Burst pipes near Frontier Villagewhen a leak crosses into the next home

In a detached house there is one main valve, and it is yours. In a shared building, you may have a shutoff for your unit, and separate valves on each fixture. There may also be a building-wide main in a locked room. If the break is on your side of your shutoff, you can stop it yourself. If it is on a line that serves several homes, or if it is coming from above, you may need the manager or a neighbor.

Spend five minutes finding out which valves apply to your home. Ask the manager where the shutoffs are and who holds the keys. Add the manager's after-hours number to your phone. Consider writing the location on a note inside a cabinet door, so that a guest or a house sitter can find it. In a leak, these few minutes matter more than anything else on this page. The general first steps are on our main burst pipe water damage page.

A proper assessment starts at the break and follows the water. In attached homes, this means entering other people's homes, sometimes on several floors. Water often runs along pipes and joists before dropping through, so a stain may appear a whole room away from the failed fitting. The assessor should read walls and ceilings in the units above, below and alongside, and label the readings by unit.

Everyone benefits from a single coordinated plan. If three owners each hire somebody separately, walls may get opened twice and moisture may stay trapped between them. Ask the manager whether one contractor will handle the shared portions. If your association has its own contractor, you can still ask questions and you can still talk to your own insurer. See our page on structural drying for more on how the drying itself works.

Who arranges what depends on your documents, so read them. A landlord is usually responsible for the building and its plumbing, while a tenant's belongings come under a renter's policy, if they have one. Condominium documents vary on where the association's responsibility stops and the owner's begins. Fault and payment are separate conversations from the urgent work, and it helps to keep them apart. Get the water stopped and the drying started, and let insurers sort out the rest.

Avoid signing anything saying who was at fault. Keep receipts for anything you have to buy, and write down what you were told by whom. If you need to stay somewhere else, ask your insurer what your policy provides before you book if you can.

A hard freeze is not common here, but when one comes, attached buildings have particular weak spots: pipes along outside walls of end units, garages under living space and unheated vacant units next door. If you know a unit nearby is empty, mention it to the manager when a cold spell is forecast. On very cold nights, open cabinet doors on outside walls and let a faucet drip, unless your building has told you otherwise. Keep your heat on when you are away, as your unit also helps protect the plumbing around it.

Repairs to a shared line may need a plumbing permit, and the city takes those applications online. Electrical work is permitted through Washington Labor & Industries. A contractor working in a managed building may also need to supply proof of registration and insurance. You can check their registration on the Washington L&I Verify tool. ^[5]