mcs328

My neighbor under me told me her bathroom ceiling was leaking from my place. I found the leak was this slow drip. One drop every 5 seconds. I diverted the water into a bucket. Her damage is drywall bubbling and moldy smell. It will cost me 3600 to replace my Quest/polybutelyne pipes that are defective and have been recalled. For 3600 they re-pipe, replace the drywall and paint it over. They do not remove mold even though can just cut the drywall out with the mold. They aren't even going to use new drywall. Just re-use the drywall they cut out. My own insurance might cover it but HOA won't. I'm going to hire another guy to remove the mold and reinstall drywall. Ugh. What a mess.

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Yossarian

renters/homeowners ins?

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mcs328

well **** me. For some reason the toilets were bubbling and then water was coming up the drain. So now my neighbor downstairs has water or sewage raining down in her unit. **** this. I need to get the **** out of this place. I'm going to be dirt poor and homeless because I'm sure I'm going to get sued up the ass.

Markel

Homeowner's insurance will usually only cover "catastrophic" leaks (such as a pipe bursting). They usually consider a "dripping" leak something that is the homeowner's responsibility.

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lights

geez... that really sucks to hear. hope you get it figured out.

mcs328

Well the mold damage is bad. $1800. They are going to have to cut out the affected wood pieces based on the photos I sent them.
So far I'm in for $3600 + $1800 + Emergency Plumber call ($300)

It's going to bread and water for me a very very long time. I'm screwed. I'm going to cut cable TV, eat even less than I do now (I skip breakfast), rinse and reuse, and more ramen. I'll keep internet and instant tea. Maybe buttered flavored rice.

Ugh. I'm going to redo mu budget and do some close to the bone cuts. I ****ing hate my home. I don't think the HOA cover the potential wood rot and mold for the structure.

faither

Any discussion with your insurance company? Don't make any assumptions and press their rear-ends. Additionally, have the folks in the unit below do the same. It's a while now but I've seen insurance cover these types of situations. Press forward.

mcs328

http://img11.imageshack.us/i/moldunitc1.gif/
http://img11.imageshack.us/i/moldunitc1.gif/

This is the damage to my neighbors bathroom ceiling and my subfloor.

mcs328

Well the good news is that they'll treat the wood and remove the damaged drywall instead of cutting it out. Bad news is I clogged the toilet again and left it. I'm not going to attempt to plunge it. Drano? Bleach and hot water? Snake it myself? New Toilet?

LPMiller

Don't use drano on a toliet. You can snake it, but only if you have the right kind of snake. I have had success with dumping in about a half a cup or so worth of dish soap, letting it sit for a little bit, then adding hot water (not boiling), then plunging after that mixture sits a bit.

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ray

I would do what LPMiller suggested...and never put Drano down your toilet. Could ruin some of the piping further along the way.

If you're not comfortable with the snaking, maybe you should hire a plumber to do it for you. Or, checkout Youtube.com for tutorials

Nija

More Fiber.

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Prngr44

Didn't you just buy this place?

Any chance the leaks, etc. were there before you bought it?

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mcs328

I bought it 4-5 years ago. The mold guy will bill the HOA for the work. Surprise surprise, the HOA will determine what part of the bill they will cover and what I would cover based on what they think was damage from my leak or a previous condition.

I'm also losing my voice. Either from the flu or the release or mold spored when they cut up the drywall and found the mold.

mcs328

Well this looks like some bs. I talked to one of the workers if he has an estimate so far for this mold thing. I already know the re-pipe is $3600 since they sent me the balance due. The mold guys said they spent almost $1500 in material. BS. In my place alone they just have to replace maybe (3)3x3 pieces of drywall at most and then spray the wood with some mold killing treatment thing. In the unit below me, fine, they replaced the whole bathroom drywall ceiling, insulation, the metal strips to attach the drywall and the same mold killing treatment. I don't think that's $1500 worth of material but I could be wrong. The labor i'm sure is going to ass expensive. I could be jumping the gun since I haven't seen the bill yet.

So this is what I'm thinking. I have three possible sources of funding for this fiasco. Myself, my personal insurance and the HOA insurance company. I don't think the $3600 would be covered for the re-pipe to fix the leak so that's all on me. The damage however by the leak is being fixed by the mold guys who are removing the mold and the damaged drywall caused by water damage. I think my personal insurance should cover the damaged drywall and the mold by the HOA as a pre-existing condition that was discovered during assessing the water damage to the drywall.

Am I out of line?

guiseppewv

Dude, this sucks. I am sorry you are having to go through this.

Were you able to talk to your insurance company about it?

mcs328

My neighbor woke up to the noise of my handyman installing a new toilet that the older one was clogging up last week. He notices that his bathroom floor and drywall is coming up and staining. And of course this could be dripping into the unit below. Having replaced my pipes, replacing damaged drywall, a plumber to check for the source of the new leak (my old toilet), what could be the source of this new THIRD leak?? The sewer/drainage pipes from the sink, toilet and tub??? Which of course will be my financial responsibility because Murphy's Law is in full effect. So someone will have to come in and cut out drywall again from the unit below and the bottom unit to assess damage I would imagine.

My options at this point are apply for a big ass loan. I estimate that this would be 20-30K. My liquid assets are 10K. The other option is rent an apt and get foreclosed on. The other option is to declare bankruptcy. I'm leaning toward foreclosure or bankruptcy. It would take me several years to pay back a 20-30K loan.

Prngr44

Holy crap!

ray

Bankruptcy should be your last option. There's a lot of hurdles to jump through and of course the 7-year ding on your credit history before it disappears.

renovation

dam your screwed -and there rates are crazy .but i use to be a direct contractor for a major home owners insurance company .and we were able to charge a boatload of cash for repairs. like $25 just to take off a light switch cover. insane what type of money we use to charge and make !

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mcs328

I know it's Thanksgiving week but I would think people would call me back and say I owe this or I still have so and so problem. Nothing. I call everyday for an update on the problems below me and who is being sent out to look for what. I haven't paid anything more than the down payment until everything is absolutely settled. My neighbor hasn't said anything if they came out again to look at the problem and the companies haven't called me back to schedule a time. Don't they want these things fixed and their money? I'm stressing so bad.

Markel

I noted earlier that many homeowner's insurance policies do not cover damage from slow leaks. However, if you are facing liability for damage to another property it may be another story. I have no idea how condo insurance policies are written, but I would imagine that there is a liability clause for damage to other units. Have you spoken with your insurance?

mcs328

It's almost over. The pipe people came over and fixed my crooked water intake. Verified that no leaks are coming from my place. The possible leak was the water intake to the new toilet. The washer was crooked but even then the leak wasn't apparent. I'll see because my floors are still crooked.

The leak in the unit below is from his defective pipe. So he's in the situation I was in except he has loads of crap to move to get access to the pipes. I'm sure the new neighbors below won't appreciate new holes in a place they just repainted if he decided to get them replaced. Or he can just repair the leak.

Anyways I'm almost done. Now to pay the piper. I'm looking at 10K. That will drain my savings and checking to almost nothing. No Xmas shopping this year.