Tenant says there was no help on site during apartment building flooding in Kitchener

Some people living in Kitchener awoke to an unexpected sight. CTV’s Jeff Pickel explains the response has left them frustrated.

Flooding has damaged several units at an apartment building in Kitchener.

Some of the people living at 2969 Kingsway Drive said the damage stretches all the way up to the tenth floor, but some units were able to escape unscathed.

When Ryan McMaster, a tenant, woke up Monday morning, he thought it was raining.

“I looked out the window, there was no rain and then I realized there was water coming in through the outlets of the living room,” he said.

The problem spread as he quickly tried to contain the mess.

“I realized [water] was also coming in my kitchen, my first bedroom, the hallway and started leaking shortly after, maybe an hour later, into the bathroom,” McMaster said.

While McMaster said the flooding is unfortunate, the real frustration stems from the response of the building management team.

“I called our building management, and they said they were going to take a report and send it to the office for when the office opened at 9 a.m.” he said. “I was trying to explain to him it was more than just a small leak and the hallways were also flooded with at least an inch of water at that time.”

The building is managed by Homestead Land Holdings, a large landlord and housing rental company with properties in over a dozen cities in Ontario.

McMaster said he was told by building management that the building does not have a superintendent on site who can handle plumbing and electrical issues.

Homestead Land Holdings said, “We are aware of an isolated water leak originating from a residential unit at this property. The source of this leak has been addressed and we are working with any impacted residents.”

McMaster hopes building management will be better prepared in the future.

“They say call if it’s an emergency. It was an emergency and they didn’t do anything until the actual office here in the building opened.”

Although it’s unclear how many units were impacted by the leak, or what the full extent of the damage is, McMaster said most of the damage in his home appears to be superficial, but has not been fully examined by a professional.