topic Re: Condo Owners please ...... in Community Chat

Condo Owners please ......

Mustang Shar — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 21:36:59 GMT

Ugh! If you’re in an upstairs condo, could you please be careful with water leaks. My ceiling in my furnace / laundry room flooded because the girl upstairs had her Dad switch out her washing machine.

Well he clearly messed up because SURPRIZE! Seriously, have professionals do the work so it’s good. Now my furnace blower for the AC stopped, that’s why I went in. If I hadn’t, the whole ceiling could have collapsed because they were doing laundry.

Its very common, but if upstairs folks realize they could be damaging the downstairs neighbor, perhaps the losses could be reduced. What a mess

Had to vent, now I feel better

Re: Condo Owners please ......

jlkz — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 21:43:23 GMT

@Mustang Shar

So sorry you had to go through that water mess !

a few years ago while we were in our second floor FL condo for the winter, our downstairs neighbor came up to tell us that our sink or dishwasher was leaking on their counter.

Immediately turned the dishwasher off....the hose had disintegrated at back of the appliance. Got a new one that day.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Mustang Shar — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 21:50:39 GMT

@jlkz wrote:
@Mustang Shar

So sorry you had to go through that water mess !

a few years ago while we were in our second floor FL condo for the winter, our downstairs neighbor came up to tell us that our sink or dishwasher was leaking on their counter.

Immediately turned the dishwasher off....the hose had disintegrated at back of the appliance. Got a new one that day.

Sometimes, there is no way of knowing like your situation. Did your HO policy cover their damage to the ceiling?

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Azcowgirl — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 22:11:26 GMT

@Mustang Shar...Your post reminds me of some of the hazards of condo living ...

A kitchen fire started from the stove in our rented upstairs condo (rented while we looked for a house ) a couple yrs. ago, while I had stepped out to run an errand.The ceiling sprinklers came on and flooded the place, and the kitchen shop below us sustained water damage. Thank heaven insurance covered all of it

As for the condo above us....the guy would dump buckets of water in his railing planters and dirty water would splash down on our patio and furniture. Also he would empty his ashtrays of cigar butts over his railing and guess where they landed ?! 😠

Caught him in the act one day and he said he didn’t realize it was causing a problem.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

lovesrecess — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 22:13:56 GMT

Another reason I couldn't wait to get out of the apartment of I lived in once. The guy right above me was single and "entertained" girlfriends all the time. His bedroom was directly above mine. Need I say more? This was back when the coil spring mattresses were the thing...and they squeaked! He also was a weightlifter and would drop his heavy weights on the floor. I expected them to come crashing through the ceiling every time I heard them being slammed on the floor upstairs.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

sunshine45 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 22:20:06 GMT

we have a beach condo that is 15 floors high. we had a leak a few months ago from a toilet up above into our bathroom. the seal was broken. it is definitely a pain and an inconvenience, but it is something that is to be expected. another time our neighbor had an ice maker line leak that leaked into our bedroom. it did not come from above, but from next door.

yet another time our icemaker line leaked to the downstairs condo into their kitchen.

we try to be as careful as possible, but sometimes these things happen......especially in condos and apartments.

this is why we all have insurance PLUS the building has a master policy. there were never any headaches getting things covered.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

VaBelle35 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 23:13:58 GMT

Some of the condos in my development share a back wall (they are called back-to-backs or piggybacks) and a vent, which requires the HOA to help negotiate repair and replacement of shared things like this. Everyone is responsible for their own interior repairs.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

libbyannE — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 23:20:12 GMT

Not a nice way to have to live.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Eileen in Virginia — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 23:38:02 GMT

We had a garden condo in a four story building before we bought our house. The condos each had an HVAC unit that were in the same location. In the Spring, it was critical that each owner be available, or have someone else available, when the air conditioning condensate lines were cleared of the algae that grew in them during the Winter. If a condo was missed, the condensation from the AC would back up and overflow into the condos beneath them. We were out of town one weekend and returned to find the drywall in our bedroom soaked because water was overflowing from an upstairs condo through the duct at the top of the wall. The ducts became conduits from the blocked condensate lines. If we’d been gone much longer, the wall would have buckled.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Mz iMac — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 23:44:44 GMT

@Mustang Shar

As a bonfide "highrise lover," I've always lived in the penthouse (top floor) level of highrises to avoid what you are going through.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

maestra — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 23:49:23 GMT

That's what home insurance is for. If the other guys have no insurance, let the lawyers for YOUR insurance company go after them.

Insurance lawyers are human pitbulls-focused and relentless.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Mustang Shar — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 01:19:36 GMT

@maestra wrote:
That's what home insurance is for. If the other guys have no insurance, let the lawyers for YOUR insurance company go after them.

Insurance lawyers are human pitbulls-focused and relentless.

I agree, these water problems do happen. However, these new owners were clueless and thought the water that was collecting in their pan under their washing machine would just drain somehow. Y e a h, into my place 😩😩😃😃. They have insurance and my carrier will collect from their carrier. I’ve been in insurance 3rd party liability claims, so I will negotiate if need be. Kinda smelly tonight and no way do I want any electric fans in there

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Lindsays Grandma — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 04:18:24 GMT

@Mustang Shar wrote:
Ugh! If you’re in an upstairs condo, could you please be careful with water leaks. My ceiling in my furnace / laundry room flooded because the girl upstairs had her Dad switch out her washing machine.

Well he clearly messed up because SURPRIZE! Seriously, have professionals do the work so it’s good. Now my furnace blower for the AC stopped, that’s why I went in. If I hadn’t, the whole ceiling could have collapsed because they were doing laundry.

Its very common, but if upstairs folks realize they could be damaging the downstairs neighbor, perhaps the losses could be reduced. What a mess

Had to vent, now I feel better

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Lindsays Grandma — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 04:29:23 GMT

Of all the different places I have lived, one was a two story 2,000 square foot townhouse, including attached garage in Chatsworth, CA. I lived there for fourteen wonderful years and never had a problem. Then there was my two bedroom with den condo in Encino, CA for ten years. Never had a problem there either. Perhaps I was lucky and I always feel badly for people who have not so nice neighbors or other mishaps that make their lives problematic. I guess it is all part of life and we have to take the good with the bad.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

1000Glosses — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 05:01:02 GMT

The other side of the story...

I live on the second floor of a two-story condo building. Water damage is the #1 cause of insurance claims. I'm not making excuses, but things happen. The woman living below me (I won't call her a neighbor) seems to think I purposely spill water down to her unit. The second floor owner is responsible for all water damage, so she is just nuts.

I woke up one Sunday morning to her pounding on my door to tell me my toilet was leaking into her bathroom. I checked it out and sure enough, something called a "tank bolt" had rusted through during the night and water was leaking from the tank. I had no idea what a "tank bolt" was before that moment, but I fixed it, gave her my insurance information and thought everything was taken care of.

No. She blames me for every drop of water that enters her unit. The roof leaks sometimes when it rains or snows. I do what most people do and put a bucket under it until it stops and then determine if there is damage (the association is responsible for that). She'll come screaming at me even in this situation. It's almost comical, but she always says, "Think of me."

Think of her? Like I purposely cause leaks that I have to fix and pay for? She drives me nuts. Needless to say, we avoid each other as much as possible. If she has anything to say to me, she leaves a note by the mailboxes (I never have anything to say to her).

Last summer, our garages (there are four attached, one for each unit in the building) had a mice infestation and she blamed me. How is it my fault if all four garages have mice? Obviously, it is a building-wide problem, but not to her. It's all me.

So, yes. Sometimes water leaks into the bottom unit. Unless the person living above is negligent or nuts, it's part of living in a multi-unit building. I'm sorry it happens, but I can't foresee the future of when a bolt is going to rust or a valve is going to leak. So far, my insurance build the woman below me a new bathroom and a new laundry room. I had some tile replaced and my homeowner's insurance premium increase.

The last time we were fighting about this, I asked her which room she wanted to remodel next so I could make sure to stand above that room and poor water down on it since I am responsible for everything wet in our building.

There was one time she came pounding on my door about the hot water heater leaking, but it wasn't leaking. It turned out there was a sewer backup into her unit. She never apologized for pounding on my door and screaming at me.

So there is another side to the story. We aren't doing it on purpose and water damage is just a fact of life.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Thebig I — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 05:18:34 GMT

Its a real mess when that happens, my upstairs neighbor, my signifigant other tried to fix his toilet once and nearly fell into my bathroom.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

missy1 — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 13:42:02 GMT

Maybe they didn't know this was happening. I hope you insurance pays for it. I could only live upstairs, because of the noise. ( walking etc.)

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Spurt — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 14:41:22 GMT

@Mustang Shar

Sorry this happened

Have your Condo Unit Owner's insurance agent contact the insurance carrier of the folk's upstairs, the repairs should be covered under the Liability portion of THEIR policy which has no deductible!!! Maybe that would teach them a lesson to be careful about repairs and those living below them. If they dont have insurance your insurance will subrogate against them to pay for anything your insurance doesnt cover like deductibles!!!

Sometimes the Condo Master Policy covers things like furnances and air conditioners---it depends on the COA and what coverage they chose to carry.

Good Luck!

Re: Condo Owners please ......

chrystaltree — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 14:41:51 GMT

Awful, what a mess indeed. This is our second condo in the same complex. We went from a 3rd floor garden unit (because of my knee pain) to first floor garden unit. It's a smaller building with just 8 units, I love that. No laundry room in this building, we have use the one across the courtyard. I hate that. We aren't allowed to have washer/dryers in our units; for that very reason, probably. We've had leaks from the upstairs unit twice. But thankfully, no damage to our property because we noticed the leaks very early. In fact, the last time it happened it was my niece's little dog who alerted us! The first time, hubby noticed a spot on the ceiling and called building maintence who went up stairs and saw that a pipe was leaking badly. The old lady didn't call anyone, she was trying to sop the water up with towels and sheets until her daughter got home. Okay. Then just a couple of months ago, my niece and her dog were visiting. The dog was in the family room barking his little head off. He's not barker so we ran to see what was wrong and he was barking at a corner of the ceiling. We didn't see anything, my niece stood on a chair and touched the ceiling and it was damp. Long story short; they had to do a bigger job on that pipe, one that included opening up the wall in our unit. Honestly, I was just so very thankful that once again, we caught it early and there was no damage to our property. Of course they did repair the wall and paint the ceiling for us. They even shampooed the carpet in that room even though they had covered the furniture and carpet beautifully and there was no mess at all. Still. If either of those leaks had happened when we were on vacation...it would have been much different story.

Re: Condo Owners please ......

Spurt — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 14:55:29 GMT

@Azcowgirl wrote:
@Mustang Shar...Your post reminds me of some of the hazards of condo living ...
A kitchen fire started from the stove in our rented upstairs condo (rented while we looked for a house ) a couple yrs. ago, while I had stepped out to run an errand.The ceiling sprinklers came on and flooded the place, and the kitchen shop below us sustained water damage. Thank heaven insurance covered all of it

As for the condo above us....the guy would dump buckets of water in his railing planters and dirty water would splash down on our patio and furniture. Also he would empty his ashtrays of cigar butts over his railing and guess where they landed ?! 😠
Caught him in the act one day and he said he didn’t realize it was causing a problem.

@Azcowgirl @lovesrecess

It doesnt matter if its a condo or an apt, living downstairs

has its problems...

I have some apt horror stories. A friend lived downstairs, her upstairs neighbor let her dog pee and poop on the patio, and the patio was designed like a deck and pee and poop seeped down the cracks in the wood planks down to her patio, patio chairs, and container plants. Her things were ruined ....The smell was AWFUL!!! She moved!

My sister recently moved to a brand new, very expensive apts. The apts have hardwood floors no carpeting and she has weight lifter living above her that likes to lift weights all hours of the day and night! I told her shes paying too much to put up with this especially when complex has a full state of the art gym!