Basement Blues

I'm still trying to process the chaos that unfolded today. This morning, I was sipping my coffee, thinking it's gonna be a quiet day, but boy was I wrong. The rain was coming down hard, and I could see the streets were already flooded. I knew we might have some issues with the old townhouses, but I didn't think it'd be this bad.

By the time I got to the office, we already had a few calls from tenants complaining about water in their basements. I'm talking about the ones who I'll call Mr. and Mrs. Green, they're always on top of things, so when they call, I know it's serious. My maintenance guy was already out checking the buildings, and our custodian was trying to help with the cleanup. I was on the phone with the tenants, trying to calm them down and figure out what's going on.

Around noon, things started to get really crazy. More tenants were calling, and we had water pouring into the basements of at least three townhouses. I was running around, trying to assess the situation, and my maintenance guy was trying to find the source of the problem. We were all getting a bit frustrated, to be honest. I mean, we know these old buildings can be a challenge, but this was getting out of hand.

That's when my plumber showed up, and yes he's a lifesaver. He started checking the drains and the waterproofing, and it didn't take him long to find the issue. A plugged drainage in the playground near the townhouses was causing all the water to back up into our basements. And to make matters worse, the waterproofing in these old buildings is basically non-existent. I was talking to my maintenance guy, and we were both thinking, "How did we not know about this?"

By the time I got back to the office, I had a list of vendors to call and a plan to get the water cleaned up. My plumber was already working on fixing the drainage issue, and we were trying to get a waterproofing company to come in and assess the damage. I was on the phone with Mr. and Mrs. Green again, updating them on the situation, and they were understandably upset. I don't blame them, I'd be upset too if I had water pouring into my basement.

As the day went on, things started to calm down a bit. We got the water cleaned up, and my plumber was able to fix the drainage issue. But I know this isn't the end of it. We're gonna have to deal with the aftermath of this flooding, and I'm sure we'll have some angry tenants to deal with. I was talking to our custodian, and she was saying how we need to get on top of this waterproofing issue once and for all. I couldn't agree more.

Got a work order created and assigned to a waterproofing company and I'm still waiting to hear back from them, and I'm not sure what the plan is gonna be. I'll have to follow up with them tomorrow and see what they say. For now, I'm just glad the water's been cleaned up, and we can start assessing the damage. We just gotta act fast before we start having mould, another headache. It is what it is and it's been a long day, and I'm looking forward to a quiet evening. But I know this is just the beginning of a long process to get our old townhouses sorted out.