My bf and I live in a ‘designer’ apartment in Tokyo (I’ve come to realise that that just means it was poorly built, but ✨ unique ✨) and we occupy the top two levels out of the three story building, with our entrance on the ground floor.
Today, while we were out, our a balcony on the top floor flooded during a typhoon. We’ve just finished rainy season and never had an issue with flooding, but today it bucketed down and subsequently our balcony just couldn’t handle it. The water had seemed into the bedroom via the little drainage grate in the sliding door track.
We arrived home to a literal waterfall running down our stairs to the entrance, our bedroom on the top floor completely flooded and water running through the floor boards into the second floor (all our furniture/decor is drenched).
We called the property management company (PMC for short), and they sent out three staff members to quickly assess the situation and mop up the water. We voiced our concerns about it not drying out properly, the possibility of mould or structural damage (pretty sure our house is constructed out of timber), the wallpaper peeling off etc. and the company said absolutely nothing. They aren’t concerned for our health and would rather wait until there IS mould before they do anything.
This would absolutely not fly in my home country but apparently, it’s common practice here.
We’ve had multiple minor problems with this company (the wrong air conditioner was replaced and they didn’t do anything to rectify it, the base of the kitchen cabinet had mould/water damage and the only thing the contractor did was cover it with a thin sheet of ply and DIDN’T seal it meaning it’s raised off the original base board now, etc) but it’s so expensive to move in Japan and we’re just not in a position to do so right now.
The bureaucracy here is insane and so tedious. I’m considering getting in touch with a lawyer but I’m not sure if I’m being dramatic. If anyone has had experience with this please let me know 🥲
7 comments
Did it flood because the drain couldn’t handle the water or the drain was plugged? If it’s the latter, I could see them thinking about deferring the blame to you for not maintaining the balcony, which is why they are taking so long to repair it. Personally, I would try contacting your insurance and see what they have to say. If they will cover it you don’t have to deal with management.
That said, I don’t think you need to be concerned for your health/safety. Wood buildings don’t fall apart and rot from a single incident.
If your building was constructed under code, structural damage shouldn’t be a problem because the wood used for skeleton frames is specifically treated to prevent warping.
Mould on the other hand is extremely common after floods because moisture will be trapped inside the walls, and in this temperature and humidity mould grows very fast. If the flooding reached your walls, you need to open them up.
Correct procedure is to gut the gibbing, sanitise the wood framing, replace insulation, and reseal walls. You can force dry almost everything else, but you cannot force dry the inside of a wall. Any carpeting is also important to look at because underlay is not easily accessible to dry.
I really, really recommend getting this work done if you plan to continue living there. Check your insurance policies to see if it can be covered, home insurance under water disaster, under fire insurance, or even mentions of water-related damage in that maintenance fee you might pay every month.
If this work isn’t done, please seriously consider moving at some point because mould is terrible for your respiratory system. If you have asthma, speak with whoever you need to immediately.
The process after any flood is a headache and will take a lot of time and energy. Moving might not be the cheapest thing to do, but if your management company is as poor as you say then it sounds like it could be viable to explore your options.
I had a great interaction with mini mini before, Checking a place out and asked if its been cleaned since it was the standard couple man yen cleaning fee they charged prior to moving in. the place had a not attached to wall counter thing that the stove went on. I pulled it away from the wall. wall and back of thing was just caked black with oils and other stuff. Grabbed the dude and asked if this was what the cleaning fee went towards. His answer was you shouldn’t pull that out so it doesn’t matter. Also this was in azabu juban and not some inaka location.
I am a bit confused, this just happened today? Can’t you contact them and your insurance agent tomorrow to follow up on this more?
If the rain there was like it was here in east Tokyo, it was about an hour of moderately heavy rain. Unless you did something wrong like leave a door open, that doesn’t bode well for the structural integrity of the place in a prolonged storm or snowstorm.
I’m guessing that you have insurance, since that’s typically a precondition of renting a place. Try speaking to your insurance company?
I’ve been in Japan about 14 years, rented a number of aging apartments, and never had a leak even with positively biblical rain. The management company should know that buildings here are supposed to be rain-proof too.
Tokyo…
Typhoon…
Today????
Yes you’re being dramatic.