FRANK'S BLOG

WARNING—DANGER OF FLOODING AND FIRE TO YOUR UNIT IF YOU FAIL TO SHUT OFF WATER AND HOT WATER HEATER IF AWAY MORE THAN THREE DAYS FROM YOUR UNIT.

DON'T PUT YOURSELF THROUGH THE TRAUMA THE ABOVE PEOPLE APPEAR TO BE EXPERIENCING DUE TO THEIR FAILURE TO SHUT OFF THE WATER TO THEIR UNIT AT THE OUTSIDE WALL TURNOFF VALVE AND TO TURN OFF THE HOT WATER HEATER WHICH CAN EXPLODE AND SET FIRE TO THE UNIT AND WHOLE BUILDING IF NOT DISCOVERED IN TIME. YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY COULD GIVE YOU A DIFFICULT TIME IN SETTLING A CLAIM IF YOU ARE NEGLIGENT OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE THE PROPER SHUT DOWN STEPS WITH YOUR UNIT WHEN LEAVING FOR MORE THAN THREE DAYS. NOT ONLY CAN YOUR UNIT BE DAMAGED BUT YOUR NEIGHBORS' UNITS COULD LIKELY BE SERIOUSLY HARMED AS WELL. BELOW IS THE RECOUNTING OF AN INCIDENT THAT TOOK PLACE THIS PAST HOLIDAY WEEKEND BY PP II PRESIDENT DON McARTHUR:

"Last night at 8 pm I received a call from the "on-call" Elliott Merrill
maintenance responder. He was looking for the key to XXXX #3 XXXX
Drive and was calling from a neighboring unit. He had responded to
the call of the resident of unit #1 because there was water coming
through her ceiling. We entered the unit and found the hot water
heater leaking onto the floor. Unit #3 is not occupied at present. The
owner had been here recently (according to a nearby resident) but has
apparently returned to the north. The unit has apparently been rented
and the tenant is due to arrive soon, but the unit's water had not been
turned off and the water heater was on and heating water. The helpful nearby resident attempted to contact the unit owner today but he has been unable to reach him via telephone.
We are fortunate that unit #1 was occupied and the leak was discovered
quickly. We could otherwise be facing another water damaged unit at
minimum or we could have experienced a fire, if the heater had run dry.
At the January Members' meeting we need to readdress owners shutting
their water and hot water heater off when the unit is not to be in use for more than a few days."