I live in a apartment. The apt above mine has an identical floorplan.
There is a wooden crawspace entrance in the ceiling over MY tub so that
if there is a problem with the tub upstairs, it can be accessed from
below.

The woman upstairs takes a lot of baths. She uses it as a form of water
therapy and keeps the hot water running continuously for an hour or
more. After she moved in, there were several occasions when the water
dripped/poured down from above into MY tub around the edges of the
entrance to the crawlspace. I talked to them about it, found out about
her method of bathing and discussed it with the landlord. He
decided/guessed that the water was coming out through the overflow valve
in her tub. He did not check underneath it, though. I thought there
must be some underlying problem that should be fixed, but he decided to
put putty in the overflow valve and they use a suction cover on it when
she bathes (that was MY suggestion). I still thought it should be
officially fixed, but blocking their overflow valve seemed to work, so
that was enough for the time being.

FF to the last couple of months. The woman and her husband split up and
she moved out. She didn't really LEAVE, though. She still spends most
of her time in the apt and leaves in the middle of the night since her
name was taken off the lease. She's renting a room somewhere so she
probably has limited bathing options. The landlord (who also lives in
the building) had gone on a motorhome vacation for a couple of months.
A month or so ago she took a bath and I heard dripping again. I assumed
it had started raining outside and didn't check on it for a while. When
I went into the bathroom, I saw that water was pouring out of the
crawlspace yet again. It turned out to be more serious this time,
though, since she had fallen asleep and water was overlfowing the tub
itself, onto their floor and into their hallway. Not only was water
coming out of the crawlspace, but it was also pouring into my hallway
THROUGH THE CEILING LIGHT! I contacted my landlord's daughter and the
neighbors got a good talking to, with the husband apologizing to me
profusely. We've always gotten along and I understand that **** happens
(although the woman kind of scares me -- she's flaky, tough and
unpredictable). I love taking baths myself, so I can understand her
need to do so. I don't like her using up all the hot water, but given
her unpredictability, I've kept quiet on that aspect.

On Sunday morning (1:40am, to be exact) the water started pouring out
again while she took a bath. Fearing another flood, I went up and
pounded on their door. After looking, the husband said the water wasn't
even UP to the overflow valve. Well, he had lied to the landlord's
daughter on the flood fiasco, saying HE was in the tub (he was sound
asleep, was locked out of the bathroom while she was asleep and he and
their teenage son ONLY take showers), so ... whatever -- it was coming
down, PERIOD. I went back downstairs and videotaped it. The water
slowed down to a couple of drips after that ... until 20 minutes later.
At 2am it starts pouring down AGAIN, even more than BEFORE! I couldn't
$^#! believe it! I didn't CARE that it was 2am -- I called the
landlord's daughter and demanded that SHE call and tell them to knock it
off since they obviously didn't take ME particularly seriously. I
videotaped it again, verifying the time by also taping the display on my
cellphone to show the date and time. I wish I had thought to do that
when the water was pouring through the ceiling light, if only because it
was such a stupifying sight :-)

So that leads me to today and the reason for this post. The landlord
just returned from his vacation and wants to talk to me about the
problem and inspect for damage. He is focusing on the woman and her
possible drug problems and the way she uses the tub, not to mention the
overall drama she has caused since they moved in. While that is
certainly an problem, MY focus is on the actual plumbing problem that
needs to be fixed. Whatever "issues" they might have, they SHOULD be
allowed to take baths if that's what they want to do. Even if they move
out, the next tenant is just as likely to want to take a bath, after all
and it's a reasonable expectation. Some of you must have run into a
similar plumbing problem -- what does ir sound like to you (other than
me whining about it)? What would be the fix?

I'm just looking for some backup that I can point to to try to pursuade
the landlord to call in a plumber. I'm very worried about mold problems
(the possibility of their tub collapsing into mine (with me IN it) has
crossed my mind, too). He's actually VERY meticulous about keeping the
place up, working on the landscaping practically every day and keeping
things well-maintained, so I'm a little surprised that he did the putty
thing and left it at that. Maybe he just forgot about it since the
problem did not occur again for nearly a year and he was gone when the
problem reared its drippy head again. He may not even resist when I say
I want the problem fixed from underneath, but if he DOES, I'd like to be
armed with some information to bolster my case.

In The House wrote:
I live in a apartment. The apt above mine has an identical floorplan.
There is a wooden crawspace entrance in the ceiling over MY tub so that
if there is a problem with the tub upstairs, it can be accessed from
below.

The woman upstairs takes a lot of baths. She uses it as a form of water
therapy and keeps the hot water running continuously for an hour or
more. After she moved in, there were several occasions when the water
dripped/poured down from above into MY tub around the edges of the
entrance to the crawlspace. I talked to them about it, found out about
her method of bathing and discussed it with the landlord. He
decided/guessed that the water was coming out through the overflow valve
in her tub. He did not check underneath it, though. I thought there
must be some underlying problem that should be fixed, but he decided to
put putty in the overflow valve and they use a suction cover on it when
she bathes (that was MY suggestion). I still thought it should be
officially fixed, but blocking their overflow valve seemed to work, so
that was enough for the time being.


SNIP

While the tub drain *could* have problems with regard to leaks,
there is no cure for a tenant allowing the tub to overflow
(and with the overflow blocked off).

It's a tough situation, made tougher if the landlord isn't
willing to address the root causes.

Personally, I would be thinking in terms of flood-sensing
devices which would sound *very* loud alarms in the tenant's
apt and/or the landlord's. But that's me...

In the end though, unless the landlord is 100% on your side and
wants to keep you as a tenant, you may be happier somewhere else.

Jim

On Mar 27, 2:10 pm, Speedy Jim wrote:
In The House wrote:
I live in a apartment. The apt above mine has an identical floorplan.
There is a wooden crawspace entrance in the ceiling over MY tub so that
if there is a problem with the tub upstairs, it can be accessed from
below.

The woman upstairs takes a lot of baths. She uses it as a form of water
therapy and keeps the hot water running continuously for an hour or
more. After she moved in, there were several occasions when the water
dripped/poured down from above into MY tub around the edges of the
entrance to the crawlspace. I talked to them about it, found out about
her method of bathing and discussed it with the landlord. He
decided/guessed that the water was coming out through the overflow valve
in her tub. He did not check underneath it, though. I thought there
must be some underlying problem that should be fixed, but he decided to
put putty in the overflow valve and they use a suction cover on it when
she bathes (that was MY suggestion). I still thought it should be
officially fixed, but blocking their overflow valve seemed to work, so
that was enough for the time being.

SNIP

While the tub drain *could* have problems with regard to leaks,
there is no cure for a tenant allowing the tub to overflow
(and with the overflow blocked off).

It's a tough situation, made tougher if the landlord isn't
willing to address the root causes.

Personally, I would be thinking in terms of flood-sensing
devices which would sound *very* loud alarms in the tenant's
apt and/or the landlord's. But that's me...

In the end though, unless the landlord is 100% on your side and
wants to keep you as a tenant, you may be happier somewhere else.

Jim

Uh Jim,

Don't you think the sponge rubber washer behind the overflow is bad?
If they just would replace it and make sure the leak in the overflow
is solved, then there should be no worries about the tub overflowing.

If the landlord isn't too handy, most handymen should be able to
handle the job without calling a "real" plumber. The washer / gasket
should cost around $2.50.

JK

Big_Jake wrote:
On Mar 27, 2:10 pm, Speedy Jim wrote:

In The House wrote:

I live in a apartment. The apt above mine has an identical floorplan.
There is a wooden crawspace entrance in the ceiling over MY tub so that
if there is a problem with the tub upstairs, it can be accessed from
below.

The woman upstairs takes a lot of baths. She uses it as a form of water
therapy and keeps the hot water running continuously for an hour or
more. After she moved in, there were several occasions when the water
dripped/poured down from above into MY tub around the edges of the
entrance to the crawlspace. I talked to them about it, found out about
her method of bathing and discussed it with the landlord. He
decided/guessed that the water was coming out through the overflow valve
in her tub. He did not check underneath it, though. I thought there
must be some underlying problem that should be fixed, but he decided to
put putty in the overflow valve and they use a suction cover on it when
she bathes (that was MY suggestion). I still thought it should be
officially fixed, but blocking their overflow valve seemed to work, so
that was enough for the time being.

SNIP

While the tub drain *could* have problems with regard to leaks,
there is no cure for a tenant allowing the tub to overflow
(and with the overflow blocked off).

It's a tough situation, made tougher if the landlord isn't
willing to address the root causes.

Personally, I would be thinking in terms of flood-sensing
devices which would sound *very* loud alarms in the tenant's
apt and/or the landlord's. But that's me...

In the end though, unless the landlord is 100% on your side and
wants to keep you as a tenant, you may be happier somewhere else.

Jim


Uh Jim,

Don't you think the sponge rubber washer behind the overflow is bad?
If they just would replace it and make sure the leak in the overflow
is solved, then there should be no worries about the tub overflowing.

If the landlord isn't too handy, most handymen should be able to
handle the job without calling a "real" plumber. The washer / gasket
should cost around $2.50.

JK


Good call!

bowing and scraping

Jim

Speedy Jim wrote:
Big_Jake wrote:
On Mar 27, 2:10 pm, Speedy Jim wrote:

In The House wrote:

I live in a apartment. The apt above mine has an identical floorplan.
There is a wooden crawspace entrance in the ceiling over MY tub so that
if there is a problem with the tub upstairs, it can be accessed from
below.

The woman upstairs takes a lot of baths. She uses it as a form of
water
therapy and keeps the hot water running continuously for an hour or
more. After she moved in, there were several occasions when the water
dripped/poured down from above into MY tub around the edges of the
entrance to the crawlspace. I talked to them about it, found out about
her method of bathing and discussed it with the landlord. He
decided/guessed that the water was coming out through the overflow
valve
in her tub. He did not check underneath it, though. I thought there
must be some underlying problem that should be fixed, but he decided to
put putty in the overflow valve and they use a suction cover on it when
she bathes (that was MY suggestion). I still thought it should be
officially fixed, but blocking their overflow valve seemed to work, so
that was enough for the time being.

SNIP

While the tub drain *could* have problems with regard to leaks,
there is no cure for a tenant allowing the tub to overflow
(and with the overflow blocked off).

It's a tough situation, made tougher if the landlord isn't
willing to address the root causes.

Personally, I would be thinking in terms of flood-sensing
devices which would sound *very* loud alarms in the tenant's
apt and/or the landlord's. But that's me...

In the end though, unless the landlord is 100% on your side and
wants to keep you as a tenant, you may be happier somewhere else.

Jim


Uh Jim,

Don't you think the sponge rubber washer behind the overflow is bad?
If they just would replace it and make sure the leak in the overflow
is solved, then there should be no worries about the tub overflowing.

If the landlord isn't too handy, most handymen should be able to
handle the job without calling a "real" plumber. The washer / gasket
should cost around $2.50.

JK


Good call!

bowing and scraping

Jim
Uh, there may not BE a problem with the overflow. Lots of tub setups can
feed water IN, faster than they can drain it OUT, especially if the
drain is half-blocked with mineral buildup or (more likely with a woman)
hair. The lady may just be falling asleep with the water running, and it
is going over the side of the tub.

Landlord is a twit for not telling the upstairs tenant to stop wasting
water, at least if landlord is paying for it. If she wants a whirlpool,
buy one of those over-the-side whirlpool machines.

In a similar situation, I would not be renewing my lease.

--
aem sends...

I would probably mention to the landlord that he should call a
plumber, and that if he didn't I would. I might also mention to the
landlord that if he didn't call a plumber, I might be calling the
building inspector or local code enforcement department.