2007

June, 2007--Catastrophe Hits

Six months into the project and we had a hard rain one evening and water appeared downstairs on the main floor.  We traced it to the top floor where the workers had permitted rain to enter the building and it took out all three floors including ceilings and hardwood.  Brown water from wall cavities came through ceilings, ran along pipes, appeared out of ceiling speakers and migrated along the floors into other rooms that night.    It had run down from the top of the building and taken out three floors on the way down.  We called all the emergency numbers and nobody was available for assistance that night. At 6am the next morning I waiting for Home Depot to open so I could buy a Shop-Vac and began removing water from carpets and floors.  We were stunned to discover the extent of damage to our new floors, ceilings, walls and carpets.  When the contractors did arrive we were assured that the damage would be repaired and that was confirmed by our Property Manager and eventually the board.

October, 2007--Lightning strikes twice

Four months later the project was continuing and we had our first snowfall followed by a warm Chinook wind in the middle of the night.  The snow melted.  We were in bed when water started dripping onto us.   We were horrified to find that the workers had again permitted water to enter at the other end of our condo on the third floor and it migrated down through the three floors taking out the remaining undamaged parts of our home.  I grabbed the Shop-Vac again and began the cleanup.  Our neighbours asked to borrow it the next day and I knew others were suffering similar damage.   The project ended in December 2007 and we waited for the contractors and condo board to start repairing our home and bring it back to the new condition it was in before this project started.  We knew the parties were insured and bonded and that it would all be fixed properly.