How to best avoid water damage in your condo
Many Canadians are buying condos, either as first time home owners or in order to downsize. Talking with brokers and our customers we have found that water damage is a large concern for condo buyers. In order to help condo owners we have created this guide, with some tips and important information.
Before you buy
It’s important that before you buy your condo you make sure to understand your condo’s insurance policy as well as you own and how much protection you have. Some questions that you can ask your lawyer, property manager and real estate agent include:
- What does the corporation’s insurance cover? And what does it not?
- Does the corporation’s policy cover only the common areas and structure of your building? Or does it cover more, for example damage to your units walls.
- If you building experiences major damage will you have to possibly pay an additional cost to cover the deductible on the condo corporation’s insurance policy?
- How much is the deductible on the corporation’s insurance policy?
- Who is responsible for paying the cost of repairing damage to another unit? Or for the deductible on the corporation’s policy, if you have a dishwasher leak or your bathtub overflows and damage the unit below yours?
- What does you condo corporation define as a “standard unit”?
- Are things like fixtures, floors and ceilings covered?
After you buy
- Usually you will be responsible for insuring any of the improvements within your unit as well as any furniture, clothes, electronics and other contents. If there is a water leak who should you contact and what is their phone number?
- Are you aware of where the main water shut-off is for your unit? You can also ask your condo board questions about what everyone in your building can do to better hand water damage problems.
In an emergency
If a water damage emergency occurs like a burst pipe or leak, it’s incredibly important that you respond quickly. InteriorEra is trained and ready to handle all kinds of situations. By fixing the problem quickly we’re able to prevent mold and minimize the damage to your belongings. Call us at 416-897-1676