Water Damaged Sheetrock and Green Mold in Bathroom & Utility room...

Looks like I will be remodeling much sooner than I expected...

I live on the ground floor of a two story condominium. The tenet in the unit above me recently moved out and when their movers disconnected the washer and dryer, the facet for the washer connection (not sure what this is technically called) had a slow leak and saturated the drywall below, which then leaked into my utility room directly below and made it's way to the adjacent rooms, bathroom and nook area. This went on for about a week since I wasn't able to get a hold of the owner to the upstairs unit right away.

My ceiling in the utility room is mostly ruined and the bathroom ceiling is completely ruined. And all three walls in the utility room were wet and now have green mold growing on them. The bathroom has two interior surface walls that will probably need to be replaced. (I even cut a rectangular hole in the sheet rock to see what the studs look like and sure enough, there is green mold growing up and down them. I've ordered some Biozap mold and mildew remover to see if I can clean the mold off of the 2x4's once I remove all of the ruined drywall.) The nook area has at least one wall that was wet. Possibly the wall that comes off of it will have to have a few feet of sheet rock replaced as well. (I had to take up about two feet of carpet away from the wall, in the nook area that shares a wall with the utility room.)

MY QUESTION IS.... WHAT ARE MY NEXT STEPS??

It seems to me that I need to remove all of the drywall that got wet and then clean the studs of any green mold.. I'm fine with having concrete floors and exposed walls for a while since I've wanted to learn about renovating my place.

(I know I need to get the owner to the unit upstair's insurance company name and phone number, and his policy number since he is at fault. This will probably be the hardest thing yet. I'm thinking the unit that is next to me, ground floor, might have received some water damage as well. And I could recruit them in my quest for getting our wrongs righted.)

So far I've cut out the carpet and padding that was saturated with water. For a couple days I was trying to play catch up and just run the wet vac over the carpet, but I just wasn't able to be home long enough to do any good. Finally, I was able to get in touch with the owner above, and he was able to have his handyman go into the unit and he saw that the washer connection had a small drip and stop it. I was able to go into the condo, along with the handyman and see with my own eyes that the sheetrock right below the hookup was wet/saturated and led right down to the floor, getting wider the further down the wall it went.

So again, I've removed all of the wet carpet and padding. I've pulled up the wooden row of nails that hold the carpet in place since they were still saturated and would add to the mildewy smell in the rooms. (still need to hacksaw the concrete nails since they won't pull up without breaking the concrete.) I also preyed out the trim wherever I had removed the wet carpet.

All along, I was really hoping there was something wrong with one of the "common pipes" so the home owners association would have to take care of the problem. I'm sure they would be easier to deal with than a hard-to-reach landlord.

So, any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm not known for being very handy but willing to research what needs to be done and learn as I go. I've been wanting to improve my place ever since I moved in anyway--now I have my impetus.

 

Welcome to the forums!

You need to get in touch with his insurance company or have him pay for the repairs. Has he said anything concerning the damage to your unit?

 

UPDATE:

I've asked the owner of the unit above mine for his insurance information, and he says he doesn't have insurance. Again, the owner is a real estate investor and this condominium is just one of his rental properties. The owner told me that he would have his handy man repair my unit. So, that's where I am at.

I asked my dad what he thought about this situation. He said it would be better to work with the handyman getting my place repaired since the alternative would be to spend money I'd never get back in a court of law trying to get paid money directly.

I asked a good friend, who is a professional painter, and he thought of getting an estimate for the repairs and trying to get that amount from the owner at fault since he is going to have to pay for his handyman and the supplies anyhow. I would rather have the money and do most of the work myself, that doesn't require a licensed electrician or plumber.

My dad also mentioned that I should get in writing, that the owner of the unit above, will pay for my repairs. Not sure what that document will look like, but it sounds like a great idea.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering, what if the guy is just lying about not having insurance....???

Is there no way that I can turn in the address information to some third party company to find out if anybody insures the property...?

I'm going to start removing the rest of the sheet rock that I believe need to be replaced since it's not healthy. I will take pictures
and video in case there is a problem getting it repaired or reimbursed.

(appreciate your previous reply)

 

Might be worth your time to consult with an attorney on this one

Whether the owner has insurance does not affect his liability, just whether he pays directly or indirectly. I would also consider calling your own insurance company to get their opinion, as handling such matters is what they do.

 

Yeah, unfortunately I do not have my own home owners insurance. I've only recently moved back into the property after having rented it out to family members for about 4.5 years. And I never really imagined that water damage would come from someone other than one of the "common" water lines in which the HOA would be required to cover any necessary repairs. I thought I was safe. Very naive, I know. Definitely the hard way to learn a lesson.

I wonder what it would cost for a lawyer and if you would ever get any money back quickly. I believe it could just get to the point where all you do is put a lean on their personal property and wait till they try and sell it. Which could be never, I'm thinking.

Thank you for your help and response. I'll mention it to others I've talked with about this.

 

The owner of the unit upstairs in liable for any damages to your unit.
You can probably get him to fix the problem or pay for the fix and sue him in small claims court.

Regardless of who pays for it, make sure the person in charge of fixing the problem does a good job and doesn't take any shortcuts.

For example: according to both the US Center for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency, there is no 100% safe and effective way to remove mold from organic, porous and/or absorbent surfaces including wood, fiberglass, drywall, paper, etc...

Mold creates deep roots within these materials and anti-fungal treatments will not infiltrate the material deep enough to kill it all. All materials who were exposed to water or moisture and did not completely dry in 48 hours, are most likely mold infested and need to be removed and discarded.

CDC Mold | Protect Yourself from Mold

 

Wood will be fine clean it up make sure it's dry the Sheetrock over it. Removing it would be a waste of money