Water leak into condo

[JReality]

I live in a condo. There is a leak on the side of my unit in which water seeps in underneath the baseboard near a window corner and the hardwood floor gets wet. When it happens, there isn't any evidence of it coming through the window itself, and I replaced the window seals. The leak is above the grade level, and only happens in wind-driven rain. It is not a basement leak.

I observed the leak happen two times (in the past few weeks), and I believe it happened at least once before that. When it happens, I put a towel down to absorb the water. Beneath the surface, near where water seeped in, the drywall gets excessively moist according to a moisture detector, and can stay moist for days. There are no stains yet on the wallpaper side of the drywall. Baseboard is starting to warp a bit and hardwood showing early signs of damage. Damage inside the room is hardly noticeable at this point though.

Questions:

1) If the leak happens again, what should the association's next step be to protect my unit and the building?

2) If it keeps happening again, then at what point do I need to call in a pro to deal with potential mold and damage happening behind the drywall? Should me or the association already have gotten a professional involved with cleanup/restoration? So far, I've been using towels to absorb the water, but who knows what's happening behind the drywall (rot, mold?)

3) At what point do I have the right to insist that the association pay for professional cleanup and restoration? I live in NJ.

Thanks,

J.

[seniorjudge]

What do your CCRs say about your questions?

[JReality]

The documents do not talk about the issue of cleanup and restoration due to water damage. There aren't any documents specifically referred to as "CCR's" There is the Master Deed, the By Laws, and the Rules and Regulations.

I know that if the leak is coming from outside the building the Association is responsible for fixing it. The window itself is my property, but I replaced the seals and there is not any sign of the water getting in through the window itself.

If it keeps happening, the association does have to figure out why the leak is happening and correct it. They came over and caulked the outside, but I won't know if the leak is fixed until we get window driven rain (MAYBE later tonight).

Again, if they don't fix it soon, then at some point at some point prefessional cleanup and restoration would be necessary. I'm not just talking about painting, I'm talking about mold cleanup, rood replacement, etc.

I'm just wondering at what point I can insist on this. Right now the inside of the room is hardly damages that I can see. I can't see behind the drywall, but there could easily be mold growing there and rotted wood there. There is nothing in the Docs that tells me when I need to call in a professional cleanup and restoration service, or when I can insist the association do this? Their only response was just to caulk so far.

Looking for advice on how to handle this if the leak happens again.

Thanks,

J.

[aaron]

You may wish to consider having a licensed contractor come it to diagnose the problem and estimate repair. That way you have something more than your personal conclusions to take to the condo board when you try to convince them that it's a problem they are responsible to repair.

Are similar leaks occurring in other units?