Sunday Snippets 5.5.24
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In Sunday Snippets 5.5.24, yesterday was all about trying to get my yard in better shape to keep my apartment from flooding.
Kendra came with one of her employees yesterday and shored up my yard. She devised a way to hopefully divert water away from my patio before it rains again.
It’s raining now and so far so good.
My furniture is still where it was last week. My carpet is stinky and dirty. And not one person has called me from the office to let me know what happens next.
As far as I can tell, they haven’t done anything to prevent more flooding. Truly I don’t know what they’re waiting on.
Three times water flooded my apartment in two days time. Jeanie said water came into her hallway when my apartment flooded last week.
So below is my Mother’s Day present from my girls…
They dug trenches and added these concrete pavers. She laid them down in front of the concrete blocks hoping to stop water from getting to my apartment.
They put plastic underneath. I can see it at the ends of the pavers. But I was inside because Greg was here. So I don’t know the strategy concerning that.
This is a wonderful Mother’s Day present. Time, money, and labor. Hopefully it will prevent some of the water from getting into my apartment.
I love these pretty little purple and white flowers in one of my containers.
Yesterday I worked a while in the yard after Kendra and her employee left. It was soothing to work with plants and cut them back and deadhead flowers. After a stressful and aggravating week I needed that.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that what they did yesterday will help prevent rain runoff from coming into my apartment.
I want to have a home that is no longer chaotic with furniture everywhere I turn. It is hard to find things when everything is so jumbled up.
I wish the management would contact me to let me know what happens next.
What I’m Watching:
I’m watching the last season of “Better Call Saul.” I didn’t have a TV set up until Greg moved the dresser back to where it belonged before the flooding.
He put the TV back on it and I can now watch TV in the bedroom.
What I’m Reading:
I’m reading “That Kind Of Mother” by Rumaan Alam.
Like many first-time mothers, Rebecca Stone finds herself both deeply in love with her newborn son and deeply overwhelmed. Struggling to juggle the demands of motherhood with her own aspirations and feeling utterly alone in the process, she reaches out to the only person at the hospital who offers her any real help—Priscilla Johnson—and begs her to come home with them as her son’s nanny.
Priscilla’s presence quickly does as much to shake up Rebecca’s perception of the world as it does to stabilize her life. Rebecca is white, and Priscilla is black, and through their relationship, Rebecca finds herself confronting, for the first time, the blind spots of her own privilege. She feels profoundly connected to the woman who essentially taught her what it means to be a mother.
When Priscilla dies unexpectedly in childbirth, Rebecca steps forward to adopt the baby. But she is unprepared for what it means to be a white mother with a black son. As she soon learns, navigating motherhood for her is a matter of learning how to raise two children whom she loves with equal ferocity, but whom the world is determined to treat differently.
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I’m working backwards reading your posts. What a disaster. I also wondered about that patio drain and hope the plumber will take a good long look at it, hopefully with a camera. It could be clogged from tree roots. Holding good thoughts for you – long time reader who is not doing a good job at keeping up!
Brenda, is there anything we, your readers, aka friends, can do to help you? I don’t live close by, so I can’t come and help you that way, but is there anyone I can call for you? Like any local agency’s or the local news, or city hall? Maybe if enough people call and complain, you’ll get someone’s attention who can help get things done. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, that sort of thing. If enough people squeak on your behalf, well you get the idea. I understand if you’d rather nobody rock the boat too.
I’m not going to say what others have said – all said well and good advice. But I wonder if the drain there is plugged by debris? You’re going to have issues since your grade is lower than the surrounding area, which is problematic. But they need to clear that drain as well and provide a solution. That shouldn’t be your problem. (But you know that.)
I agree with Ann E. The water that came into your apartment isn’t clean rainwater. Flooding water leaves bacteria in your carpet, on walls and furniture. The carpet needs pulled out and a laminate flooring put in that is waterproof. Please be careful as mold could affect your kitty before you notice it.
Your daughter made a good attempt but you can see the bricks were lowered and a small drain put in so water would drain to your yard. I’m so sorry your beautiful landscaping is messed up. If your manager is angry and you can’t communicate w/her, it would be best to move. Your yard is lower than others and unfortunately you will have water and drainage issues in the future.
Brenda,
I am not an attorney but this is an article from Oklahoma Legal Aid.
https://oklaw.org/resource/landlord-tenant-rights-and-duties
If I read it correctly, you can pay to have the issues fixed and deduct it from your rent.
Also, do you have renters insurance? Maybe this is covered by that. You need someone like Servepro to come over and mitigate the problem. They need to rip up the carpet, pull out the wet pad and then spray some fungicide or something. I may be using the wrong word. We had to have this done when our house had never water damage from a Nor’Easter.
Also they will bring large dehumidifiers and fans to dry the area.
Your furniture, etc should be covered by your renters insurance.
Also check out the information at Adult Protective Services in OK.
https://www.okdrs.gov/guide/adult-protective-services
Have a good night, I am so happy that your daughters were able to help.
There should be a county/state department that handles those kinds of things. It’s a health issue and you should be able to have it resolved. I’ve had issues in the past and have contacted the CEO or equivalent and copied the immediate management so they know it’s being escalated. You should not have to live like this.
I totally agree!
Such a nice job your girls did…lovely gift they gave you. Fortunate that they are smart and hardworking!! Dianne gave you some great advice. Sounds like she has some law background. (I am learning new things from my daughter who is finishing up law school…sometimes there are cheap and simple things one can do, such as Dianne told you.)
You are not causing trouble because things need to be done to restore your apartment to the way it was when you moved there.
What a great gift from your girls. Document your requests to management. Keep a journal with the time, date and situation. Then send the request in writing. Also send a copy to yourself in the mail and write the return address to yourself. Mark it so you know the contents #1, #2. List this in your journal. Use black ink for everything in case you need to use it in court. Do not open the envelopes that are returned in the until you need them in court.
Your post today sounded good despite the flood.
So sorry you don’t have any answers yet and still living in chaos. My biggest fear for you is mold. I know everyone involved don’t want to make waves, but I’m hoping at least they have all voiced their concerns for their health. Hoping this week is a better one for you.
What an awful situation to be in. The wet and smelly carpet in your apartment is a health hazard. I know you won’t report the management to the Health Department and Building Code Enforcement officials in your city because you’re afraid of getting kicked out of the complex and have no place to go. Your wood furniture is being damaged by sitting on the wet carpet, that’s an issue; any MDF legs and even solid wood furniture you have will suck up that water and the MDF will warp, there may be no way to fix it; the solid wood may survive in good shape but you might have to refinish the legs and/or bottom part of each piece of furniture that was resting on the carpet. You can’t be the only tenant who is having this drainage issue on the ground floor level. Here’s a far-fetched idea: if financially able, what if you and say three other renters in the complex worked out an ownership agreement and are able to buy a four-family apartment building with one unit for each of you that could be passed on to an heir or a Trust? I recall at one point some time back one of your daughters was thinking about buying a home or homes to turn into rentals? Could that be a possibility for you, perhaps in a duplex where most of the yard work would be done by someone else but you could still have your flower garden? Just throwing some ideas out there for consideration. Something needs to be done – you can’t keep living under those uncertain conditions, and shouldn’t have to live that way!
Oh boy, Brenda, what a fine mess this is. I’m sorry this problem has not been resolved. Hopefully the water retention efforts in the garden will help water run off in a different direction. There is a need for properly grading of the landscape. Could it be that the drain in your brick paver area has become clogged? The outdoor carpet has got to be soggy and moldy as well and would probably be better without a covering in order for the concrete slab to drain and dry properly. All of this is managements job to deal with and it’s going to be a big job of done correctly or done at all…sigh.
As for inside your apartment, that’s quite the mess. Who knows what was in the water that flooded your carpet, could have been sewage runoff along with that rainwater. Certainly mold has grown, causing the dirty damp carpet to begin to smell sour. The proper method of dealing with this flooring, any of your damaged furnishings and hopefully beginning efforts to manage water runoff from entering through your patio door may involve removing your furnishings from the apartment, mold remediation, new flooring, building up around the patio door opening and who knows what all. Have you contacted your insurance company regarding your belongings? Water envision is really hard to live through, I’m sorry this has happened and especially when you are have ongoing physical pain that prevents you from doing much at all to help your situation. Can you, with help from neighbors, organize a tenant meeting with management so residents can discuss with them what will be done and when? This way you all hear the same thing at the same time and may help move things along and improve communication. I imagine getting supplies and workers may be slow due to the high demand in your area.
I believe their plan is to splice in new padding where it got wet and just clean the carpet. The tenants are all afraid to cause trouble because they know there is no place else for them to go.
I would call the County Health Dept! Wet, moldy carpet is a huge health hazard.
Brenda, I am so heartbroken to hear you are still having a wet carpet. I was wondering if others in your complex have had issues with all the rain you have had. Except for that issue it seems you are in a great complex with laundry, a garden and friends. Nothing is perfect but this is UNACCEPTABLE. Your daughters gave you the perfect gift. Prayers for a quick clean up so you can be back to normal soon. Glad you could enjoy some time in your garden.
It is unacceptable but there is little I can do about it. The manager I’m sure is still angry that I went over her head in order to get hot water.