Ask Me Help Desk - Condo ceiling leak

Hi
I own a condo and left my family live there and I went abroad. For a long time actually since we moved (6 years) we have bath room ceiling leak problem which was never solved by our management. 3 months ago when I was away from home the management came to our apartments and torn one of our bath room wall and told my parents ( who can't speak or understand proper english) our bathtub was causing leak for the two levels below us ( we live in 4th level - so the 3rd and 2nd level apartments below us) not only they left the bath room in a big mess also sent my parents a notice saying we have to fix the problem with in 2 days if not the management will do it on our expense. More over we have to pay for the damage for the lower two levels.:mad:
Now I not only have my bathroom to fix also two apartments below me to fix, and my 2 bathroom ceiling to fix :(
But I heard the other people who live in this condo have same leak problem and complain about the water tubes that goes in between the walls.
But management is really don't want to pay or involve in anything other than ripping my bathrooms and telling me, moisture caused our ceiling leak.. :eek:.hehehe. That moment I realized the person in charge is so stupid and they must have made a mistake about the leak problem. What are my options now ? Any advises ?:confused:

Hi
I own a condo and left my family live there and I went abroad. For a long time actually since we moved (6 years) we have bath room ceiling leak problem which was never solved by our management. 3 months ago when I was away from home the management came to our apartments and torn one of our bath room wall and told my parents ( who can't speak or understand proper english) our bathtub was causing leak for the two levels below us ( we live in 4th level - so the 3rd and 2nd level apartments below us) not only they left the bath room in a big mess also sent my parents a notice saying we have to fix the problem with in 2 days if not the management will do it on our expense. More over we have to pay for the damage for the lower two levels.
Now I not only have my bathroom to fix also two apartments below me to fix, and my 2 bathroom ceiling to fix :0 (
But I heard the other people who live in this condo have same leak problem and complain about the water tubes that goes in between the walls.
But management is really don't want to pay or involve in anything other than ripping my bathrooms and telling me, moisture caused our ceiling leak... hehehe. That moment I realized person in charge is so stupid and they must have made a mistake about the leak problem. What are my options now ? Any advises ?

Hi
For 6 years my condo bathrooms ( 2) ceiling are leaking. First it started with bubbles now I can see the rusted steel interior structure. Many times I wrote many letters to the management since I did not want to talk upstairs people without making sure it is not caused by the interior structure. Many times management people came down stairs said they will take care of it which is never been until now.
3 months ago when I was abroad they came into my apartments and told my parents our bathtub is leaking and caused damaged for lower 2 apartments which is stacked in the same vertical line of us. Also they torn my other bathroom wall, jumped on my bathtub ( I'm not sure whether they caused the crack on it, since I wasn't there ) also issued a rude notice saying they have to fix it within two days and not to use the washroom until then.
When I got home the bathtub they wanted us to fix is fixed and other one which torn to see the leak is still left in a mess and our bathrooms ceiling is also left unsolved? :ma:

When I talked to the person in charge at the management , told me they checked all the apartments on the same vertical line to find the leak. Also said there is one bathroom in 8th level causing a big problem too. And ours is causing a big mess too. I still wonder if person in 1st level has this ceiling problem . Then the 2nd level then our level (3rd) and I never went upstairs to see who else have the ceiling problem. But it seems like if most of us have the same ceiling problem couldn't it be something related to drainage pipes which is common to everyone in the same vertical line?
There is no way everybody's bathtub is broken at the same time! :D
Anyway I checked the congrete below my bathtub to see any evidence of mold or water residues but nothing was found. Also my parents brought a plumber to fix the problem, apparently even them couldn't find any problem with our bathtub except the management.
Also while they were fixing, they saw water was leaking in between the pipes which between walls and they 've told my parents its totally condo's maintenance to take care of them. I have no clue :confused:

Don't know what to do next, or where to start from. Management told me to speak the person who is below us regarding the damage caused by our leak? Don't know how much its going to cost me now? :(

Somebody please help me ?

Quote:

management is really don't want to pay or involve in anything other than ripping my bathrooms and telling me, moisture caused our ceiling leak... hehehe. That moment I realized person in charge is so stupid and they must have made a mistake about the leak problem. What are my options now ?

Too many unanswered questions here. Nobody can come in and start tearing up walls without permission. Was it given?
Have you seen the leak yourself? Is it a drainage or a pressure leak? What's your reason for saying

Quote:

they must have made a mistake about the leak problem.

Do you believe that you haven't got a leak? That doesn't make sense if there's water damage underneath your unit.
We are talking about a condo in the states aren't we? Are you there now?
What does the condo board have to say about tearing up your walls?
If the condo allowed the water damage to continue and it damaged units below because of it they might share some of the blame and also the expense.
But I don't know for sure. I simply don't have enough information to nake a call.
Regards, Tom

Yea speed I agree with you there are so many unanswered questions.
Let me share the answers that I got!
First of all the condo is in canada and its quite old 30-35 yrs old !
Second thing I never been to anybody's apartment physically to see the leak. So I don't know what ever the management says is true or not. So I may have to see it sooner.
Third no one of us given any permission to tear our bathroom wall. They just did it and told its our bathtub which is leaking for a long time so we have to fix it. But if its leaking wouldn't it leak in our bathroom floor too through the edge of the tub before it goes through the concrete ?
I really don't have any knowledge about plumbing or piping just going through forums to gain some also talking to people regarding it.

If you can help me with some clue it will be great. Thank you for your time.

While it's possible for your tub to leak without showing up on your level I have a hard time believing itv leaked for any length of time. Surely the lower units would have complained to the Condo Board when water showed up. I don't know about what the law is up in your area but here the condo association can do repaires in the common areas but can not just walk into a unit and start tearing up wall without the owners permission. I would see a lawyer. Please keep me in the loop on this and let me know what you find out. Good luck, Tom