£2 fitting caused £100,000s of damage

Fortunately the repairs to the tower, which was restored by the National Trust as quirky holiday accommodation in 2019, will be covered by insurance.

‘It’s been a nightmare, and all because of a leaky plastic fitting,’ said NT property manager Jim Whitmore.

‘It’s like the poem... For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost.’

The three-storey self-catering tower opened for guests in April 2019, with the luxury basement bathroom, which was only accessible by a ladder, as one of its prime attractions.

During a routine inspection of the plastic tanking underneath the bathroom, which had an egg box-like structure, in November 2019, Mr Whitmore found a few millimetres of water in the ‘cups’ of the tanking which he reported to the architects and contractors.

‘Even though it was just a tiny bit of water, we couldn’t accept it because it could damage the woodwork,’ he said.

Contractors started an investigation and focused on finding a breach in the tanking.

‘As this wasn’t visible to guests, we carried on renting out the accommodation and did the investigation work in between rentals.

‘They used endoscopes to check everything but couldn’t find anything,’ he said.

‘They tested the water for bacteria to see if it was from the foul water drainage, but nothing.’

The investigations took up much of 2020, including interruptions with Covid lockdowns.

In March 2021 contractors ran a pressure test on the water system and found a fault in the bathroom. By removing a tile they found a simple leak in a pipe running to the shower.

‘It was very disappointing, but very quick to fix,’ said Mr Whitmore.

‘Unfortunately we knew it must have been leaking since it was fitted, and that the timbers would be soaked.’

Loss adjusters were informed and the whole bathroom had to be removed so the timbers could be dried out.

‘This was just post-Covid when you couldn’t get builders or materials. It was an omnishambles,’ Mr Whitmore added.

‘It was a huge job because of the confines of the space. But it could have been even worse if we’d had to remove the timbers, it would have been another three months work.’

The work was finally signed off a few weeks go.

Contractors kept to the same design and colour scheme so return visitors will not notice much of a difference, apart from improved lighting and a slightly different floor.

‘We are absolutely delighted with the finish,’ he said.

‘All the plumbing has been replaced with something more robust, and it’s finally how we wanted it to be.’