Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Condo garage leak - caused by neighbors?

Collapse

Forum Top GA Ad Widget

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Condo garage leak - caused by neighbors?

    Hi all I just discovered this forum and am glad I did!

    I am going through a divorce and have been renting for the past 4 months a third floor condo (third out of 3 levels, I think there are 8-9 units and 3 deatched garages). For the past 4 weeks I have been finding large amounts of water coming from the ground / soil. This does not happen everyday, but I usually find it in the mornings on my way to work. However I have also found a leak at night once. I assume this is some sort of broken pipe? but know nothing about plumbling. I contacted my landlord ASAP who said the HOA plumber would be investigating and repair. Now from my previous ownership experience, I don't trust HOA's at all which is one reason for this post seeking opinions.

    4 weeks later there is still no resolution in sight. According to the HOA plumber / landlord, my neighbors haven't been responsive in setting aside a time where they can test to see who is causing the flooding down below. I was frustrated and finally called the HOA myself asking why my neighbors have to be invovled as the leak is down below, can't you investigate at the spot of the leak firstr? The plumber sent a message that yes, they do indeed need to run tests and identify the cause, and that it's likely the person right above my garage.

    Now this happens to be the one neighbor I chat with , I find it hard to believe it would be him . He told me that his water use is limited to daily showers and the washing machine twice a month. He said he has never even turned on his dishwasher, and that if his kitchen sink is on it's to wash his hands or a cereal bowl. I asked him perhaps he could let me know the next tmie he ran water so I coul see for myself, both times when he let me know he'd be taking a long shower and washing some clothes I went down to the garage... no leak at all. I also feel like unless I have neighbors who dont' shower on a regular basis, if ti was one of them wouldn't I be seeing the flooding on a daily basis? Somteimes it happens and won't happen again for another 4-5 days.

    I am beginning to suspect if it's my landlord being a little shady here hoping HOA will resolve for him rather than hiring his own plumber? A friend put It in my head that they might be trying to hope to avoid any serious work first in breaking up the ground, and just rather assign blame to a unit above to absorb the costs.

    Am I way off base here for not trusting what the plumber / hoA says? Should I knock on the door of each neighbor and just plead with them to please go along with the HOA request? Eveyrone here works and I do realize taking a vacation day just to accommodate me is asking a lot, it's not like I can just point to a person above me and say your shower is clearly leaking into my ceiling.

    Opinions would be appreciated, I am getting quite frustrated but do need to decide soon if I should just bug my neighbors or be firm and demand my landlord proactively fix this with or without the HOA plumber. I have about less than 2 months left on the lease so moving is an option too although I do enjoy this neighborhood and also would hate the hassle to pick up and move again so quick.


    Thank you for reading my long post!

  • #2
    I would have to see the plumbing plan to see where the pipes and main drains go. You mention detatched garages. Do the main drains connect to a city drain or does it go to a septic tank system. If it's the latter, then I'd have to know what kind of pipe is used - pvc, clay etc. A clay pipe going under vehicle accessible roadway would be susceptible to vehicle weights and could collapse under the weight and promote leaking when the drain is used.

    Comment

    Working...
    X
    =