Water damage near Frontier Villagewhere neighbors share the problem

Frontier Village opened in 1960 at the junction of SR 9 and SR 204, and drivers on 204 could cross the highway straight into its parking lot. HistoryLink records that Mitchell Pharmacy moved there on September 1, 1960, and that other downtown businesses followed. Its arrival played a part in the push to incorporate the town. By the turn of the century, the SR 9 and SR 204 intersection was the busiest in Snohomish County. It became part of the city in the first major annexations, completed in 2006, which added 1,563 acres near Frontier Village and at the lake's north end. ^[2]

The result today is a mix: big-box and strip retail along the highway, with residential streets and multi-family housing nearby. Census figures from 2020 show a city where 75.7 percent of occupied units are owner-occupied and 24.3 percent are rented, and rental and shared-wall homes are the kind of housing where a leak quickly becomes more than one person's problem.

We are not claiming every home here looks the same. Detached houses on quiet streets are also part of the picture, and for those homes our other pages may suit you better. This page focuses on what is different when your home shares a wall, a floor or a parking lot with others.

If water is coming from outside your own unit, start by trying to stop it, which usually means reaching the neighbor above or the building's manager. Learn where your unit's shutoff and the building's main are, as you may only control the first. Then, tell the right people early: your landlord or property manager if you rent, your association or management company if you own a condominium or townhome, and your own insurer in either case.

Renters and owners have different starting points. A renter's own belongings usually depend on a renter's policy, while the building is the owner's concern. Report the leak in writing and with photos, even if you phoned someone, and ask what will be done and when. A renter should not hire a contractor to open walls without the owner's approval, although there is nothing wrong with asking a contractor questions over the phone so that you understand what you are seeing.

Owners in associations need to read their governing documents. These documents often set out which parts belong to the association and which belong to the unit owner, and that can decide who arranges and insures which repairs. Commonly, structure and shared pipes fall to the association and interior finishes to the owner, but this varies a lot, so read yours.

Rain behaves differently around pavement. Roofs, roads and parking lots shed water quickly, so ground-level units and garages near these surfaces depend on catch basins, swales and storm pipes working as they should. When drains clog with leaves or debris, water may pond against a building's lower edge, and a sloped driveway can send it straight through a garage door.

Heavy rain is not unusual in this region. Published normals at the Everett station have November at around 5.8 inches, with December and January close to 5. Modelled figures for the Lake Stevens location read higher, but we label those as modelled because they may overstate things. If a low unit or garage takes on water during storms, report the drain problem to the manager right away, and take a photo while the water is there. It is much harder to show after it has gone.

Water coming across the ground is a flood question for insurance purposes, which is different from a leak inside the building. The state's Insurance Commissioner notes that a typical home policy does not cover flooding. ^[6] Ask what your policy says, and what the association's master policy says, if there is one.

Some larger multi-family buildings have fire sprinkler systems, and a broken sprinkler head releases a lot of water quickly and stains ceilings with dark, smelly water that has been sitting in the pipes. If this happens, leave any fire-related decisions to the building's people, and treat the water with more caution than a clean supply. Do not try to stop a sprinkler yourself unless you know what you are doing, as disabling a system affects everyone's safety.

On upper floors, you can have the opposite problem: your own appliance leak running down into several homes. Know where your unit's shutoffs are, and turn off the washer valves when you leave for an extended trip. It is also worth checking if your washer has a drain pan, and whether your bathroom and laundry have sensors or shutoffs that would help. A small detector on the floor near a washing machine can give early warning.

Most of this area has been within the city since the 2006 annexations, and the city's permit center handles building, mechanical and plumbing permit applications online. In attached buildings, work on shared structure, plumbing stacks and fire-rated assemblies is more likely to involve permits than in a single-family home. An association may also have its own approval rules and may want contractors to provide proof of registration and insurance before they start work. Ask your manager about these so that nothing gets held up. Tenants should leave permitting to the owner.

Parking can be the first hurdle. Truck-mounted equipment needs a place to park and a hose route, which is harder with assigned spaces, fire lanes and busy lots. Tell the contractor about the layout and any gate codes and restrictions on the call. Some jobs can use portable units. Upper floors with elevators or narrow stairs change what can be carried in. If traffic matters for timing, remember that the SR 9 and SR 204 intersection gets very busy, so plan for time on the road when you ask about arrival.

The biggest risk with shared housing is fixing what shows and not what caused it. Drywall patched below a leaking shower looks good until it stains again. Make sure that someone has actually identified the source, and that the fix happens before finishes go back. If your home has been damaged more than once from the same direction, write down each date and send it to the manager. A record of repeat damage changes the conversation about whether to investigate behind walls or replace a line.

Homes close to commercial buildings can be affected by things a suburban street rarely sees. A leak in a building with several tenants may not be noticed until the next business day, as nobody is there overnight. Restaurants and similar uses have grease and floor drains that can back up, and shared building lines can carry those problems to neighbors. Flat commercial roofs depend on drains that clog with leaves and debris, and water that ponds up there tends to come through at a seam or a penetration some distance from where it started.

If you rent an upstairs apartment over a business, or you have a shop on the other side of a wall, keep the building manager's contact details handy, as well as an after-hours number. If you run a small business here, think about the things that matter most in a loss: stock stored off the floor, a list of what is on the premises and your landlord's expectations under the lease. Commercial leases often spell out who handles what after water damage, and these terms may be quite different from those in a residential lease.

Drying equipment in an attached home affects people who have nothing to do with the leak. Air movers can be heard through walls, and hoses or cords in a shared hallway may be a trip hazard or conflict with fire rules. A short note to your neighbors saying what is going on and for how long it is expected to last can prevent a lot of friction. The manager may also want to know if a corridor is going to be used for equipment.

Also consider the unit that is not obviously affected. If you are beside or below a serious leak, ask for your own wall and ceiling to be read, even if nothing shows. It is far simpler to check now than to argue later about a stain that has appeared weeks after the event. If someone in your home has asthma or a weakened immune system, let the manager and the contractor know early, as dust and mold can affect them.