Water Damage: Slatington, PA – Hot Water Heater Floods LVHA Apartments – Cityline Construction

Water Damage – August, 2016

In the summer there was a hot water heater failure within the LVHA that caused a major flood within the affordable apartments. The way the building was constructed helped push the leaking water from the hot water heater into the rest of the apartments. This was because the water heater was on the mid-floor between the second and first floor, meaning gravity did most of the work. This issue was compounded by the concrete sub-flooring as it only help spread the water further throughout the facility. The damage it did to the apartments was significant and quite serious. Following the shutdown of the water line, Cityline Construction was contacted to help out.

About the Lehigh Valley Housing Authority:

The Lehigh Valley Housing Authority has been serving the greater Lehigh community for over 47 years. Along with the affordable housing they provide, the LVHA offers a comprehensive Family Self-Sufficiency program to help people with higher education and daily life.  If you want to learn more about the LVHA make sure to check out their website at http://www.lehighcountyha.org/.

Emergency Services:

Immediately, our crews went to work right away in removing the standing water from all the affected areas. Since the water from the heater was not deep, we didn’t need to replace the entire wall in most areas, we just had to pull out the damaged parts of the walls. Even though this helped speed up the process a little, the area covered by this flood was large and still required extensive work. When we started to remove the carpeting from the hallways and rooms we ran into our first major problem.

Change in Scope:

Within the original Scope of Work, it was detailed out the decontamination and the restoration of the apartments. However when we started to pull up the carpeting it became apparent that there was an issue with the sub-flooring. The solid concrete base that was supposed to be there was starting to break apart. The composition of the filler used was deteriorating and would not allow for proper floor prep to be done. We worked with the building management and adjusted the original scope to include fixing this sub-flooring. Thereafter, once we repaired the sub-flooring, it would allow for proper floor prep and treatment.

Restoration:

With the scope adjusted for the work needed we finished our restoration work. After the electrical restoration was completed and the area treated, the carpeting and drywall were replaced and patched up. Each area was repainted and all the contents that were there before were reset. Finally one final clean was done before we left the housing apartments. We were happy to help out the LVHA apartments and that they will be able to continue to serve the community.