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

[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.