Is your refrigerator running? Well you better go catch it!
No, but seriously folks, it is very important to report any leaks or running water that you find in your apartment to management as soon as possible. Doing this will ensure that the problem is rectified early causing the least extra damage as possible.
We have a little story of a resident in Austin who let their sink leak go for weeks without reporting it. The damage done was incredible, for such a little leak.
At first he heard a dripping sound late at night in his apartment. He looked under the sink and saw a little drip from the pipe onto the cabinet below. It wasn't terrible at this point and he simply hand tightened the pipes thinking that would do the trick. At this point he was urge to tell the community manager about the issue...
Did he?
NO HE DIDN'T! He caught the leak again a few days later and this time placed a pot underneath the catch the leaking drops. A quick fix, but not a long term solution. He still didn't alert the management.
Weeks went by. Perhaps about a month or two after the leak was first noticed, the resident left to go out of town for work. About a week later he arrived home to find water all over the kitchen floor and soaked into the carpet adjacent to the kitchen. Not only did the carpet stink, but it was also ruined. His cabinets all had a water stained line at the bottom.
When management came to work on it, they saw the pot that he was using to catch the water and realized that he didn't report the leak when it originally happened. He admitted to not telling them and they took the cost of repairing the kitchen and replacing the carpet out of his deposit.
OUCH!
So the moral of the story is not to let this happen to you. No matter how busy you are, take a few minutes to stop by your apartment office and let them know when you spot a leak that needs to be fixed. You will have covered your butt and the problem should be fixed quickly!
