Ah, the luxury of living in a townhouse complex with neighbors above and on the side of me. (I'm currently rethinking this) I longed for a nice little townhouse with a small fenced in courtyard for my English Cocker Spaniel and we have managed to upgrade with nice vinyl tempered glass sliding doors and windows, and got it to just how we want it.
Well, remember the Condo/Townhouse Living in Hawaii..........and A Water Leak where my bathroom leak ended up in a total restoration of bath/shower/walls?
I have been happy these last few months since I no longer have to worry about fiberglass cheapy bathtubs and a leaking shower behind a fiberglass wall. I've had my beautiful ceramic tile walls, bathtub and all new plumbing. Luxury! 
Now what? Last night we were getting ready for bed and Gary went in the kitchen and started saying...oh 'shucks'. I ran in and saw leaking from the ceiling and through our lighting fixture.
Drip, drip, drip.
Gary runs upstairs and no one answers. He calls and she says, "Oh, yeah. I told the landlord a week ago that the floor was buckling and there was a leak". Uh, and...and! AND!
If you live in a townhouse or apartment complex and there is a leak you do something about it ASAP, lest you damage other units below or on the side of you and be liable for damages.
These are tenants above us. Sometimes, people just don't care because it's not theirs. Sometimes, common sense just doesn't phase them.
I asked her, "Why didn't you tell us this a week ago?" She says, "Oh, we figured you'd let us know".
From these pictures, wouldn't you say I found out the hard way?????
The resident manager calls us around 12am and walks us through shutting off their water upstairs. And...she threatens to call the police. HUH? Who cares about our falling ceiling. Who cares about mold, mildew and electrical fixtures that are leaking water. Who cares? I DO!
Our ceiling is torn apart, mildew is apparent (after a week of leaking!) and the tenant is only worried about having their water on.
Did the plumber find the leak? Oh, NO. But here's our number if it starts again....and uh, if you find out who is reponsible ..they can fix your ceiling.
There will always be problems with a townhouse or condo but just be prepared to take the appropriate course of action. EVEN IF YOU'RE a TENANT be responsible and don't wait a week to tell your neighbor!
The following are the steps we took from 11pm to 1:30am:
I had been responsible through MY bathroom leak (Hawaii Townhouse Living... Responsible Homeowners Take Steps to Protect) and notified everyone so neighbors would not have damage from us. I had hoped for the same if it ever happened to anyone else. NO SUCH LUCK.
Sometimes, you just have to take matters into your own hands to protect your other neighbors from further damage. Even if they don't care....doesn't mean you can't be a responsible individual in your community.
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Sally, I wound up having my bathrooms taken down to the studs to get rid of a leak - although my plumbing was circa 1914. Water can do so much damage!
Boo! I had to deal with a very similar situation with one of my listings. The upstairs people didn't mention that they overflowed the toilet, until we noticed.
Sally,
WOW! I hate plumbing leaks...you need to find another place where they use that new manifold system...plastic pipe that has no fittings or joints...each line runs from the source to the destination with no connections!!! Not that expensive in new construction!!! Thanks, Fran
Patricia: I did the same for my bathroom...new plumbing, drain, walls, tub ...I love it.....but this kitchen thing has me pissed off!
Chris: You know....it's really sad when people play dumb. Good thing is they have me to deal with now.....this is MY HOME! Okay...that felt good :)
Fran: I need to go to the one story 2 bedroom unit here. I like townhouse living....security and such...don't like this upstairs downstairs stuff.
Sally,
It just dawned on me...you're in Hawaii...why do you need 'indoor' plumbing anyway??? LOL, Thanks, Fran
That is such a ridiculous story. They knew and let it continue.
being there. ..this shouldn't spoil your day. .:)
Fran: Funny....no...we do use toilet paper lol!
Randy: The nerve of her to say...well, we figured you'd say something if something happened... I couldn't believe my ears!
Fernando: Uh...just for a little while. Just goes to show....gotta be responsible.
This is exactly why I counsel my clients looking for condos to purchase in a 100% owner occupied building (as per HOA rules). You can't prevent this all the time, but you can minimize the liklihood.
Poor Sally.
Jennifer: Fat chance of getting 100% here....we have about 70% which minimizes.....then again...we just got "lucky"....oh, they're moving shortly after a horrendous two years of stomping on our ceiling (their floor) and shaking our ceiling fans, throwing water off their porch without looking if anyone is below. The landlord is nice though.
I feel for you! There's nothing worse than water problems, OK, maybe fire, but still, what a lot of damage. Those upstairs tenants sound unbelievable!
Lisa: Oh, yeah. Now...they'll move soon....and we have to wish for better ones.....I think the owner feels bad for us.
Sally, I want through a similar fiasco with water problems with a tenant I was leasing my duplex too, where a washing machine leaked water and it flooded one side and went to the other. Whenever it is a water problem, get on it right away. The mildew problem afterward is awful. I feel for you.
Sally- I can't believe you are doing another leak :( I too would be ticked off, and now look...you have to not only put up with an apparently unreasonable neighbor, but you also had to tear out the ceiling. Uck.....my thoughts are with you again....
Just part of regular home living both here and around the world. I'm constantly upgrading...replacing repairing...including my clients homes:)
What a bummer! Leaks can be so hard to find because they don't always travel in a logical fashion but can shimmy along before finally succumbing to gravity. We had to rip up a large portion of our kitchen ceilng 2 years ago to find the leak that was coming from our master bathroom upstairs. It's such a pain to have to fix, patch, sand and paint...I feel for you!
Sally--No matter where you live you cannot pick your neighbors and trust them to do the right thing. Obviously you were a good neighbor when you had a plumbing problem...Sad that you weren't didn't receive similar consideration when the shoe was on the other foot. Hopefully your post will save others on both ends of similar situations headaches.
Leaks and other problems are going to happen. Being a responsible homeowner and empathatic neighbor is the right thing to do!
Hope that all your water troubles are behind you soon! :)
Gary: I am sooo mad. The 'plumber' didn't find a leak...all we know is someone isn't telling the whole story and all we know is the whole oak floor in the kitchen is soaked and soaked our ceiling!
Kathy: Hey...but it's a new day... the hole allowed it to dry...and we'll get to the bottom of this yet.
Neal: It sure is...and consumers who are purchasing OR renting really need to take heed to being responsible and reporting damage so other units don't get damaged ..... they WILL be liable for damages etc.
Kelly: Well, nothing else has happened. For the amount of water there had to be some kind of overflow from something. Those wood floors upstairs are totaled!
Teri: Sooner or later I'm going to get tired of this and get a one story townhouse :)
Sally - This is a real mess! Even after the leak is taken care of, there is the mold problem.....I know here in Florida it can take over!!! Do keep us updated! Good luck to you!
Sis - What a mess indeed. I'm bookmarking this because I think this is a good post for all homeowners and potential homeowners as a resource on steps one can take. Let everyone know how it turns out.
Barbara Jo and Lil Bro:
The owner just called ...he is back in Hawaii (he was in Japan until this am) and will be checking it out...he agrees....some just don't have commmon sense.
Some need written instructions.
Some need to own their own so they know what it's like to care.
Sally water leaks can be a nightmare even in a house. Hope they get fixed for you soon, maybe by the next blog :)
Thanks George....I just worry about mold...the ceiling can be fixed....it seems all dry right now...and i'll go spray clorox in there tonight. Don't want anyone covering over potential spores....sounds like a sci-fi movie hahaha.
Good news the owner is back.....and that it's dry.
Hey Kathy: I'm so tired..no sleep two nights ago...working my behind cleaning all the crap up and work all day today ..... weekend. Oh, yeah right. Home Inspection tomorrow and Open House on Sunday.
Sally - this sucks - I am sorry you once again have to go through this.... keep us posted.... but I am sure you will :o)
Plumbing leaks can be problems - so sorry you're having one again.
1) Local condo owner is suing his association because the association won't pay for repairs to water damage that was obviously his fault and not the common fault.
2) A new house I sold had problems in the master bathtub - at the walkthrough we saw it wasn't grouted properly and had them fix it. Then water started coming through the chandelier in the dining room below the bedroom - massive fix of plumbing, sheetrock, painting. The it happened again. The builder thought the owners were letting the tub overflow. Finally builder took the tub all the way out, and discovered that the supports weren't properly sized so they bent, which brought the tub down, which broke the seals, which caused the leaks .... rebuilt the support structure, replaced the plumbing, reset the tub, regrouted, redid the sheetrock, the pain ... and it's been fine since.
Thesa: I'm sure I will too....:) Thanks
Sharon: We have mold. We smell, see it and pulled more ceiling off....now the owner upstairs is coming to tear up the floor upstairs...it's an isolated incident. This was over a week ago...the tenant said she noticed it then....and nothing since it came through our ceiling.
MOLD. My main concern. The ceiling can be fixed easy. There's MOLD now. Black stinky MOLD.
Hey...can you tell I'm not having a good day? MOLD.
I should have read this post first. Then I would have know what was going on. The leaks may be because they those cheap valves, Ask and be sure to change yours. They cause a lot of problems. I would guess you have had the management company over. This may be big, so get some qualified help ( and you know what I am referring to here) and don't try to handle this yourself. OK?
Sally- This is so unacceptable and a lack of courtery, respect and full of irresponsibility on the part of the tenants. I am sorry you are going through this, not like you already went through this before. What were the police being called for?
That's okay William. Oh, no....insurance adjuster is coming to save the day...they don't want to pay out if it's not our fault...they'll investigate. :)
Katerina: That's what I say. Because the water was turned off... :)
I am heading over to my listing to survey the water damage; the tanat nbever bothered to tell anyone they had leakage around the tub, now the moisture is seeping up the wall through the plasterboard. AArrrggghhh!!!!!!
Mike: Isn't that the case???? Some respect others property....some don't give a hoot. Our bathroom had pipe leaking...had to tear everything out and just did a new bath...this was in December. Now look.