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Thread: Condo flooded - any advice?

  1. #1
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    Default Condo flooded - any advice?

    So, the story is that a big party in a unit above me and on the other side of the building wrecked a pipe (plumber thinks they left the window open all night) and it flooded my unit, the one above & below me, and some others. Apparently they were really strange people, laughing at the firefighters trying to help them, etc. - real pieces of work. I guess it wasn't until someone suggested it could be their fault that they said they just opened the window 5 min ago, when clearly it was open all night or something happened at the party. Another resident told me they found blood near the broken pipe too, so it's possible there was a fight at their new years party or something that caused the break.

    The water leaked at the side of the fixture of one of the emergency sprinklers on the roof, as that was apparently the path of least resistance. Obviously it was pooling in the ceiling above this, and just broke through where easiest. The water went inside the wall between my kitchen and my spare bedroom, and when it hit the ground, it seeped UNDER my hardwood (when I step on it it's like a sponge and releases water), and the other way UNDER my carpet into the spare bedroom. It also leaked all over my counters, and through my cabinets in my kitchen, because it was coming from the ceiling (half went in the wall, the other half went right out into my kitchen).

    The building people are here, and it's not an issue of my insurance, or so I'm told. Apparently it's the building's issue, which is good. Luckily, I don't think it ruined any of my possessions/contents, so as far as I know, I don't have to call my own insurance company.

    Now, my questions are about what the lady from "Prostar Cleaning" (I guess that's who my building sent) told me about what they can do:

    1) They told me I'll have to have fans and dehumidifiers running 24/7 for at least 36 hours, and I can turn them off if I can't sleep, if I have to.

    2) They told me since my hardwood is real, they can dry it out, and it will be fine.

    3) They told me they can dry out my walls.....I didn't think that's possible as drywall turns to mush I thought.

    It's basically impossible to get pictures of anything, because the water is under the floors, and it hasn't had time to really screw up the walls/hardwood just yet.

    Anyways, basically I just don't want to get screwed, as it seems like they are already trying to do as little as possible. This was the cleaning crew I was talking to though, not the building insurance adjuster.

    Any suggestions of what I might be able to do to improve my chances of having things replaced, and not just dried out? I can't imagine it will return to 100% original condition after just drying it out, but I don't really know.

    Thanks!

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    Last edited by Sugarphreak; 07-08-2019 at 04:52 PM.

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    Originally posted by Sugarphreak
    Call your insurance company ASAP and find out what they recommend. You will have water damage coverage, especially if it was caused by somebody else.

    If I was to guess, the building doesn't want your insurance company involved because they will get sued for the damages they caused to your suite.
    Yeah I called their emergency line, and it's on file now. They want to have a contractor call me and everything, so it sounds like calling them was definitely the thing to do. Thanks for your input.

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    My friend had a flood in his building as well and after a month or so his hardwood separated and he had to redo all his floors, so be careful on the flooring front.

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    I had a similar thing happen to me, upstairs washer hose burst and flooded my condo. wrecked the walls, flooring etc..

    My insurance company refused to pay because it was the upstairs fault, upstairs insurance company refused to pay saying they would only cover damages in that suite so the condo insurance should pay, condo's insurance refused to pay.

    I had to take all 3 companies to court, the condo board tried to counter sue me for legal fees for the exact amount.

    It was a fucking nightmare and took almost 2 years to resolve, upstairs guys insurance ended up paying out, condo board dropped their counter suit.

    My advice pay a couple hundred to a lawyer to send some nasty fucking letters now and save the hassle.

    EDIT: and your hardwood is wrecked now, you can dry it out but it will never be the same.
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    I was renting a unit that had this same scenario, we had to remain living there as only half the apartment was damaged, bedroom, bath, etc were untouched. The condo owner gave us free rent for two months but was a real prick about it.

    All the wood started to buckle a week later and the 1970's real wood condo flooring was torn up, the cement floor below was damp and wet in spots. Six massive industrial dryers were brought in, ran them 12 hours a day for ten days (could not run them when we were in the unit) until the contractor was certain the floor was dry. He measured it with an electronic device. Then it was another two weeks waiting for the replacement flooring to arrive and another week for a flooring installer. The replacement flooring was far better, better insulation, etc. So that was nice.

    Real shitty situation, we moved into a brand new condo the following month and were told the same thing happened there four months earlier, only the entire floor was flooded, maybe 12 units. People leave windows open and pipes freeze.

    Happened to a coworker last year (he is on the condo board), he is still fighting to get the condo building to not eat the cost as it was a owner of one of the units who left a window open and screwed off to Hawaii over Xmas. It is still grinding him down and he looks worn from the experience. His building is looking to eat a massive amount of their emergency funds as insurance will bump their premiums and lawyers are eating what remains. He feels in the end he is screwed as the condo will never sell after this.

    Call a lawyer now, get the ball rolling as it is going to happen sooner or later.
    Last edited by CanmoreOrLess; 01-01-2012 at 07:41 PM.

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    There is also the potential of mould (goes hand in hand with moisture presence). The wood will likely soak up the water and warp ... drywall should be removed (otherwise how will the moisture get out? ... and not result in mould).

    You can do air testing for mould presence btw ... There are specialized contractors who do that....deal with them regularly.

    R
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    The condo I was living in victoria had kinda the same issue you described.

    It was seasonally cold, and one of the pipes for the sprinkler system froze and then burst. Some moron was harassing the building manager, so he was out of town for a few weeks. Fire department came, and couldn't locate the shut off valve for the sprinkler system. So the water was running for a solid hour. 4 story unit, 16 condos in total got flooded. There was a waterfall outside of the unit, it was insane.

    Anyways, all the units were gutted. They had the fans going for at least 4-5 days.

    From what you described, I would think if the condo management company is any good, they will take care of it through their insurance company and then they should sue who ever. So I would find out who it is and make a call to them. Your insurance, or at least what I have been told about condo insurance, only takes care of your possessions and the replacement of any upgrades you have made while living in the unit. Everything else should be under the building insurance. I would put pressure on the condo management company, as you just never know what the repercussions of such a flood can be. The best way for them to fix it would be to gut the floors and the walls and redo everything. So I would aim for that. I would give it a day or two just to see what happens and then contact your building insurance company. They should even pay for a motel/hotel for you for the 36 hours that the fans are out.

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    Thanks for all the input. Sounds like I should at least wait a day or two and see what comes of it. There are other people even worse off than me who will be after the same resolution, so I'll talk to them too. I think the board is trying to set up a meeting, too, for everyone to discuss options.

    My insurance company had a contractor call me and he said he'll be in on Wednesday to independently assess damage, and then go from there. They were going to send in a clean up crew, but I had already done that. So, it sounds like my personal condo insurance covers more than just possessions, or why would they even do that? I can't talk to an actual adjuster though with all my policy information until Tuesday. Basically I am trying to cover my ass because the service and restoration company my building hired doesn't seem the least bit concerned, and told me everything will dry right out no problem. Every single other person I talk to, suggests otherwise.

    I was expecting fans & dehumidifiers delivered today from the service & restoration company my building hired, but they never came. I'll be calling them tomorrow morning to see when I should expect them.

    I have a brutal cold/flu right now so I can't smell much of anything but the odd time I can smell that it's a bit musty. Definitely livable though, as the main living areas are pretty well untouched.

    What scares me is all these suggestions to call a lawyer. I didn't think I'd have to do that, especially since I know people who have had water damage in the same scenario who had it all covered by the building with zero issues. Obviously it doesn't always happen like that though, as some of you have had the opposite experience.

    I think it will be hard to pin this on the individual who is responsible, because as soon as they learned they might be liable, they said they opened the window just before the fire department arrived, and it wasn't open all night. At least that is what I am told by the other resident who was there with the fire department while they were cleaning up his unit. Apparently that resident also tried to get the fire department to leave some sort of statement regarding the cause of the leak and the disrespectful behavior of the tenants (who are renting from the owner), but they did not want to for whatever reason.

    I can see that my hardwood is starting to gradually rise where two of the ends butt together, and it's dark because it's wet. Looks like that's the easiest place for the moisture to get out. I'm also told my hardwood is just glued right to the concrete with no sub floor.

    I'll call my condo management company tomorrow as well, but I may not be able to talk to anyone until Tuesday due to the holiday.

    Thanks again for the input, I'll see what happens tomorrow I guess. Maybe the extra humidity in my condo will be good for my sore throat .

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    what area?

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    Originally posted by AwkwardAzn
    what area?
    Of the city or in my house?

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    OK so today the crew showed up to cut holes in my walls and pull back my carpet to remove any wet underlay. They will be setting up dehumidifiers and carpet fans to run over the next few days.

    They told me that wet drywall is fine, and it just dries harder....is this true? Everyone else I know who has had water damage had all the drywall replaced in the area.

    My hardwood is starting to rise and ripple....they said because it's real hardwood, they can just sand down and fix the one area if it doesn't go back to normal. Is that standard procedure?

    As for my carpets, they will replace underlay, but they will just clean the carpets rather than replace them. Not sure if that's normal or not either.

    I'll be talking to my own insurance adjuster tomorrow as well. My hope is that anything the company my building hired tries to half-ass, I can maybe get my insurance company to do properly. I don't know if it can work like that though.

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    They are trying to bend you over.

    I doubt your carpet will be the same after lifting it, and no way in hell your hardwood will be. It's going to be more time and disruption in your life, better to get it done right the first time.
    Last edited by WhippWhapp; 01-02-2012 at 04:18 PM.

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    Originally posted by WhippWhapp
    They are trying to bend you over.

    I doubt your carpet will be the same after lifting it, and no way in hell your hardwood will be. It's going to be more time and disruption in your life, better to get it done right the first time.
    +1

    My in law's hot water tank pressure value blew this summer... it only ran for a hour while they were at Costco.

    Only a small area of their hardwood floor was wet at first. Even with the fans and dehumidifiers pads going for the whole week, the water followed the underlay to their bedroom and living room. (The water has to go somewhere right! )

    Their adjuster approved to have all the hardwood replaced.

    Keep in daily contact with your adjuster for the best possibble out come.

    Good luck!
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    Sometimes real hardwood goes back into it's original shape. I had a slow leak in the water line to my fridge, the water warped and cupped about 5' of hardwood in front of it. 2 months later it was back to normal.

    BUT, since this sounds like a large area and it was someone else's fault, don't settle for that. Get it replaced. DO NOT let them sand it down and call it fixed.

    As for the drywall part, getting wet doesn't necessarily destroy it. To make curved walls, sometimes they use 1/4" sheets of drywall that are soaked to make them more flexible, they then let them dry in place. Worry about mold though.

    I would not let the condo do any work until you've had an adjuster out and had a good talk with them and/or your insurance agent once they have the assessment.

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    Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
    Of the city or in my house?
    You don't happen to be on 13th and 12th close to meineke? If so small world... They had quite the armada of fire trucks.
    Last edited by mazdavirgin; 01-02-2012 at 11:51 PM.

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    Originally posted by blitz
    Sometimes real hardwood goes back into it's original shape. I had a slow leak in the water line to my fridge, the water warped and cupped about 5' of hardwood in front of it. 2 months later it was back to normal.

    BUT, since this sounds like a large area and it was someone else's fault, don't settle for that. Get it replaced. DO NOT let them sand it down and call it fixed.

    As for the drywall part, getting wet doesn't necessarily destroy it. To make curved walls, sometimes they use 1/4" sheets of drywall that are soaked to make them more flexible, they then let them dry in place. Worry about mold though.

    I would not let the condo do any work until you've had an adjuster out and had a good talk with them and/or your insurance agent once they have the assessment.

    Thanks, that's encouraging, and in line with what I am being told. They have things drying out pretty good now and various holes cut in my walls. I have 5 big fans going and a dehumidifier. They had some suction pads attached to a vacuum to suck water out of my hardwood floors and I was surprised how much they got out...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

    I plan on dealing with my insurance company in parallel, assuming I can even do that. That's what I'm trying to do so far. Tomorrow I can actually talk to adjusters, so it should be an informative day.

    Originally posted by mazdavirgin


    You don't happen to be on 13th and 12th close to meineke? If so small world... They had quite the armada of fire trucks.
    Yup that's me...some units got it a lot worse than I did, so I have that to be thankful for at least. I'm told the unit that caused this is on the opposite side of the building as me!



    -------------------------------------------------------------

    Any tips on how to fight/push for a full hardwood replacement? I don't know enough about construction to argue why I shouldn't let them just sand and refinish the affected section. I'm definitely of the belief that it won't ever be the same, even if it's fixed, but I'm not sure how I can prove that. They told me they wait a full 3 months to see if it settles back before they even look into fixing/replacing it.

    I'm worried about my carpet too....they did a 10 second "steam clean" with nothing but my own tap water, and the water stains are still on the bottom of my carpet, meaning it isn't in original condition.

    I guess what I'm asking is at what point is it reasonable to accept a repair over a replacement? I would obviously want full replacement for everything, but I'm sure the insurance company has a different opinion.
    Last edited by Mitsu3000gt; 01-03-2012 at 01:04 AM.

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    Had a similar situation, but a much smaller leak.

    They did a half assed cleanup, my place was full of toxic mold, I was sick for 6 months.

    It took them 6 months to clean the mold (when I hired my own environmental inspectors to come in and inspect for mold to finally prove to the condo management company that I had mold).

    I think the cleanup cost about $20,000G.

    Frigging nightmare.

    Good luck

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    So I had a somewhat positive conversation with another one of the project managers today.

    As far as my hardwood goes, they will replace it 100% if it doesn't return back to original condition. I guess my only worry is what they deem to be "original" and how they get it there. Other units' hardwood is being replaced, however it is so bad their entire floor looks like a bunch of little tents. Mine isn't as bad, but it's still obviously an issue.

    Tomorrow they will be coming in with infrared cameras and other sorts of things, as well as opening up walls from opposite sides, so that is good I guess.

    Anyways, it SEEMS better than I originally thought, but we will see how it all goes. I'll also be continuing with my own insurance (adjuster hasn't called me yet). I just need to try not to worry about everything until it actually becomes a problem, as it may work out better than I expected. We'll see I guess. I'll keep posting updates. Thanks again for all the advice & shared experiences. Everything helps.

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    You probably know this already. Document everything, pictures, conversations, daily records of what's happening. Better be overly prepared for any legal actions that may come up in the future, plus people tend to take you a lot more seriously knowing that what they do now will be accountable in the future.

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