KMG365
Well-Known Member
On August 16th, around 1 am, I discovered that the ceiling was leaking above my bed. There were two small holes in the ceiling drywall above the bed and drips of water were falling out of those holes. I immediately grabbed a bucket, that I keep on hand for my aquarium, to catch the water and then fired off an e-mail to the landlord. Around 8 pm that night, the ceiling leaked again. In both instances, the mattress became quite wet in the middle, but not soaked. The mattress was completely dry in a day or so.
I heard back from one of the landlords the morning of the 17th, but he said he was out of town and would have to forward my message to one of his partners. The partner, the "other" landlord, showed up on the evening of the 19th to inspect the ceiling. He made a visit to the apartment upstairs, but couldn't find the source of the leak. As the ceiling had not leaked since the night of the 16th, he concluded that whatever caused the leak had sorted itself out.
On the evening of the 20th, the leak started again and this time, the water drips from the ceiling were coming down slightly faster. The first landlord (the one I contacted originally about the earlier leaks) showed up in the middle of the afternoon the following day. He cut a larger hole in the ceiling to try to figure out what was going on. In the process, he made a mess of my bed - with drywall dust and so on, and I had to wash all my bedding for the fourth time since the leaks began.
As there were no pipes running through the ceiling above my bed and the drywall itself was only wet in a few areas, the landlord said he was baffled as to what was causing the leak. He went to the upstairs apartment and returned a short while later to tell me that their kitchen sink was leaking and that was causing the problem in my apartment.
Apparently, the previous tenant in that apartment, who had moved out a short time earlier, kept a bucket under the sink, that he must've emptied regularly, but did not tell the landlord about the leak when he moved out. The new tenants didn't know about the leak, so they removed the bucket. I was told that the sink had a broken plastic ring on the pipe that was allowing water to get out and that it would be an easy fix. I assumed the repair would be completed ASAP, but no such luck.
On the morning of October 7th, about 30 to 40 minutes after I got out of bed, I started hearing weird noises. It sounded like dripping water, but as there's an aquarium next to where I was sitting, I initially thought that was the source of the sound. When I returned to the bedroom, however, I saw that a very steady stream of water was pouring out of the ceiling and soaking my mattress. The larger hole in the ceiling, that the landlord created back in August, allowed more water to come through at a time. By the time I got a bucket, everything was already soaked. Water seeped through the mattress and soaked a large area on both sides of the box-spring as well. I had stuffed a large number of books under the bed and it's possible that some of those are wet too. I attempted to contact the tenants upstairs myself twice, but no one answered the door.
I called the contact numbers for both of the landlords I had dealt with for the earlier leaks and left messages for both of them. Around half an hour later, one of them called me back and said he would be at my apartment within the hour. Shortly after, the other landlord called me as well.
The landlord I spoke to first that morning showed up and finally managed to reach the upstairs tenant. He told me, after seeing their apartment, that the bucket under their sink had overflowed and that's why water was pouring into my apartment. Of course, had the landlords fixed the leaky sink back in August when they became aware of it, instead of forcing those tenants to keep a bucket under their sink, none of this would have happened.
At this point, after talking to some friends and family, I was told I should tell the landlord that I wanted a new mattress and box-spring due to the possibility of mould growing inside the mattress from all that water. Initially, the landlord responded favourably to that idea.
After the landlord left, I talked to the tenant upstairs. Apparently, one of the landlords dropped off a part to fix the leaky sink back in August and told the tenants upstairs to fix the sink themselves. After a lot of effort, they realized the part they received wouldn't work. The landlord returned, agreed with them that it was the wrong piece, and promised to return the following day. He never came back. The upstairs tenants told me that the leak actually wasn't caused by just a cracked ring, that the pipe itself had a crack in it and, for the last month and a half, they've been washing their dishes in the bathtub to try and prevent the kitchen sink from leaking again.
My mattress and box-spring are good quality and about 5 years old. I purchased the mattress and box-spring as part of a bedroom set, so I had to estimate a value for just those two items. I decided that they were probably worth about $1200 to $1400 or so. When the landlord realized he might be on the hook for that kind of money, he was not too pleased.
I had earlier called my insurance company about the leak, at the request of my landlord, and was told by the insurance company that if I placed a claim for the mattress and box-spring, I would be on the hook for a $500 deductible, my apartment insurance could go up by as much as 10% for 5 years and who knows what kind of position I'd be in if I had to make another claim in the future. Once the landlord realized the cost of getting me a new mattress and box-spring, he decided I should go ahead and file an insurance claim and he'd give me the $500 to pay the deductible. When I reminded him that I'd be on the hook for higher premiums and possibly other penalties if I ever had to make another claim, he basically told me that's too bad, that's the way the system works. Considering I was not, in any way, responsible for this damage and the landlord knew about the problem since at least the 20th of August, I really resented the idea of being on the hook financially for this at all.
The landlord went on to tell me that, since my mattress was already five years old, and therefore no longer new, they had decided that they should not have to pay for a new mattress and box-spring, but should instead only be responsible for some depreciated value. He told me that there were lots of sales on right now and I could buy a new mattress and box-spring for less than $500 - obviously not of the same quality as the one their negligence was forcing me to give up, however.
After a lot more discussion with both landlords over the phone, they finally accepted that I'm entitled to a new mattress and box-spring of the same quality as the one I currently have. One of the landlords went to a mattress store nearby and called me, just before the store closed, to tell me he had found a good quality mattress I might like that was on sale. Of course, as these things always go, there was only one in stock and I had to make a decision right then, over the phone. It's a Sealy Posturepedic, so I'm hoping it's a good mattress. Apparently, I have two months to try it out and, if I don't like it, I can exchange it for another one. The store won't take away my old mattress or box-spring, because of the water damage, so I'm hoping I can just put it out for regular garbage pickup.
All in all, this has been a very stressful day and I won't know until Sunday, when the new mattress is delivered, if it's even going to work out.
About 15 hours after a plumber fixed the leaky sink (for good, I hope), the top of my old mattress seems pretty dry, but one side is still pretty wet. The top dried much quicker than I thought it would (the mattress is a pillow top, if that makes any difference) so I'm starting to second guess myself and wondering if the old mattress could've been saved. Logically, I know there could be a risk of mould growing in the old mattress, due to all that water, and there's a huge water stain on the top now, but I'm still wondering if I made the right choice in putting myself through all of this stress and frustration in demanding the mattress and box-spring be replaced instead of trying to salvage what I had. :roll:
I heard back from one of the landlords the morning of the 17th, but he said he was out of town and would have to forward my message to one of his partners. The partner, the "other" landlord, showed up on the evening of the 19th to inspect the ceiling. He made a visit to the apartment upstairs, but couldn't find the source of the leak. As the ceiling had not leaked since the night of the 16th, he concluded that whatever caused the leak had sorted itself out.
On the evening of the 20th, the leak started again and this time, the water drips from the ceiling were coming down slightly faster. The first landlord (the one I contacted originally about the earlier leaks) showed up in the middle of the afternoon the following day. He cut a larger hole in the ceiling to try to figure out what was going on. In the process, he made a mess of my bed - with drywall dust and so on, and I had to wash all my bedding for the fourth time since the leaks began.
As there were no pipes running through the ceiling above my bed and the drywall itself was only wet in a few areas, the landlord said he was baffled as to what was causing the leak. He went to the upstairs apartment and returned a short while later to tell me that their kitchen sink was leaking and that was causing the problem in my apartment.
Apparently, the previous tenant in that apartment, who had moved out a short time earlier, kept a bucket under the sink, that he must've emptied regularly, but did not tell the landlord about the leak when he moved out. The new tenants didn't know about the leak, so they removed the bucket. I was told that the sink had a broken plastic ring on the pipe that was allowing water to get out and that it would be an easy fix. I assumed the repair would be completed ASAP, but no such luck.
On the morning of October 7th, about 30 to 40 minutes after I got out of bed, I started hearing weird noises. It sounded like dripping water, but as there's an aquarium next to where I was sitting, I initially thought that was the source of the sound. When I returned to the bedroom, however, I saw that a very steady stream of water was pouring out of the ceiling and soaking my mattress. The larger hole in the ceiling, that the landlord created back in August, allowed more water to come through at a time. By the time I got a bucket, everything was already soaked. Water seeped through the mattress and soaked a large area on both sides of the box-spring as well. I had stuffed a large number of books under the bed and it's possible that some of those are wet too. I attempted to contact the tenants upstairs myself twice, but no one answered the door.
I called the contact numbers for both of the landlords I had dealt with for the earlier leaks and left messages for both of them. Around half an hour later, one of them called me back and said he would be at my apartment within the hour. Shortly after, the other landlord called me as well.
The landlord I spoke to first that morning showed up and finally managed to reach the upstairs tenant. He told me, after seeing their apartment, that the bucket under their sink had overflowed and that's why water was pouring into my apartment. Of course, had the landlords fixed the leaky sink back in August when they became aware of it, instead of forcing those tenants to keep a bucket under their sink, none of this would have happened.
At this point, after talking to some friends and family, I was told I should tell the landlord that I wanted a new mattress and box-spring due to the possibility of mould growing inside the mattress from all that water. Initially, the landlord responded favourably to that idea.
After the landlord left, I talked to the tenant upstairs. Apparently, one of the landlords dropped off a part to fix the leaky sink back in August and told the tenants upstairs to fix the sink themselves. After a lot of effort, they realized the part they received wouldn't work. The landlord returned, agreed with them that it was the wrong piece, and promised to return the following day. He never came back. The upstairs tenants told me that the leak actually wasn't caused by just a cracked ring, that the pipe itself had a crack in it and, for the last month and a half, they've been washing their dishes in the bathtub to try and prevent the kitchen sink from leaking again.
My mattress and box-spring are good quality and about 5 years old. I purchased the mattress and box-spring as part of a bedroom set, so I had to estimate a value for just those two items. I decided that they were probably worth about $1200 to $1400 or so. When the landlord realized he might be on the hook for that kind of money, he was not too pleased.
I had earlier called my insurance company about the leak, at the request of my landlord, and was told by the insurance company that if I placed a claim for the mattress and box-spring, I would be on the hook for a $500 deductible, my apartment insurance could go up by as much as 10% for 5 years and who knows what kind of position I'd be in if I had to make another claim in the future. Once the landlord realized the cost of getting me a new mattress and box-spring, he decided I should go ahead and file an insurance claim and he'd give me the $500 to pay the deductible. When I reminded him that I'd be on the hook for higher premiums and possibly other penalties if I ever had to make another claim, he basically told me that's too bad, that's the way the system works. Considering I was not, in any way, responsible for this damage and the landlord knew about the problem since at least the 20th of August, I really resented the idea of being on the hook financially for this at all.
The landlord went on to tell me that, since my mattress was already five years old, and therefore no longer new, they had decided that they should not have to pay for a new mattress and box-spring, but should instead only be responsible for some depreciated value. He told me that there were lots of sales on right now and I could buy a new mattress and box-spring for less than $500 - obviously not of the same quality as the one their negligence was forcing me to give up, however.
After a lot more discussion with both landlords over the phone, they finally accepted that I'm entitled to a new mattress and box-spring of the same quality as the one I currently have. One of the landlords went to a mattress store nearby and called me, just before the store closed, to tell me he had found a good quality mattress I might like that was on sale. Of course, as these things always go, there was only one in stock and I had to make a decision right then, over the phone. It's a Sealy Posturepedic, so I'm hoping it's a good mattress. Apparently, I have two months to try it out and, if I don't like it, I can exchange it for another one. The store won't take away my old mattress or box-spring, because of the water damage, so I'm hoping I can just put it out for regular garbage pickup.
All in all, this has been a very stressful day and I won't know until Sunday, when the new mattress is delivered, if it's even going to work out.
About 15 hours after a plumber fixed the leaky sink (for good, I hope), the top of my old mattress seems pretty dry, but one side is still pretty wet. The top dried much quicker than I thought it would (the mattress is a pillow top, if that makes any difference) so I'm starting to second guess myself and wondering if the old mattress could've been saved. Logically, I know there could be a risk of mould growing in the old mattress, due to all that water, and there's a huge water stain on the top now, but I'm still wondering if I made the right choice in putting myself through all of this stress and frustration in demanding the mattress and box-spring be replaced instead of trying to salvage what I had. :roll:
