A phone call you really don't want to get at work...

[telophase]

Today at about 4:15, when I was trying to desperately get the minutes of a meeting written up and distributed so I could leave early, I got a phone call from my apartment complex. She started off with "The person in the apartment above you left water running all day..." and my first thought was of the not one, but TWO of you yahoos who've had your bathroom ceilings collapse this year due to leaks. Luckily, my bathroom ceiling is intact, but I can't say the same for the paint on my walls and my carpet. They ripped out the carpet padding and shampooed the rug in those areas today, and will be bringing in painters for the walls tomorrow (I can't see where these GINORMOUS DAMP SPOTS will be dry by tomorrow, but I'll see what happens), and once the carpet dries they'll replace the padding.

The cat is, naturally, thoroughly weirded out. Luckily, for me, not her, the vet's office called to remind me that her shots were due, so she's going to the vet early tomorrow morning to stay there while workmen trample in and out of the apartment all day and will be picked up in the evening. I am hoping the carpet-padding people help me put my furniture back in place because I can't lift the pieces they moved by myself, but if they don't, I think it's the least the complex can do and will be asking them for help.

I went and asked the details of what happened at the office, and it turns out the guy above me flushed and left for work without realizing that the toilet was OVERFLOWING and it overflowed aaaaaaaall day until he got home in the afternoon. I've got big wet patches on several of my walls and over parts of the ceiling, and of course wet carpet without padding. I spent some time thoroughly documenting it with my camera, in case I need it for future reference, like if they try to charge me for damage when I eventually move out.

Damage to my possessions so far seems to be limited to the child's kimono that rachelmanija picked up for me at a Japanese flea market, and to the crappy fiberboard back of a dresser that cost all of a hundred bucks at Target. Nothing worth putting an insurance claim on, that's for sure. So far.




There's normally a dresser underneath the kimono and vest here.


You can see more of the upper part of the wall here.


This is what my living room looks like when you haul everything into the other half to rip up carpet padding. The white thing the cat's sitting on is a small footstool. You can also see the damage to the dresser's back here.


Water came out of the light switch and plug areas in the wall.


Note how the water managed to completely avoid Manji, because he is just that badass. (yes, I checked under the painting)


The smoke alarm. I probably ought to cook something smoky tonight, since they turned it off until the area dries out.


Areas of paint damage in the hall.


Another picture. The big undamaged area is where Manji was hanging.


Water damage along the bottom of the kimono. There's also some dye stains on the inside and here and there on the outside. I'll probably take it to a dry cleaner's and see if they can do anything. If I can get the gumption to do it, I'll present the bill to the apartment complex.



I AM TRAUMATIZED! CAN YOU NOT SEE HOW TRAUMATIZED I AM?!





The most ironic thing? My bathroom is perfectly undamaged, as far as I can tell. I guess the linoleum/vinyl/whatever flooring in this bathroom shunted the water out into the hall and living room.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

NOOOOOOOO! Not the kimono!!!

Oh well, you can buy another one for yourself in six months.

[azure-reverie.livejournal.com]

Oh no, what a mess. :(

Taking the photos was a really good idea; definitely hang on to those.

[cschells.livejournal.com]

Gah! My brother did a stint as a maintenance guy for an apartment complex, and early on he got a call from somebody saying there was water coming out of the light fixture on the ceiling. He was like, "No, electricity comes out of those. You must be mistaken..." Or not. What a pain.

[snarp]

Gahhh. That's horrible. I hope it at least doesn't smell?

I personally "enjoy" how, when there's a water issue high up, the way most places are wired channels water so it comes down out of the electrical fixtures. I got phobic of sleeping under overhead lights for a while when I was a kid, following an incident involving a cheap hotel and a lamp raining on the bed my sisters were in. (I think they were respectively too small and too wiped out to have really noticed it before we fled the room, fortunately.)

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Oh, geeze. You have my deepest sympathy.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

It's not incredibly visible, just annoying. And the damage could have been so much worse - as Toby pointed out, if I wasn't carrying renter's insurance, the TiVo, my computer, and every piece of electronic equipment I own would have been dead. :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Got them on my hard drive, and zipped and backed up to my webspace Just In Case. I'll probably burn them to CD too.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Heh. It never occurred to me that these, well, holes in the wall would be places where water would come out, but it does stand to reason once you think about it. :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I had a light fixture and fan fall out of the ceiling above my bed while I was in it - it didn't fall all the way, however, but ended up dangling by the electrical wires. I haven't been quite trusting of such things since.

Doesn't smell so far - they shampooed the carpet and left all the fans running in my place and will be back with larger fans tomorrow. And the weather is mild enough that I hope mold and mildew doesn't set in. *crosses fingers*

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It could have been far, far worse, but it's still annoying.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Ugh! I hope there aren't complications due to this? Like mold in the walls.
*shiver*

You've got my sympathies!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I once saw a car crash into a fire hydrant and a telephone pole, so a plume of pressurized water twenty feet tall shot into the sky and against the live electrical wires which were the only things keeping the leaning pole upright, and brilliant white sparks fountained down, and the electrified water flowed out over the turn-off valves, and the entire neighborhood came out to gawk and take photos as the fire department tried to get close enough to cut the power and water without getting electrocuted or having a pole fall on them.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yup. Luckily, it's not hot and humid yet. If my allergies start acting up, however...

[herchuckness.livejournal.com]

That is a lot of water damage. Unless you've got -348941% humidity going on there where you live, my bet's on things not being dry by tomorrow. The small amount of damage in my apartment took 2 days with fans and a dehumidifier. (Then again, I do live in a rain forest.)

I love the painting. What is Manji from again?

[snarp]

Gah! Poor fire department! (and "poor driver!", depending-on-the-circumstances) I can't even imagine how you'd fix that, outside of maybe just killing the power for the whole area. I guess that wins the scariest-electricity-and-water-story contest.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have no idea what the hell they're thinking about when they say they're painting tomorrow. It'll probably be next week sometime.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Manji is from Blade of the Immortal. In my previous apartment I had two big spaces that needed filling, and there was a sale on canvases over at Michael's, so I put two and two together and copied panels from Blade. XD

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot that part, but to add to the fun (so to speak), the driver (who was unhurt or maybe had minor injuries, but whom we all eventually saw walk away) was stuck in his car for hours because of the electrical hazard.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

How awful! I'm glad the damage wasn't any worse, and I hope things dry up as quickly as they optimistically think it will.

(Oh, how this brings back memories of living in Boston.)

[madame-manga.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a mess! Water damage is the pits!

That's exactly what I hate about having other people living above you -- many years ago we had a Water Incident involving a guy who tried to do his own amateur plumbing job directly overhead. The first notice was our lights flickering, and the waterfall coming through into the parking garage directly below us. We had wet cottage-cheese ceiling crap all over the bed... and the next apartment we rented was on the TOP FLOOR. I gladly hauled my groceries up the stairs for the privilege!

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Oh no! What a mess! Ick, that looks so awful. It's a very good thing you have insurance. I assume you won't be expected to pay for any of this? Still, what an awful inconveniece, not to mention the distress of ruined personal items. :( Yuck. What a moron that guy is to have let such a thing happen.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

There are a few tiny spots where the damp seems less, but they are few and tiny. :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I didn't rent a top-floor apartment because I had bad back trouble at the time I moved in here, and because it was the summer after a winter ice storm that covered exposed stairs in lots of ice, and I was leery of that. But thanks to a job with actual health insurance, my back is significantly better, so I am physically able to haul groceries up stairs now. Although I'm tired of apartments and of moving and am thinking of not moving at all until I can afford the rent on a house. (Well, I could afford the rent on a house now, but not the sort of quirky, charming house I want :D)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yup, got renter's insurance so any of my possessions are covered, although very little got wet. The apartment is taking care of the carpet and walls (and, I hope, the plumbing). Sigh.

[rayechu.livejournal.com]

Ick. I am glad you are okay, there was no electrical shortage, and that there was minimal damage to your possessions. Though I would be very annoyed about the shelf as well. $100, is a $100 and I dislike having to rebuy bookshelves. Do you think you could lysol the walls or anything similar to prevent mold?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

It's a dresser, rather than a bookshelf, and it's just the backing that was damaged, so it won't show when it's back in its proper position against the wall, luckily. :) It's all just annoying...

[rayechu.livejournal.com]

Dressers are just bookshelves that close :P
Actually keep the backing out and make sure it dries and doesn't develop mold before pushing it back against the wall.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Not that top floor apartments are necessarily free of water damage danger: I had a leaky roof when I lived in a top floor apartment in Boston. It kept leaking; my landlords kept doing a sucky job of repairing; it would leak again; lather, rinse, repeat. I began to cringe every time it rained.

Ultimately I fled to a new apartment--in which the bathroom ceiling later caved in due to a leaky pipe.

Cat Welcome

[bitpig.livejournal.com]

Reason #23,659 I'd rather live in a tin shack than an apartment.

Hey, if you need a place to stay while things dry out, you're always welcome at our place.

Re: Cat Welcome

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:) Thanks. I'm going to see what the next day or two brings, and will let you know if I need to take you up on the offer. :)

[madame-manga.livejournal.com]

Point taken; a few years ago my mother had a roof incompetently repaired and spent weeks drying out about a hundred vintage books and some Chinese handscrolls that belonged to my grandfather. She handed the art restoration fees to the roofing contractor, who meekly paid up.

At least rain is... an act of Mother Nature, or something. When it's some dip with a pipe wrench who has no idea how plumbing actually works, it's the same mess, but my wrath has an available focus, woe be unto him. :D

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

Oh, yuck. At least it wasn't worse, but still. What a pain.

[madame-manga.livejournal.com]

Apartments just blow, that's all there is to it. I do not know a single apartment dweller who doesn't have a whole portfolio of horror stories. Houses test your sanity in different ways, but I'll still take 'em over any variety of communal building. I hope you can find a cute fixer-upper!

Manji's aura of invulnerability totally cracks me up, by the way. :D

[homasse.livejournal.com]

Uwaaaaaugh. NOT FUN.

Also, yes. Manji is, in fact, THAT badass.

[asteres.livejournal.com]

Um...urge to kill...rising?

Regardless, probably time to look into a move. If you like the complex, at least consider moving units. That one will never be the same and won't exactly be habitable.

[celestriad.livejournal.com]

oh my goodness. >.<; the apartment complex better pay for all of that!

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

That's awful. You should totally take the dry cleaning bill to the apartment, and replacement cost if it comes to that.

[pzb.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, that sucks. (Though I did have to giggle a bit about the painting being spared XD) At least the nice thing is that they are being quick about the repairs. Jim flooded the people below us when we were still in CA not once, but twice, though it wasn't a toilet - it was the fish tank. Thankfully, it was a small enough trickle of water flowing out the RO unit, but still.

And thankfully, they're paying for it. :D The nice thing about renting. Ahh....I'll miss that One Single Part of renting soon....... :D

YUK!

[riofriotex.livejournal.com]

OK, this comment is kinda gross, so I decided to wait until most of your friendslist had commented. My brother lived in a downstairs apartment in Austin (near the Capitol) and noticed one day a horrid fluid running down his bathroom walls....

Turned out the guy upstairs had died in the bathroom (of natural causes, apparently) and was starting to decompose. Since it was the bathroom, little of his stuff was damaged, but they did move him out into another (smaller) apartment while they thoroughly cleaned and re-did everything...

And being in a house does not solve all water problems. My sister has a townhouse in H-town. The previous owner installed a solar panel system on the roof, which developed a leak, collapsing the ceiling on her upstairs bedroom and sending the chandelier in the dining area down in the dining area. Her first floor also flooded during Tropical Storm Allison - instead of replacing the carpet downstairs, she used stone/brick/tile flooring everywhere instead.

[gweniveeve.livejournal.com]

Oh man. That really sucks.

Once our shower started leaking into the shower of the dude below us, for reasons unfathomed (I guess a pipe had gotten loose). And when I was showering I didn't hear the knocks on the door because the shower is really far away from the front door (and the noise of the shower).