Emergency Water Leak for Out of Town Landlord

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Emergency Water Leak for Out of Town Landlord

Chan K.
Lowell, MA · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 52 votes

Hello Experience Landlords,

Happy New Year ...

I have been struggle with this question for a while now, and I am struggle to find a reasonable solution. 

I am not looking for answer like you need a property manager. 

This conversation is mostly for those landlords that live out of town, and manage their own property. 

When it came down to turn over, electrical issue, heat issue ... etc. It is not on demand, and will give me time to call service company 

When it came down to water pipe leak coming from the top floor affecting other tenants in the lower floor, how do you mitigate issue like that if you are not living near by? This is assuming that all the tenants are not capable or refuse to help strapping the leak. 

My only solution right now is: I am lucky enough to have a handy tenant living in town, where I can call him to swing by, and help strapping the leak until the plumbing company is able to come by the next day to properly fix it. FYI: after strapping the pipe leak, the water is not flowing fast affecting other people in the lower floor.

Thanks

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Max T.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y

Train tenants to know when the main shutoff valve is. Instruct them to turn off the water to the building in emergency leak situations. Then call in your plumber to pinpoint where the actual leak is. Usually it can be sourced to a specific fixture or room and can be isolated with a shutoff valve so that the rest of the property can get their water turned back on.

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  • Mary M.
    Rental Property Investor · Portland OR · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    You need a VERY trustworthy, available, excellent at what he/she does handyperson to be on call that knows your building(s) inside out. 

    When I was out of town for 6 months this is the only way I got by.

    0Reply
  • Robert Biggerstaff
    Contractor · Pensacola, FL · Member since 2018 · 303 posts · 240 votes
    7y

    I look at things in the sense of what is the frequency of which they occur. In the sense that if they occur frequently than financially it’s advantageous to have somebody that is cheaper than say a plumber

    0Reply
  • Max T.
    Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    Train tenants to know when the main shutoff valve is. Instruct them to turn off the water to the building in emergency leak situations. Then call in your plumber to pinpoint where the actual leak is. Usually it can be sourced to a specific fixture or room and can be isolated with a shutoff valve so that the rest of the property can get their water turned back on.

    3Reply
  • Chan K.
    OP
    Lowell, MA · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 52 votes
    7y

    @Mary M. That is along the line of my solution, the trusty person is one of my tenants who is living in town. I just give him a good discount on his rent, and water him with some good gifts periodically. 

    @Robert Biggerstaff You are correct. I own a few buildings now, and almost in a break point to consider hiring an actual person instead of hiring plumber all the time. Plumber is very expensive, and if they encounter/expose to any pipe that is not to code, they can make it very expensive. They also report it to the inspector in town which I found it to be very strange... I have another thread on this subject. Why would they report something like that when I was the one that hired him to do the job initially.... (but they just happened to run into not-up-to-code pipe...... while doing the work I hired him to do)

    Just in general, how do you guy find a handyman beside craiglist..... is there other similar site that is more focus on handyman or real estate related tasks? 

    0Reply
  • Chan K.
    OP
    Lowell, MA · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 52 votes
    7y

    @Max T. This came up during my brainstorming. My dilemma is that 

    1) shutting down the main water line (typically in the basement) will affect other tenants in the building assuming that this is more than 3-4 unit. If the leak occurred at 7-8 PM, then I really screw... because no one can take a shower at night... or in the morning... etc

    2) that are many pipes in the building, it is very troublesome to identify which pipe is belonging to what unit or what section of the house. Sometime the same pipe is feeding more than 1-unit... 

    Every year, this emergency situation occurs, it is only like 3-5 times each year.

    I am assuming something like this might only happen to landlords who own older multifamily houses........

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  • Max T.
    Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Chan K.:

    @Max T. This came up during my brainstorming. My dilemma is that 

    1) shutting down the main water line (typically in the basement) will affect other tenants in the building assuming that this is more than 3-4 unit. If the leak occurred at 7-8 PM, then I really screw... because no one can take a shower at night... or in the morning... etc

    2) that are many pipes in the building, it is very troublesome to identify which pipe is belonging to what unit or what section of the house. Sometime the same pipe is feeding more than 1-unit... 

    Every year, this emergency situation occurs, it is only like 3-5 times each year.

    I am assuming something like this might only happen to landlords who own older multifamily houses........

    Having labeled and easy-to-identify shutoff valves is a must.

    Train tenants to operate the shutoff valves at each of their fixtures (under the sink, behind the toilet, etc). Sometimes this can be done over the phone to isolate the precise location of the leak.

    Also I just saw an ad for sensors that wrap around pipes. You can put them on all over your building and they will let you know when water is passing through (when it shouldn't) which should help you find the leaks before the tenants do!

    0Reply
  • Robert Biggerstaff
    Contractor · Pensacola, FL · Member since 2018 · 303 posts · 240 votes
    7y

    You might want to try connecting with other landlords in that town and finding a maintenance person… I would also stay away from using the word handyman and say building maintenance or apartment maintenance man

    0Reply
  • Chan K.
    OP
    Lowell, MA · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 52 votes
    7y

    @Max T. I will look up the sensor. Feel free to drop the exact name here if you came across it. 

    Yeah, I have to do a good job labeling my shut off knob. With the multifamily, there are so many knobs. 

    @Robert Biggerstaff I will see if I can find other landlords in the town. It is not a simple way to do though.... I can randomly walk into the building, but none of them would put their contact information in the hallway.

    0Reply
  • Mary M.
    Rental Property Investor · Portland OR · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    @Chan K. see if you can find the local Multi Family /Rental Owners association. They will have monthly meetings etc and you could meet other landlords and get referrals for a maintenance person. 

    Not sure if this is near you? 

    http://www.bragb.org/multifamily-council.html

    0Reply
  • Robert S.
    Contractor · Milltown, NJ · Member since 2016 · 297 posts · 213 votes
    7y

    @Robert Biggerstaff

    I would only pay people for tasks that they are licensed and insured to perform. The title or manner you address the worker is inconsequential. Unlicensed, uninsured are the only terms that matter come court time. Case in point...

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.northjersey.com/amp/677715001

    Your honor, they were just soldering... $11 million and counting for just soldering...

    0Reply
  • Kate J.
    Rental Property Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 294 posts · 104 votes
    7y
    @Chan K. Handyperson is the key. Many of them know how to fix or replace pipes. But you do need to find a reliable one. The best way is to check handyperson while you remodel units. I have a guy, a former navy, he is just great. He probably can build a house from scratch. But not only, he never stolen anything from site, as opposed to numereous contractors and subcontractors that feel the need to grab my tools and other stuff. Otherwise you can call any licensed plumber, but the price will not be the same.
    0Reply
  • Craig Bellot
    Property Manager · CT · Member since 2014 · 687 posts · 329 votes
    7y

    @Chan K. 

    Try homeadvisor.com or Thumbtack.com to find a few people. The responsive contractors will get back to you quickly.  It could be a plumber or a handyman, you can choose depending on the quote they give. 

    Also try visiting the hardware suppliers in your area at 7am in the morning, next time you are in town. That's where you can find the serious guys!

    Not sure what town your property is in, but it works in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

    1Reply
  • Chan K.
    OP
    Lowell, MA · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 52 votes
    7y

    @Mary M. Mary, I am a member of the local landlord association. Yeah, I do ask and get referral from them. It is a miss and hit sometime. Thanks for mentioning it

    @Robert S. Yeah Robert, thanks for the reference document. This is what I am afraid of, open up a can of worm. I am not remodeling - just a pipe leak fix, hopefully whatever they find after this one encounter, I don't have to go through with it even with the inspector tagging along (even if it is not up to code, it should be grandfather in, old house ...etc)

    @Kate J. I agreed. Some handyman people are great. Very honest and straight forward. I experienced that as well. Some licence contractor/local plumber (have sticky fingers). I can see the problem, because we are not interviewing them. The plumber company is the one that is hiring them, and the worker does not seem to care about the relationship. As for the handyman people, they are more incentive to be straight, because they work for us directly. Literally, I enjoy working with handyman people than local company. 

    0Reply
  • Robert S.
    Contractor · Milltown, NJ · Member since 2016 · 297 posts · 213 votes
    7y

    @Chan K.

    The inspector should only be there to inspect the exact work described in the permit.

    0Reply
  • Chan K.
    OP
    Lowell, MA · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 52 votes
    7y

    @Robert S. thanks Robert for the information and clarification. That makes me feel better. Initially, I was afraid that if they show up, and they found something else is out of code, that would be bad. It is like open up a can of worm especially in the old building. 

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