Incompetent plumber - persistent leak

[Noidios]

Property manager hired me to do a fairly straight forward water loss on a ground floor unit. Water was coming from One of two units upstairs. Upstairs units are each owned by different owners altogether and are not occupied full-time. We are now on day 12 - a plumber has made two attempts to locate/stop the leak, but it's still coming in (slowly). This should have been a simple 3-4 day dryout with minimal tearout, but obviously the bill is starting to get crazy as materials stayed wet for far longer than they should have. Anyone had to deal with something like this? How did the adjuster handle it? At this point, I'm not even sure which unit will be responsible for my bill and I can't follow the advice of three different adjusters.

 

[Cleanworks]

Property manager hired me to do a fairly straight forward water loss on a ground floor unit. Water was coming from One of two units upstairs. Upstairs units are each owned by different owners altogether and are not occupied full-time. We are now on day 12 - a plumber has made two attempts to locate/stop the leak, but it's still coming in (slowly). This should have been a simple 3-4 day dryout with minimal tearout, but obviously the bill is starting to get crazy as materials stayed wet for far longer than they should have. Anyone had to deal with something like this? How did the adjuster handle it? At this point, I'm not even sure which unit will be responsible for my bill and I can't follow the advice of three different adjusters.

I have that happen. It's best to identify who exactly has hired you and let them know how the costs are escalating. It can get complicated in a strata. Are you working for the strata? The suite you are trying to dry? The owner of the suite or their insurance?

 

[Dolly Llama]

Property manager hired me to do a fairly straight forward water loss on a ground floor unit. Water was coming from One of two units upstairs. Upstairs units are each owned by different owners altogether and are not occupied full-time

as Ron said, whoever contracted you needs to be aware .
If you knew/know it's still leaking, when did/do you plan to tell them they're pi$$ing in the wind?

Or are you just planing to run the tab up by keeping drying equipment running?

..L.T.A.

 

[Hack Attack]

Had similar last year, crack in floor and pipe was leaking into apartments above and below.

I was contacted by owner of apartment above

Had to get engineers report/approval so the plumber could open up the concrete to repair the pipe.. which took over a week

In the end my drying costs were covered by the apartments owners insurance

the engineers report and plumbing costs were covered by the body corporate

 

[Fat Mike]

I have that happen. It's best to identify who exactly has hired you and let them know how the costs are escalating. It can get complicated in a strata. Are you working for the strata? The suite you are trying to dry? The owner of the suite or their insurance?

Sometimes the hoa has insurance that will cover that also. Had a deck that failed and caused interior dame. Condo owners insurance covered interior and hoa covered deck replacement.

Plumbing isn’t always straightforward especially if they won’t allow them to tear stuff of to locate the leak.

We shut water off to buildings and watch the meter and go from there. Sometimes there’s more than one leak! We had one like that. Supply line burst on a toilet. Well the original mit Company never flushed the toilet to check! Turned out the wax ring also was bad and it gurgled up between the tile n wall

 

[Hack Attack]

I'd be talking to the insurer of the unit you're in

insurance companies I deal with like to be informed on day 4 if I'm going to be there longer

let adjusters argue between themselves, focus on relationship with adjuster for unit you're in

 

[Dolly Llama]

I'd be talking to the insurer of the unit you're in

depending on size of WD, the prop mngr may not turn into ins.
Many here have a $5000 deductible

Russ, how long have you known there's still a leak?
and i'll ask again, have you made the prop mngr that hired you aware they're still getting water into the unit??

..L.T.A.

 

[Noidios]

Here is the rest of the data that I have:
Suspected it was still leaking 10 days ago. Confirmed still leaking 8 days ago. Contacted property manager plumber. He didn't fix it. Contacted plumber. He didn't fix it. I have been in contact with the property manager and the owner of the unit that I am working in about what is going on.

Owner is an insurance agent. Insurance company of one of the upstairs units is the same company that the owner is an agent for. Upstairs unit's (I have had no contact with this adjuster) policy accepted responsibility for the loss, but new data shows that the leak might not even be coming from that unit. Owner would prefer to pay cash rather than file a claim. I am a small time O/O and am perfectly happy with 50% of exactimate prices.

I have documented every phone call that I have made and how long the delay is before something was done.

I don't run up bills.

 

[Dolly Llama]

get paid for work done and pull out .


..L.T.A.

 

[Hack Attack]

Small operator here too

even if owner doesn't want to claim, I normally instruct them to still notify their insurer at the start

that way if things don't go as planned you have access to an adjuster, and insurer isn't asking why they weren't notified earlier?

if exactimate pricing is accepted in your area I wouldnt go in at 50%

Let owner know where your current charges are at.

Not your problem to come in under the excess
.
Not your problem where water is coming from

*longest drydown for me is 14 days..
freak hail dump opened up joins on poorly constructed low pitch roof, it rained several times while I was drying and before roof got repaired.

Each water ingress was treated as part of original claim by insurer

 

[Noidios]

Thanks for all the help guys. It's given me some good advice and confidence that I might actually get paid an acceptable number for this loss.

 

[Fat Mike]

Small operator here too

even if owner doesn't want to claim, I normally instruct them to still notify their insurer at the start

that way if things don't go as planned you have access to an adjuster, and insurer isn't asking why they weren't notified earlier?

if exactimate pricing is accepted in your area I wouldnt go in at 50%

Let owner know where your current charges are at.

Not your problem to come in under the excess
.
Not your problem where water is coming from

*longest drydown for me is 14 days..
freak hail dump opened up joins on poorly constructed low pitch roof, it rained several times while I was drying and before roof got repaired.

Each water ingress was treated as part of original claim by insurer

If leak is ongoing and not sudden loss possible more than one leak and insurance could deny as a maintenance issue

 

[Cleanworks]

Not sure why you are contacting the plumber. Your responsibility is to notify the property manager that there is still water coming in. Let the property manager deal with the plumber. You don't want to be in the middle of that.

 

[Hack Attack]

If leak is ongoing and not sudden loss possible more than one leak and insurance could deny as a maintenance issue

Agree, I almost got burned on a drydown that owner had tried to dry several days on there own.

When I discovered mould growth inside the wall and wanted to pull it the owner freaked.

She got insurance involved who paid me for drying but refused her any cover for mould.
She paid a builder out of her pocket as she was too pissy with me and I didn't trust her going forward

Thats why I ask owner to notify insurer just incase its needed

 

[Fat Mike]

Agree, I almost got burned on a drydown that owner had tried to dry several days on there own.

When I discovered mould growth inside the wall and wanted to pull it the owner freaked.

She got insurance involved who paid me for drying but refused her any cover for mould.
She paid a builder out of her pocket as she was too pissy with me and I didn't trust her going forward

Thats why I ask owner to notify insurer just incase its needed

You mighta coulda got it passed as a cat 3 instead of microbial remediation

 

[Nomad74]

On any flood job I do the first question I ask is “Is the issue that caused the flooding repaired “. If not I won’t go in.

 

[Fat Mike]

On any flood job I do the first question I ask is @Is the issue that caused the flooding repaired “. If not I won’t go in.

Well yea. That’s the first question the insurance will ask also because a cat 1 can turn into a cat3 very quickly!

Yer gonna want a solid contract also

 

[kmdineen]

If this loss is happening in a condominium the party or parties responsible for paying for the loss may surprise you. I have had situations were each condo owner is responsible for their property from the exterior walls in and the sub floor up and roof rafters down. The outside structure and areas between condos are owned by the association.





I had a second floor condo owner who’s ice maker water line leaked damaging his kitchen floor. The water went down into the first floor condos garage damaging the sheetrock ceiling. The second floor condo owner’s insurance covered only his space. The first floor condos insurance was responsible for their space and the association’s insurance was responsible for the “no mans land” in between units. The first floor owner was not happy having to pay their deductible.





You did not mention if there is damage to either of the second floor units but I would suggest you keep detailed notes on what you do in each space, including equipment set up break down and monitoring.





“It is the responsibility of the property owner, not the restorer, to correct the source of water intrusion, or to engage appropriate specialized experts to do so.” IICRC S500 4th edition, Control Moisture Intrusion page 92.


Also page 19, 1.2.2.2 Ongoing Inspection. “When benchmarks are not being met toward an acceptable drying goal, the restorer should further investigate to identify the cause and take corrective action.”