The Sewage Saga
May. 31st, 2006 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
willow_redNow that my house is reasonably clean and non-stinky again, here is the tale of...
On Sunday, May 7, I had just returned from shopping with Kate to get some things for my trip to DC that Monday. I figured I had about an hour or so to get everything packed and ready to go before I needed to head down to my parents' house with Akito so I could have dinner with them and get to bed early. Unfortunately, when I was dashing around the house, I heard Akito drinking water from just outside the utility closet. When I walked over there to check it out, the carpet went squish. I opened the door to see the utility closet completely flooded. Akito summed up my feelings at this point by barking at the water.
There was no time to call a plumber or sewer person (especially since I wasn't entirely certain it was the sewer at the time, just had a hunch). Luckily, my neighbor had already called Roto Rooter. They got the backup drained, but a good portion of my carpet was soaked. That included the closet under the stairs where I keep most of Akito's stuff. At this point, there was nothing else I could do, so I finished packing, locked up the house, and left.
When I returned home on Thursday, May 11, the smell about knocked me over. The carpet had dried, but the smell was strong. I broke out my old air purifier, some incense, and a few scented candles to burn. I also opened every window while I was home. Poor Akito was stuck inside with that nasty smell all day, but there was nothing else I could do. I was still too jet-lagged on Friday to accomplish much, but I heard that my neighbor had already had her carpet steam cleaned, courtesy of the HOA, who had allowed the sewer to end up in this condition.
Over the weekend, I chatted with the neighbor on the other end of the building, and she told me a very interesting story. Apparently, back in February, she had replaced a toilet in her house, and when that was being done, the plumber informed her that the sewer needed some maintenence. Like a good little homeowner, she called the HOA and reported it. Apparently, they did nothing. So by May, tree roots had grown into the sewer enough that it ruptured and backed up into at least two houses. Joy.
Now aware that this really was negligence on the part of the HOA, I started calling on Monday, May 15 to get my carpet steam cleaned and find out what was up with the sewer situation. Several transfers later, I ended up on someone's voice mail, and left a message. My call was never returned. I spent the next couple of days calling back, and getting no answer. Finally, based on advice from the neighbor on the end, I tried to call the lady I knew in the rental office. However, I found out she doesn't work there anymore--now she works for the HOA! When I called her directly and left a message, my call was returned in less than five minutes. By now, it was Thursday. She wrote up a work order to have my place cleaned, and said that she wouldn't be in on Friday, but if I hadn't heard anything on Monday, I should call her back. Friday came and went.
Then, on Monday, May 22, at 8:02am, I got a call from the maintenence guy who works for the HOA. He came over and said, "oh, this place doesn't smell so bad. You should have seen next door! By the way, why did you wait so long to report this?" *facepalm* He told me he'd get something scheduled for that afternoon if possible, and I should plan to be home by 4pm to get everything off the floor so it can be cleaned. He also said that he'd call my cell phone if plans changed. I hurried to get home from work by about ten minutes before 4:00 and started moving things into the bathroom and kitchen. By 4:15, I started to wonder what was going on. I called the maintenence guy again, and his reaction was, "oh, you didn't get my voice mail?" I explained that my cell phone had not rung all day. Turns out, he called some number, didn't really listen to the greeting, and left a message for me on someone else's phone that he couldn't schedule a Monday cleaning at the last minute, and we'd have to pick another day. Yeah.
So we rescheduled for Wednesday. Again, I hurried home from work, getting there just before 4pm. This time, the maintenence guy was already there, with the steam cleaner guy, waiting in front of the house. I dashed around, clearing the floors and ushering Akito out into the yard. Once I had everything cleared out, they came in to start cleaning. The steam cleaner guy asked if I could vacuum the place first, but I explained that my vacuum cleaner had been flooded as well. He then proceeded to point out what he called "dog urine" on the carpet. Excuse me, no. That's sewage, sir. Akito house-trained in less than four days, and I cleaned up as well as I could after all of those. Also, most of his accidents were upstairs, before he learned to wake me up to let him outside. Anyway, the maintenence guy proceeded to make snide comments about how dusty and filthy my house was. Okay, I do tend to be bad about letting dust accumulate, but you know what? I have more to do in my life than make sure my house is spic and span for when cleaners come over. Also note the being out of town for about a week and having my vacuum cleaner partially drowned. Sheesh.
At least they finally got the place clean. I kept Akito out of the house for a couple of hours to let the carpet at least start to dry. I didn't put any of the furniture back down until the next morning. But now my carpet looks nice, the house doesn't stink anymore, and I have the card of a good steam cleaner who charges very low rates (I'm thinking of having the upstairs done when I have the money for it). It only took 2.5 weeks! *Sigh*
Oh yeah, and in last week's HOA meeting, our property manager made a point of looking me in the eye when he "explained" to us that if the sewer backs up, the sewer is the HOA's responsibility, but any damage inside the unit is ours. If that's so true, then why did he pay to have my house steam cleaned?
This is mostly for my records, but read it if you want.
On Sunday, May 7, I had just returned from shopping with Kate to get some things for my trip to DC that Monday. I figured I had about an hour or so to get everything packed and ready to go before I needed to head down to my parents' house with Akito so I could have dinner with them and get to bed early. Unfortunately, when I was dashing around the house, I heard Akito drinking water from just outside the utility closet. When I walked over there to check it out, the carpet went squish. I opened the door to see the utility closet completely flooded. Akito summed up my feelings at this point by barking at the water.
There was no time to call a plumber or sewer person (especially since I wasn't entirely certain it was the sewer at the time, just had a hunch). Luckily, my neighbor had already called Roto Rooter. They got the backup drained, but a good portion of my carpet was soaked. That included the closet under the stairs where I keep most of Akito's stuff. At this point, there was nothing else I could do, so I finished packing, locked up the house, and left.
When I returned home on Thursday, May 11, the smell about knocked me over. The carpet had dried, but the smell was strong. I broke out my old air purifier, some incense, and a few scented candles to burn. I also opened every window while I was home. Poor Akito was stuck inside with that nasty smell all day, but there was nothing else I could do. I was still too jet-lagged on Friday to accomplish much, but I heard that my neighbor had already had her carpet steam cleaned, courtesy of the HOA, who had allowed the sewer to end up in this condition.
Over the weekend, I chatted with the neighbor on the other end of the building, and she told me a very interesting story. Apparently, back in February, she had replaced a toilet in her house, and when that was being done, the plumber informed her that the sewer needed some maintenence. Like a good little homeowner, she called the HOA and reported it. Apparently, they did nothing. So by May, tree roots had grown into the sewer enough that it ruptured and backed up into at least two houses. Joy.
Now aware that this really was negligence on the part of the HOA, I started calling on Monday, May 15 to get my carpet steam cleaned and find out what was up with the sewer situation. Several transfers later, I ended up on someone's voice mail, and left a message. My call was never returned. I spent the next couple of days calling back, and getting no answer. Finally, based on advice from the neighbor on the end, I tried to call the lady I knew in the rental office. However, I found out she doesn't work there anymore--now she works for the HOA! When I called her directly and left a message, my call was returned in less than five minutes. By now, it was Thursday. She wrote up a work order to have my place cleaned, and said that she wouldn't be in on Friday, but if I hadn't heard anything on Monday, I should call her back. Friday came and went.
Then, on Monday, May 22, at 8:02am, I got a call from the maintenence guy who works for the HOA. He came over and said, "oh, this place doesn't smell so bad. You should have seen next door! By the way, why did you wait so long to report this?" *facepalm* He told me he'd get something scheduled for that afternoon if possible, and I should plan to be home by 4pm to get everything off the floor so it can be cleaned. He also said that he'd call my cell phone if plans changed. I hurried to get home from work by about ten minutes before 4:00 and started moving things into the bathroom and kitchen. By 4:15, I started to wonder what was going on. I called the maintenence guy again, and his reaction was, "oh, you didn't get my voice mail?" I explained that my cell phone had not rung all day. Turns out, he called some number, didn't really listen to the greeting, and left a message for me on someone else's phone that he couldn't schedule a Monday cleaning at the last minute, and we'd have to pick another day. Yeah.
So we rescheduled for Wednesday. Again, I hurried home from work, getting there just before 4pm. This time, the maintenence guy was already there, with the steam cleaner guy, waiting in front of the house. I dashed around, clearing the floors and ushering Akito out into the yard. Once I had everything cleared out, they came in to start cleaning. The steam cleaner guy asked if I could vacuum the place first, but I explained that my vacuum cleaner had been flooded as well. He then proceeded to point out what he called "dog urine" on the carpet. Excuse me, no. That's sewage, sir. Akito house-trained in less than four days, and I cleaned up as well as I could after all of those. Also, most of his accidents were upstairs, before he learned to wake me up to let him outside. Anyway, the maintenence guy proceeded to make snide comments about how dusty and filthy my house was. Okay, I do tend to be bad about letting dust accumulate, but you know what? I have more to do in my life than make sure my house is spic and span for when cleaners come over. Also note the being out of town for about a week and having my vacuum cleaner partially drowned. Sheesh.
At least they finally got the place clean. I kept Akito out of the house for a couple of hours to let the carpet at least start to dry. I didn't put any of the furniture back down until the next morning. But now my carpet looks nice, the house doesn't stink anymore, and I have the card of a good steam cleaner who charges very low rates (I'm thinking of having the upstairs done when I have the money for it). It only took 2.5 weeks! *Sigh*
Oh yeah, and in last week's HOA meeting, our property manager made a point of looking me in the eye when he "explained" to us that if the sewer backs up, the sewer is the HOA's responsibility, but any damage inside the unit is ours. If that's so true, then why did he pay to have my house steam cleaned?
This is mostly for my records, but read it if you want.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-01 04:03 am (UTC)I'm glad it all got taken care of tho.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-01 04:56 am (UTC)No jury would convict...
no subject
Date: 2006-06-01 01:59 pm (UTC)Never trust a man named "Newt".
no subject
Date: 2006-06-01 05:57 am (UTC)