My apartment rant!
 

So my sink backs up thursday night. I think no big deal right, its thanksgiving, and I don't really want to bother the on-call maintnance guy. I figure the apartment office will be open friday.

Friday rolls around, and no such luck. I figure hey, Ill be a nice guy, I can go 1 day without using my kitchen sink.

Today rolls around, I go talk to the office. they send someone out. He says he is going to check the other apartment. So I get busy playing games on the pc, and 2 hours go by. I decide to call the office and see where the maintnance guy is at. No anwser, so I walk over there. They decide to close 2 hours early, and nobody is there. Now I am pissed at being lied to. So far I have paged the emergency maintnance number about 6 times in the past 90 minutes. Still no call back. I really do not want to go till monday without being able to do any dishes. Honestly I thought about calling roto-rooter, having them come out and fix it, and trying to get the money back from my apartment. Oklahoma rental states that I have that right if it is an emergency, but I am not sure if they apartment would go for that unless I took them to court.

to top it all off, its a problem I cannot fix. The clog is in the main pipe somewhere, not in the p trap under the sink. I already checked it :D

Sometimes it sucks to be nice...

Have you tried filling up the sink with hot water and then plunging the crap out of it? That worked for me the other day.

No, because it is a double sink, so I cannot get any pressure on the clog. My pipe also connects to another apartment, so any of their dirty water is flowing into my sink

That's what I have. I had the stopper in the non-clogged side and filled up the clogged side (with the garbage disposal) and plunged it like crazy and to my surprise something was dislodged and the water shot down through the pipes in one sudden rush.

well I guess its worth a try anyways.... no luck there. whatever it is, its stuck good

Oh well, I did my civic duty today. Even if it was unsuccessful. :)

thanks for the tip anyways.

You think thats bad.. my girlfriend's neighbor's are like.. uh.. mentally challenged.. and they apparently think its okay to play tag at 6am heh

Its bad when your apt stinks from 4 day old dishwater.

And to top it off, this morning my power goes out for about 2 hours :D

Did you talk to the people in the other apartment, to see if they have a clog as well?

no, I didnt, but it doesnt really make much difference if they have a clog also. I know the clog is in the main pipe, since water circulates freely between my two sinks, and more water shows up from upstairs I am assuming.

And you STILL haven't heard from the 24 hour maintenance?

Damn. I mean, when I was in grad school, I lived in grad housing (it was off campus but slightly subsidized by the university) and we'd sometimes have to wait almost an entire 24 hours for someone to show up, but it was never longer than that.

If I thought I could get away with it and I was in your shoes, I'd probably call a plumber and then tell my complex that they could pay the bill since they declined to show up. But that probably wouldn't work.

Have you called them again? Mentioning the worsening situation? I mean, this just seems like a major breach of contract brewing here...in addition to whatever is festering in your sink...

/tk

If the other apartment is experiencing the same stoppage, maybe you can get them to page maintenance as well. Two squeaky wheels are probably more effective than one, at getting attention.

I paged them about 12 times over a 4 hour period. No anwser. The main office is closed today, so there is nothing I can do really. I could page maintnance again today, but I am positive that it wouldnt do me a bit of good. I already sent them a nasty e-mail giving them a piece of my mind. All I know is it had better be fixed by the time I get home from work on monday.

Good luck, it really sounds like a pain. Especially over the long weekend.

That's one reason why I love my apartment complex. They have a policy that if you submit a work order and it hasn't been taken care of in 48 hours you get a month's free rent. I haven't had ANY problems at all getting them to come out and fix things...

after another round of bitching last night, they came out this afternoon and fixed it...