AVALON, Pa. — From Craig Niezelski’s top-floor condominium at the Hampshire House in Avalon, you are greeted by the headache that he has been dealing with for months.
He has been living in the same condo for 16 years and had problems in the past with a roof leak in his living room.
“February of this year, I look up, and there’s another leak in the ceiling, a big bubble,” he said. “It just keeps getting larger and larger.”
He said he called his homeowner’s association and the property management company immediately. But eight months later, the leak has only grown worse.
“Of course, they wanna fix it, but it’s not happening quick enough for me,” Niezelski said. “I don’t think anyone understands how much this is upsetting me.”
Niezelski set up a dramatic-looking contraption in his living room to catch water leaking from the ceiling and protect his grand piano.
“Went to Target and they had some leftover swimming pools for the summer,” he said. “Depends, they make these great bed pads.”
He set up a plastic swimming pool on top of his piano, put the bed pads inside of it and hung plastic from the ceiling to try to direct any water that drips down into the pool.
That piano means a lot to Niezelski. He built a successful career as a singer and pianist and had bought the piano when he lived in Los Angeles.
He sent 11 Investigates photo after photo and video after video of the water damage and contractors working on the roof.
11 Investigates contacted the homeowner’s association, Community Management Advisors, which manages the property, Carlisle Syntec Systems, which is the warranty company, and the roofing companies involved in the repair efforts.
The HOA has not responded to requests for comment. Neither has the warranty company.
The management company declined to comment.
One of the roofing companies, who did work as recently as last month, said the issue is correctly identifying the source of the leak. The company said that since the building has a concrete roof deck, water could be traveling from dozens of feet away.
“I just want it fixed,” Niezelski said. “I don’t want to sue anybody. I just want the roof fixed.”
The warranty company has contracted a new roofing company as of late September. That company tells 11 Investigates its crews patched between seven and ten holes Friday, and they’re hopeful that they fixed the leak. With rain in the forecast on Tuesday, the company said that it will be a good test, and if the roof continues to leak, they will have to move back into an investigatory phase to try to correctly identify the source of the leak.
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