating neighbor for it, here is what justifies the expense. One is the flooring: dampness getting through a bathroom floor is often a sign that it was not laid to the standard the law requires.

A professional inspection can confirm whether the ceramic tiles suited to a bathroom were laid correctly and to the manufacturer's instructions, which matters because that greatly reduces the risk of cracking or breaking.

It can also confirm whether the renovation contractor used materials of the quality he was paid for: be wary of contractors with an obvious interest in charging for expensive materials while actually supplying cheaper ones, since an inspection can catch that too.

Who is responsible

If you end up paying for an inspection yourself to assess the damage to your ceiling, check whether, and how much, you can recover, whether from the insurance company or from the neighbor doing the renovation.