The building we live in is old, probably constructed in the 50s. As such, there are some issues; our kitchen and bathroom subfloor has divots (some of the kitchen tiles are coming up and the bathroom tile has so many cracks we know that if water gets on the floor it's likely leaking into the ceiling downstairs), not enough wall outlets where we need them, on occasion the radiator has leaked water into the apartment below, etc. And now I get to add more confirmed leaks to the list.
When mom was in the hospital for her hip, I had to deal with a leak in the bathroom (mainly the ceiling but also inside a wall). We still haven't gotten that stripped/repainted. The explanation from the upstairs neighbors (who ignored my knocks on the door and the maintenance guy had to come and check it out for them to realize anything) was that she was giving the baby a bath in the sink and he was splashing water on the floor. I don't know what kind of sink they have, but ours is barely big enough to rinse a small sweater in. Our concern is how long had there been a leak before we noticed? It has not happened again, so maybe the fact that maintenance approached them first about it was good.
Fast-forward to about two hours ago. I'm on the computer when I hear crackling from the kitchen. I go in...and see and hear water in the wall again. Around the outlet There is a radio plugged in there and I yank the plug just in case.
So I call the emergency line, explain that we have water in the wall near an outlet and get a call back from a tech two minutes later. If water does contact the wires it will trip the breaker--while there's no immediate danger it is something to watch given what has happened before. He offers to come by and check it out just in case. In the meantime the wall has quieted down/dried out and I go upstairs...surprise, no answer.
Maintenance guy shows up and immediately goes up there. They were doing something that overflowed the sink* and she did mop it up immediately...but it again begs the question how long had that been happening before it got to a point where we noticed?
That was definitely a "holy " moment; besides pulling the plug I didn't touch anything until I heard back from maintenance.
* I'd love to know what. Our sink is stainless steel, fairly huge and has a backsplash so even if water does get on the counter it's not going anywhere. The pipes are easy to block up if you put the wrong thing down there...we have a disposal now so don't need to worry about food waste but they likely don't have the same luxury. Although this may explain the perpetual peeling paint on the ceiling...wouldn't be surprised if there is a leak there and they have the same problem with the floor tiles that we do.
When mom was in the hospital for her hip, I had to deal with a leak in the bathroom (mainly the ceiling but also inside a wall). We still haven't gotten that stripped/repainted. The explanation from the upstairs neighbors (who ignored my knocks on the door and the maintenance guy had to come and check it out for them to realize anything) was that she was giving the baby a bath in the sink and he was splashing water on the floor. I don't know what kind of sink they have, but ours is barely big enough to rinse a small sweater in. Our concern is how long had there been a leak before we noticed? It has not happened again, so maybe the fact that maintenance approached them first about it was good.
Fast-forward to about two hours ago. I'm on the computer when I hear crackling from the kitchen. I go in...and see and hear water in the wall again. Around the outlet There is a radio plugged in there and I yank the plug just in case.
So I call the emergency line, explain that we have water in the wall near an outlet and get a call back from a tech two minutes later. If water does contact the wires it will trip the breaker--while there's no immediate danger it is something to watch given what has happened before. He offers to come by and check it out just in case. In the meantime the wall has quieted down/dried out and I go upstairs...surprise, no answer.
Maintenance guy shows up and immediately goes up there. They were doing something that overflowed the sink* and she did mop it up immediately...but it again begs the question how long had that been happening before it got to a point where we noticed?
That was definitely a "holy " moment; besides pulling the plug I didn't touch anything until I heard back from maintenance.
* I'd love to know what. Our sink is stainless steel, fairly huge and has a backsplash so even if water does get on the counter it's not going anywhere. The pipes are easy to block up if you put the wrong thing down there...we have a disposal now so don't need to worry about food waste but they likely don't have the same luxury. Although this may explain the perpetual peeling paint on the ceiling...wouldn't be surprised if there is a leak there and they have the same problem with the floor tiles that we do.
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