Ground Floor Apartment Flooded - Need Insight and knowledge PLEASE

[Moondog1]

Well I live in a ground floor level apartment with one person above me. Yesterday I woke up to 2 inches of water in all 3 rooms. The water was coming out of the toilet(the toilet was not running) and filling up the bath tub. We are on a septic tank, not city sewage. Anyways, I have been vacuuming all the water up and luckily I didn't have anything valuable ruined. But how do I make sure I'm not breathing in mold? I'm about to rip up the linoleum floors with the grounds guy and see what's under there. Past that point what do I do? The land lord is saying I'm probably not going to need dehumidifiers but I think that is absolutely wrong. How do I check for mold and fecal matter and whatever else and make sure it's safe to be in there? Is this grounds for breaking my lease and getting my deposit back? The consensus on why it flooded was some city workers damaged the septic lines while working on the incoming fresh water pipes. They are in the same area. I need help, not man power, but what to do.

 

[hamburglar3]

First call the office and have the manager and maintenance worker come down immediately. Start taking pictures. Do not tear up anything unless directed to do so by the manager. Demand a new apartment and all the maintenance folks to help move your belongings immediately "to avoid claims of further damage in the future".

 

[Leatherhead]

Its up to the property to clean up properly and ensure there is no mold.

 

[the_great_white]

renters insurance?

 

[harrycalahan]

You absolutely will want a dehumidifier after removing all you can with a wetvac. Especially if you have carpet. You also might consider calling servpro or something similar.

 

[MilSpec308]

suprisingly, I had a very similar incident, with the exception that I had 2ft of water in my apartment from a broken water main off property. You need to have the apartment complex send in a cleaning team to document the incident, as well as perform all the necessary cleaning. You are not responsible for anything that has to do with cleaning the apartment, that is done by your property management co.,(my wife is a property manager of a apartment complex). Secondly, should your apartment test positive for mold, especially black mold, you do not want to live there as it can cause serious health problems. If you had water coming out of toilets, that is a huge problem bc there is all kinds of bacteria coming from those lines. Normally, it would be hard to get your deposit back in this case bc its not a ongoing problem that has never been resolved. Most likely, they will offer you to move to another location on property without cost & I would also ask for a concession on 1 months rent for the trouble. I would also contact your insurance carrier, document everything that was in contact with the water and get them replaced.

 

[captdave77]

Typically, your belongings are your responsibility and the structure is an owner issue. Manage the process. They should be sending a disaster recovery company like Service Master not some maintenance guy with a shop vac.

If you are renting from an individual, read your lease. Take pictures and I mean lots of pictures. You and the owner my find it mutually beneficial to part ways. Sewage backups are not cured in a day and you have an obligation to your health to make sure you are living in a clean environment.

 

[Moondog1]

Thank you all so much. I'll post again if I have any more questions.

 

[Robbyuga]

You also need to check for presence of fecal coliform bacteria (general bacteria found in feces- presence indicate improper sanitation) after everything is fixed. Let me know if you need any help with this.

 

[sparked1]

If the landlord is telling you that you probably won't need dehumidifiers, he's cheap and full of ****. That would tell me all I need to know about his concern, and I would demand another unit, a professional cleaning service to sign off on the cleanup, or move.