is my ceiling going to fall down?

[rm]

So, I get a call from my unexpected house guest that my bathroom ceiling is leaking.

I run home.

It's done leaking by the time I get there.

There's been maybe a pot-full of water involved in total.

I turn on the light in the bathroom. Everything's red. What.

Oh. The glass lamp shade has filled up with nasty water.

Now, can I go up there and unscrew the lampshade without electrocuting myself? If I just leave it be will the water evaporate (because I don't relish climbing on a stool and probably dumping nasty water on my head).

Finally, am I correct to assume that whatever happened was probably the result of the kids upstairs (*shakes fist at Scooby-Do van*) flooding their bathroom because they are idiots, or do I have to worry that there's a cracked pipe in the ceiling and this will happen everytime they turn on the shower? There's no bubbling paint or anything and the whole thing looks to me like they flooded their bathroom and the water went into their floor and then came in to my apartment through the shoddily sealed light fixture.

While I realize everyone's first recommendation is going to be "call the super" that's problematic and best avoided unless this becomes are recurring issue. So what's your second piece of advice?

And please, for the love of God, tell me it will be okay.

Also, I should note that it apparently happened twice about 10 minutes apart, which to me reads like flood and flood cleanup. But that may be wishful thinking.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Now, can I go up there and unscrew the lampshade without electrocuting myself?

The answer to that should be yes, otherwise I'd have expected the light to either not turn on or for the bulb to explode. As for the rest, you could always go up and ask if their tub or shower overflowed. If so, then a repeat is unlikely unless they do this again. If not, then broken pipes may be involved.

[rm.livejournal.com]

All of this implies that we speak the same language.

[miep.livejournal.com]

tengo un inundacion in el banyo. Por favor, sabes usted porque?

voda prokhodit v moi vannoye. Po chemu?

[bravencrazy.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhh, my experience gutting and revamping my Little Crack House in the Exurbs is about to benefit you!

The water will NOT evaporate on its own. It will stay there, and mold and harmful bacteria will breed. You have to remove the globe. To do this without electrocuting yourself, simply turn off the electricity at the electrical box before removing the globe.

It could be due to the kids upstairs flooding the bathroom. Unfortunately, it could also be due to a plumbing issue; before we gutted our bathroom, it leaked onto the floor below it. Unfortunately, all you can do is wait and see if it happens again.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Um. I live in an apartment. By electrical box do you mean a fuse box? Or something else? If you mean something else, I don't have access to one of those.

[bravencrazy.livejournal.com]

Yes, the fuse box. Just switch off the electricity to your bathroom and remove the globe.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Okay, cool.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Also, is it okay to let the water situation sit for another 5 hours? As I'd really like to get to fencing and I'm not at home currently.

[bravencrazy.livejournal.com]

No, nothing should happen in five hours. Just don't let it sit there for days.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Agreed on that one. Although a bucket or big pot underneath may be prudent.

[bravencrazy.livejournal.com]

Good idea, especially since we don't know if this is a one-time thing due to flooding or a plumbing problem.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

Yes, it'll be fine, but don't turn it on again.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

Yes, you need to get the water out of the fixture!! No, you should not electrocute yourself if the fixture is turned off at the time but if you need more reassurance, flip the breaker before you start.

If the point of entrance isn't obvious due to a hole or dirty peeling paint spot on the ceiling, through the fixture is a decent guess. I'd ask the upstairs neighbors if their sink overflowed or something.

[rm.livejournal.com]

They don't speak English.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

Okay, scratch that last part ... but yes, you should be okay cleaning up.

[legionseagle.livejournal.com]

The collective linguistic skills of lj are wide and varied.

If we knew what they speak, between us we could probably manage a placard which said in the appropriate language:

'I AM YOUR NEIGHBOUR FROM THE BELOW APARTMENT

REGRETTABLY THERE SEEMS TO BE A FLOOD-DOWN PROBLEM FROM YOUR APARTMENT INTO MINE (if they speak German "eine flood-down-problem" is bound to be already a noun; other languages have to take their chances)

COULD IT PERHAPS BE YOUR WATER SYSTEM? I WOULD BE OBLIGED IF YOU COULD CHECK SINCE IT IS BECOMING URGENT. THANK YOU.

one tiny suggestion

[valancy17.livejournal.com]

let's not forget to add

I DON'T SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE, PLEASE ANSWER IN ENGLISH.

[tommx.livejournal.com]

Alright, something weird is going on. lkell and I both had dreams of that this year. It's kind of scary.

[tdanaher.livejournal.com]

I'd also recommend that before you remove the lamp shade, take a picture or even video if your camera has that functionality of the water while it's still inside the shade and the shade is still attached to the ceiling. It's a good thing to make a record of the event before you've done anything proactive to it. Then you have something to show the landlord or super if you need to prove a point. It might even be worth it to take the pic/video up to the neighbors, and try and show them that what happened in their bathroom resulted in what happened in yours.

[mlleglass.livejournal.com]

Well, when this happened in my old apartment, it was because the heroin addicts upstairs kept falling asleep in their bathtub with the water on. Unfortunately, they never managed to drown themselves so it happened five times.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I admit, your comment made me laugh until my ribs hurt. Though I am sorry your apartment had floods.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

OK. Turn off the electricity at the fuse box. Have a flashlight or two handy just in case. You do not want to leave the water in there, you need to drain it. However, if you can drain it and get the electronics to dry out, they should be okay. Electronics are suprisingly good about being immersed (salt water will corrode immediately, but otherwise, let it dry out and most of the time it will work just fine).

I'm a bit aghast that it didn't blow when you turned it on; don't turn it on again :-P

You can wait a few hours, but put up a note or call up and warn anyone else in your apt not to turn the thing on till you have a chance to drain it.

As for why it happened, it could be an overflowed shower/tub or it could be cracked pipes. You may well have to deal with the folks upstairs eventually if it's recurring.

[gement.livejournal.com]

It happened in my house once, due to an overflowing shower upstairs. Light actually got INTO the light bulb (yes, the bit with the filament) while it was still on. It would not switch on again, but it kept burning cheerfully with an inch of water in the bulb until we turned it off.

If it only happens the once, clogged upstairs fixture (or in my case, a kid who plugged the drain because she liked splashing her feet in the shower floor when it filled up) is a pretty good bet. If it happens twice, call the super.

Everyone's already told you about the fuse box. A few hour delay is no big deal. DON'T PANIC.

Hmm. Where's my large friendly letters font when I need it?

[rm.livejournal.com]

I figure if it doesn't happen again tomorrow it's not a pipe, but kids, which is seriously the news I want.

[lakme.livejournal.com]

It happened to me once because the people upstairs had a cracked toilet tank, the landlord was an ass and figured it could wait til the next day, shut the toilet water off and told them not to flush it. They forgot, and it flooded my kitchen and we had to wash every dish we owned. (Landlord's response: "It was clean water" My response to that: "I don't care")

So...if it's happened twice, I'm wondering if that might be what happened here as well. If it happens again make the meddling kids call the super and get it figured out, I would say.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

It's almost certainly not a burst or leaky pipe.
An input pipe would not be intermittent; an output pipe would be more frequent. Therefore, stupidity.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I had water cascading out of a phone outlet one time at an apartment.