Official building inspector sought

[concrete.livejournal.com]

I'm renting in an old building, and my bathrom was so shoddily constructed (holes in the grout, non-waterproof drywall behind it) that the tiled bathroom wall caved in where the shower sprays.

My landlady just told me that I am responsible for paying for the wall, because "I was not showering properly, because the water should only flow on my body, and not on the wall."

(moment of silence to let this sink in appropriately)

So now I'm looking for a building inspector that can look at the wall and write up something official about the construction and the damage.

Where should I go, what should I ask for, how much would this run?

Thank you, and in the meantime I'll be practicing proper showering procedures.

Comments

[agreeleyo.livejournal.com]

I would start by calling the Somerville Housing Division (Dana LeWinter at 617-625-6600 x2564 or email her at dlewinter@ci.somerville.ma.us) and/or Legal Aid (http://www.gbls.org/). Sounds like you need a lawyer more than a building inspector.

[x-bluerose-x.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[concrete.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Exactly what I was hoping for!

[mrf-arch.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good start. You might want a home inspector to review the damage, but I wouldn't necessary bother unless your lawyer agrees it's needful.

I would take a whole lot of photos of the damage, however, noting the time, date, and any deficiencies you think exist in the work now, lest your landlord try to fix it and then blame you for the repair costs, without you having evidence of what was substandard in the first place. .

[bkdelong.livejournal.com]

Ah the creative ways landlords try to absolve themselves of responsibility. There is no reason 2nd-hand water on a wall should cause any noticeable issues from showering. Certainly none that a tenant should be responsible for.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

haha, wow.

i mean, it's one thing when people don't keep the curtain inside the tub, so water leaks through the floor but really...it's a shower. THE INSIDE GETS WET.



anyway, i'm of no help otherwise, but good luck. landlords are pretty crazy sometimes. when i lived in allston and had major leaking as essentially the building was falling apart, the landlord only offered to paint over the stains. hooray!

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

"let this sink in" is totally a bathroom pun, and I appreciate it, and all others like it. well done.

i'm showering you with praise here.

[unferth.livejournal.com]

Take pictures. Lots of pictures. Communicate with your landlord in writing and keep copies. I second the recommendation that you might want to consult a lawyer. Especially if you plan to keep living there.

Ultimately, Inspectional Services (http://www.somervillema.gov/Division.cfm?orgunit=ISD) is the city agency responsible for enforcing the Sanitary Code, which includes a provision that "The owner is responsible for insuring that the foundation, floors, walls, doors, windows, ceilings, roof, staircases, porches, chimney and other structural elements of the dwelling do not admit rain or snow and that they are rodent-proof, watertight, in good repair and fit for the intended use."

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cissfsn/sfsnidx.htm

There's a requirement that "The occupant of a dwelling is responsible for maintaining all toilets, washbasins, sinks, showers, bathtubs, stoves, refrigerators and dishwashers in a clean and sanitary fashion. The occupant is also responsible for using these facilities and appliances properly and with care." But I think your landlady would be hard pressed to convince anyone else that showering in the shower is not using the facilities properly.

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I was just about to go take a shower myself, and now I'm scaaaaared. What if I get water on the wall!??!?!

(Good luck. Clearly others have already given you better advice than I could.)

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

my landlord told me that the wallpaper falling off the walls *outside* the bathroom was not the fault of not having an exhaust fan, but because people are supposed to shower with the window open year round. (course he also told us not to keep the window open because it will rot) I suggested perhaps that was not a good place for the application of wallpaper if this was his solution to hot humid air.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

OMG! So not OK.

Can't help you with the inspector, but when we had a similar problem with our bathroom, the fine folks at Sergio's Renovations (http://www.angieslist.com/AngiesList/sp/boston--sergios-renovations-inc--window-treatments.aspx) fixed our shower practically overnight (the weekend before Thanksgiving, iirc) and for less than their estimate. Of course, you should not be paying for that, but someone's gotta fix your shower.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

(The problem in our case being that defective plumbing meant that water had been dripping *inside* the wall whenever we showered, but I'm sure your landlady will tell you that means we were doing it wrong, too.)

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I had a similar problem with a landlord in Arlington...there was some sort of pipe leak/water leak inside the tub, so that when you used the shower/tub water dripped inside the "pan" of the tub (that is, under the tub, but also underneath anything you could see). It caused a wet spot, and dripping, onto our kitchen below the shower. Which, because of the construction, meant that the water went to the lowest part of the ceiling, which meant it dripped THROUGH a hanging light fixture (the only light source in the kitchen). Thus, about 5-10 minutes after you started to shower, the LIGHT would drip. The water spot in the kitchen ceiling was the EXACT size/outline of the tub.

Landlady claimed we showered with the curtain outside of the tub (um, no we always made sure it was inside the tub, and it even leaked if we took a bath, and never got water on the floor). When we left she tried to charge us for "water damage" and then repainted the kitchen ceiling after we left, doing nothing to actually fix the problem. Someday that tub is going to collapse right into the kitchen.

Man, your landlady is a total nut!

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute! Did you also let the water touch the shower floor instead of making sure it just hit your body and stayed there? If so, you are in serious trouble because when the floor caves in you'll have to pay for that too!

[davelew.livejournal.com]

The Massachusetts building code is online:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eopsterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer+Protection+%26+Business+Licensing&L2=License+Type+by+Business+Area&L3=Home+Improvement+Contractor&sid=Eeops&b=terminalcontent&f=dps_780cmr&csid=Eeops

If you search through it, I expect there's a section that says something to the effect that shower walls should be made with HardieBacker or Durock, instead of standard drywall.

Another note: using drywall behind tiles in a shower is a dumb construction mistake. The correct materials cost maybe $10.00 more per 4x8 section of wall and will add 20+ years to the life of the wall. This doesn't seem like the kind of mistake a professional contractor would make. If your landlord continues to be unreasonable and you need to escalate, it's likely that she had the bathroom illegally renovated without the proper permits, and the records may exist to prove this.

The bathroom may have been grandfathered in...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

So, it is not sure that she needed permits. It seems like an oldish bathroom.

Re: The bathroom may have been grandfathered in...

[davelew.livejournal.com]

It's possible that it was grandfathered in, but it sounds like it was constructed so poorly that it wouldn't last more than a couple of years. I'm guessing recent bad renocation.

[dianamp04.livejournal.com]

Your landlord sounds like one of my old ones. She told us our radiators/heat weren't working because we didn't dust them enough.

Then claimed NSTAR stole pieces of our heater when we had our meter checked and THATS why it didn't work.

I have nothing constructive to say, I just like to complain about that landlord.