Moisés Royo · 11 September 2026 · Architectural expert reports

When water comes back where it shouldn’t

A drainage defect cannot be understood by looking at the finish alone. It is necessary to open up, inspect and reconstruct the cause

Modified floor trap and opened-up bathroom floor during the investigation of a drainage defect in a home

Some defects only become visible when the construction is opened up.

A bathroom may appear finished and yet still be incorrectly built. In this case, the symptom was clear: when the washbasins or toilet were used, water backed up through the shower. The image of the open floor trap does not simply show an altered component. It shows the point at which an installation ceases to be a hypothesis and begins to become evidence.

The report documents that the internal component of the floor trap appeared to have been cut, left irregular or otherwise modified, affecting its intended hydraulic performance. It also links the failure to insufficient falls, the absence of the specified primary ventilation and a double-trapping configuration.

In a completed home, opening up a bathroom is not a minor decision. It is done when the symptoms make it necessary to inspect what the finishes conceal: routes, falls, connections, access points, ventilation and consistency with the design.

Architectural expert work operates precisely at this point: where the visible problem requires the invisible cause to be reconstructed

Do you need to investigate a construction issue?

Where there is a discrepancy between the design, the built work, certifications or modifications made during construction, an architectural expert report can reconstruct that sequence and determine which differences are technically significant.