Refuge floor leaking into the flats below
A refuge floor is an exposed slab sitting directly above occupied flats, so any failure shows up below almost immediately. The recurring defect is railing base plates bolted straight through a completed membrane.
Not an emergency, but it will get worse and more expensive with every monsoon it survives.
Probable causes, ranked
Ordered by how often we find each one to be the actual source. The 'tell' is what distinguishes it from the others.
- 01most common
Railing and balustrade fixings drilled through the barrier
The tell — Staining below lines up with railing post positions.
Refuge Area Waterproofing → - 02common
No fall toward the drainage outlets
The tell — Water stands on the refuge floor after rain.
Refuge Area Waterproofing → - 03common
Upturn too low at the open edge
The tell — Leakage concentrated near the open perimeter.
Refuge Area Waterproofing → - 04less common
Failed protective screed exposing the barrier
The tell — The surface is visibly worn or broken up.
IPS Screeding Work →
Sixty seconds, before you call anyone
- Photograph it while it is actively wet. A dried stain tells a surveyor far less than a running one.
- Note whether it worsens with rain or with usage. Rain-linked points to the building envelope; usage-linked points to plumbing. This single distinction settles most arguments about responsibility.
- Check the area directly above and beside the damage, not only below it. Water travels along a slab before it drops.
- Look specifically for the tell of the most likely cause: staining below lines up with railing post positions.
- Do not chip into saturated plaster or paint over a damp patch. The first risks bringing material down; the second destroys the evidence needed to trace the path.
What it becomes if you leave it
Every failure lands directly in an occupied flat, which makes it a recurring society complaint. Because refuge floors are statutory fire-safety areas, work there also has to keep the space usable.
Often seen alongside this
- Water standing on the terrace after rain
Water still standing on a terrace 24 hours after rain means the surface has no effective fall to the outlets.
- Water leaking from the ceiling in a top-floor flat
Water coming through a top-floor ceiling almost always originates on the terrace above — a lost fall, a failed waterproofing layer, or an untreated crack in the slab.
Refuge floor leaking into the flats below — questions we get asked
What is the most likely cause of refuge floor leaking into the flats below?
Railing and balustrade fixings drilled through the barrier. The sign that points to it is: staining below lines up with railing post positions. That said, the ranking here is a starting point — the actual source is confirmed by survey, because more than one of these can be true at once.
What happens if I leave it?
Every failure lands directly in an occupied flat, which makes it a recurring society complaint. Because refuge floors are statutory fire-safety areas, work there also has to keep the space usable.
Can I diagnose this myself before calling anyone?
Partly, and it is worth doing. Photograph it while it is actively wet, note whether it worsens with rain or with usage, and check the area directly above and beside the damage. That single rain-versus-usage distinction narrows the cause more than anything else you can do in sixty seconds.
How urgent is this?
Act this season. Not an emergency, but it will get worse and more expensive with every monsoon it survives.
Send us a photograph and we will tell you what we think it is
WhatsApp a photo taken while it is wet, with a note on whether it tracks with rain or with usage. That is usually enough for a first opinion, and the site inspection that follows is free.
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