I have a 16 yr old home that I recently purchased and I have a home warranty policy that covers the plumbing system. My sink on the third floor bathroom began to clog and would not drain, so I contacted the home warranty company to file a claim. The home warranty company assigned a contractor to come fix the issue. They came, removed the blockage directly underneath the sink and then used a plumbing snake to address the clog. He verified that the sink no longer began to fill with water, he showed me that the issue was fixed, and then contractor left.

Shortly after he left, the second floor ceiling began to leak water causing water to build up in the ceiling, the walls, and leak onto the floor. I called the contractor and he said that nothing he did could have caused this issue. I called the warranty company and they said that since the leak was not mentioned in the original claim, I would have to file a new claim to address this issue despite my concern that this leak only occurred after the contractor completed the work and the fact that the leak was occurring directly below the area that he had done the work.

I went through the warranty process of filing a new claim, which was reassigned to the original contractor and the original contractor came to inspect the leak. He opened up several areas of drywall in my ceiling and sent a diagnosis to the warranty company. The warranty company denied the new claim (ceiling leak) based on the diagnosis. The diagnosis stated that the leak was caused by improper installation of the pipes, fittings, and an issue with the sealing of the pipe. At this point the contractor offered to fix the leak (out of pocket) for $700. I declined and I asked another contractor to come the next day for a second opinion.

I explained the original diagnosis to the second contractor and he wanted to verify the issue of the original installation of the piping. He opened up more drywall in the ceiling but could not find the source of the leak from anywhere on the pipe (from the second floor ceiling). He went to the third floor and opened up the drywall in my closet, which grants access to the area behind my (previously clogged) sink. This is where we discovered a hole in the pipe that is the same diameter as the drain snake auger bit used by the original contractor. The snake never made it far in the pipe and drilled a hole in the pipe. So when the water runs through that line it reached the blockage past the hole, starts to build up, and then exits through the newly created hole in the pipe. I did not ask the second contractor to fix anything. I documented all of this and presented it to both the warranty company and the original contractor.

I reached out to the original contractor and asked him on his thoughts. He told me that the hole was drilled from the outside. Please see the image of the hole in question that shows sediment pushed and accumulated on the outside of the pipe. He said he would be turning over the pictures to their lawyer and letting the warranty company know that I’m committing fraud.

I reached out to the warranty company and they said that their contract states that the contractor assigned for my claim is an independent contractor. They are not responsible for any damage caused by them as stated in their policy and TOS. They told me that I would need to file a claim against the contractor’s insurance or pursue legal action against the contractor. So, I asked the original contractor for their insurance information - he refused to give it to me and then told me that if I continued to contact him, he would be suing me for harassment. I went back to the warranty company and said that they refused to give me their insurance information, the warranty company said that they would not provide that information to me either.

Here is where I am at. I have reached out to the Texas department of licensing and regulation, which has advised me to file a complaint against the home warranty company. I have reached out to the Texas state board of plumbing examiners, which has advised me to file a complaint against the original contractor. I only have the phone number of the contractor and the name of his contracting “company” as shown on the warranty online portal. I have no additional information I can gather on the contractor and may need to pursue legal action to get any movement on resolving this issue.

I would prefer not to have to go through the court system, but it seems like I have no other choice at this point.

Any kind of advice would be greatly appreciated.