Vent: My tenant tried to fix a leaky toilet themselves and now the bathroom floor is ruined

I got a call from my tenant in unit 3B last Thursday about a running toilet. I told them I'd come by Saturday morning to fix it, no big deal. But Friday afternoon I stopped by to grab some mail and water was dripping through the ceiling into the laundry room downstairs. Turns out they watched a YouTube video and tried to replace the flapper themselves but cross-threaded the fill valve instead. It sprayed water everywhere for a few hours before they thought to turn the shutoff. Now I've got a $600 water damage claim and the bathroom subfloor is gonna need to be replaced. I get that they wanted to help but how do you guys politely tell tenants to just wait? I'm thinking of putting a note in the lease about no plumbing fixes period. Has anyone dealt with this kind of thing before?

3 comments

3 Comments

danielmason5d ago

Thought to turn the shutoff"? It took them hours to figure that out? Man that's rough. Hope the lease addendum covers your back next time.

oscarb775d agoTop Commenter

Right, everyone's talking about the shutoff valve, but nobody's asking why the key was even hidden INSIDE the property. That's a HUGE red flag to me. If a landlord gives you a key to hide inside for emergencies, they're basically admitting they don't have a master key or they're too cheap to pay for a locksmith. That's a liability waiting to happen, especially if the place ever flooded or there was a fire and you couldn't get to that key. The lease addendum is fine, but I'd be more worried about the lack of proper emergency access.

james_singh73d ago

Oh man, totally agree with you there! I had almost the same thing happen at my old apartment. Landlord left a key taped under the bathroom sink for "emergencies" and when the toilet started overflowing, I spent twenty minutes digging through cabinets trying to find it. By the time I got the water off, the bathroom floor was soaked and I had to call in sick to clean it up. It's ridiculous how landlords think hiding a key somewhere inside is a real solution when you're panicking and water's everywhere.

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