Where are beavers when you need them?

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

Sooo... a third of the tree behind my apartment has decided to hang out on the back porch and roof for a while. My landlord is also on vacation until Monday the 5th and his phone is off.

I can't open my back door at all but the downstairs neighbor was able to go out and investigate and it seems like mostly (hopefully) cosmetic damage- a few shingles, the gutter and flower pots hung off the side of our railing (which my roomie and I never used). However, this is no small tree and it's on the roof of our kitchen in two places.

What are the legal and safe rights here? I'm sure the landlord will get back to us this evening and fix it tomorrow, we have never had a problem with that at least. If not, should we call a contractor without the owner's consent? There is a possibility that this house-length portion could roll off into the neighbor's house as well. At least we still have teh internets and no rain inside :)

Wow, what a crazy few storms we've had!!

Comments

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

If you think it's dangerous, you should call 911. Especially if you think it might pull down wires or something.

If not an emergency, I'd call 311 anyway to see what they suggest.

[ron_newman]

Was this weather damage? From which storm?

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

If the limb is apparently "stable" i.e. it's not likely to immediately go further and you've told the neighbor and your landlord, I'd say it's likely OK to mention it to 311 but you've covered all that you can. It's the landlord's responsibility to clear it. I think your responsibilities end with informing your landlord, and letting the neighbors know to stay clear and safe incase it lets go further.

These storms are very interesting, indeed!

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

this happened in the first bad storm that ran through, it was around 12:45 when it happened. can we do anything without landlord consent?

[ron_newman]

I'm no lawyer, but you should do whatever you feel is necessary to prevent possible further damage to your property, your landlord's, and your neighbors'. More storms could come through between now and July 5.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

Once when I was renting, a pipe burst in the basement. I couldn't get in touch with the landlord, so I called a 24-hour emergency plumber, who was probably very expensive. But what else could I have done? If it wasn't fixed, it could have caused more damage. The next day when the landlord returned to town, he was relieved that I had gotten the problem fixed, rather than ignoring it.

I'd say, use your best judgment about what needs to be done, and if something needs immediate attention, then call someone to fix it.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

You wouldn't be on Rogers would you? There's a huge tree that's split and fallen on my neighbor's house and the one next door. It has scattered limbs everywhere and I'm worried about the stability of the tree when they remove that (since I'm under much of the remaining piece of the tree).

If you are, I want to talk to your landlord too.

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

*whistles innocently* umm... Hi! i remember seeing your name at the Trivia night meetup, but i'm not sure if we spoke.
y'know, i figured that somebody here was Bound to live nearby!

aaaaand yes, we still can't get ahold of him, his phone is off and i'm pretty sure he doesn't have a laptop but i emailed him pictures of it. he's out of town for the whole week and didn't leave us an emergency contact number. the neighbor said the others in our house were planning to call a contractor or whatnot instead of waiting to hear from the landlord, but now they aren't home. my roomie and i don't want to doublebook or anything so we're hoping they come back soon and already have something scheduled for the morning.

i reallllly liked this tree, i hope they don't have to remove the entire thing, but it looks like the biggest chunk that split. it was like sitting in a treehouse on our porch, and i'm sure that'll be ruined now... so i guess i'll literally be seeing you sometime since this will create clear views of everyone's backyards :/

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

most court orders Are stupid to begin with.

but even if there were beavers, it'd take a whole community of them over a week to gnaw down this tree, oh well.

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

so when they fixed the problem... you just didn't have to pay them, or did you pay upfront and then get your landlord to tag you back later? here lies the problem- we're all broke and afraid of the expense.
also, with insurance does it matter what company you go through for services?

pipes burst on the floor above me when i was living in KY but the tenants weren't home so it leaked until it started raining in my apartment. luckily the landlords responded quickly and my neighbors came home and knew how to turn off the water.
i got screwed, some of my stuff was damaged and my dumbass Still doesn't have renter's insurance :P

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

I don't think this can be solved over the Internet. If a tree fell on my house, I'd have someone come look at it and give me some expert advice. Estimates are usually free, I think.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Here I was sitting innocently at work, laughing at the folly of the tree folks, not realizing it could have been me. I guess it's been down long enough to know it won't cause any major problems (unless it falls off the house).

That tree has been falling apart for the last few years. I keep meaning to talk to your landlord, since I need his permission (and probably the other neighbors) to do anything with it. I expect we need to have a pow wow to see what we should do with it.

I got some interesting pictures myself (especially from my 3rd floor), but they don't do it justice.

Contact me at not dot gross at gmail. I would love to connect with your landlord to prevent any further damage and to coordinate our efforts.

It looks like we were all lucky.

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

pssh, anything is possible with teh internets!
but seriously, did you have to pay that 24 hr plumber yourself?
i was trying to get to work when this happened and away from home most of the day, hence all the internetings.

now i'm home and the downstairs people are still not around so i'm kicking myself in the bum for not having collected a way to contact them earlier, doh!

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

i did think about saying that i live on Rogers in case anyone personally knows my landlord and may have another way to reach him, but i thought that might be unlikely.

I did notice that some of the tree fell down during one of these countless storms, but it seemed so healthy! I don't remember hearing any lightning when it happened, just a gust of wind and then the entire house shook like a mini earthquake and things fell and wobbled about.

i'm honestly still waiting for the kitchen to cave in or a leak to form somewhere, i can't believe we don't have any broken windows!! anyway, emailing you now :)

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

I don't remember how I paid the plumber (or if he billed the landlord). It was more than 10 years ago in late October on a day when the area got ten inches of rain in one day and Kenmore Station was flooding and they put sandbags around the entrance to keep the water out. That's my major memory of the day.

At my place, a pipe that led from the sump pump to the outside of the house broke (or clogged?), and we had a geyser of water in the basement.

Your situation may be different because things don't seem to be worsening. You might have more time to contact the landlord or figure out what to do. I wish I could be more helpful.

Good luck.

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

they came back to me! our resourceful downstairs neighbors have the cambridge landscaping company arriving tomorrow. as of now they are only removing the downed portion, they said it was rotted through but that the two offshoots look healthy.

so i believe that the affected neighbor called the fire department, who called a building inspector, who gave us a bit of sass and then a number. the company came out around 5pm today but once they saw that it wasn't a mere branch they said they'd be back with *cranes* in the morning.
they estimated that it would take most of the day to remove the debris.

so if you wanna battle with david about having the rest removed (as it sounds like our nextdoor neighbor does), he'll be back on Monday!

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

yeaaaah... move along, snarkbutt :P
*whips*

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

soooo that makes me never want to get off at kenmore in the rain now, even if it was years ago that place is always leaky on bad days!

anyway, contractors are coming with Cranes in the morning, woot!