Sounds idyllic, right? Enter: the smell of towels that had been wet for too long … at least that’s what I thought before I saw my entire apartment floor submerged by smelly floodwater and sewage.
Multiple thoughts and feelings — some of which I can’t politely share here — hit me: What the heck happened? What am I supposed to do? Who’s responsible for cleaning this mess?
Turns out, an overnight storm and a sewage backup catalyzed the flooding that ruined some of my belongings and forced me to start hunting for a second apartment. The experience was mentally and financially taxing.
When things go wrong in your home, “it’s never fun and it can be very daunting and stressful,” said Daniel Wroclawski, a home and appliances writer for Consumer Reports, a nonprofit that helps consumers evaluate goods and services.
Wroclawski experienced his own flooding nightmare in his first and current home.
“I came home one weekend from being away, and there was a flood in my kitchen, no joke, and costing tens of thousands of dollars in damage,” he added. “And my wife was about six or seven months pregnant.”
Flooding is just one of the most common things that can go wrong in a home.
Regardless of what goes wrong, if you’re a renter and there’s an issue with something your landlord is responsible for — such as the unit itself or appliances they provided — your first call generally should be to the maintenance team or landlord, Wroclawski said. If you’re a homeowner and can’t handle a problem yourself, call professional servicers for help — such as a plumber if your toilet won’t flush, or an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) technician if you need furnace repair.
Below, experts advise how you can calmly handle common household…
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