The area in brief
- Where
- West of South Broadway around Englewood Parkway and the Englewood light rail station, on the site of a former regional mall.
- Buildings
- Mid-rise apartment buildings, retail at street level, the civic center and library, and parking structures.
- Who controls water
- Building management, not individual residents, controls the main valves, risers and sprinkler systems.
- Typical leaks
- Supply lines to toilets and sinks, dishwashers, washer hoses in stacked laundry closets, water heaters and fire sprinklers.
How water moves in a stacked building
In a mid-rise apartment building, kitchens and bathrooms are usually stacked directly above one another so plumbing can run in shared vertical chases. That is efficient, but it means a leak in a fourth-floor bathroom tends to show up first in the third-floor bathroom ceiling, then the second. By the time a downstairs neighbor sees a stain, the upstairs unit may have been leaking for hours.
Newer buildings often have individual unit shutoffs in an access panel, a closet or under the sink, but the riser valves that stop water to a whole stack are in mechanical rooms that only maintenance can reach. Fire sprinkler piping runs through every unit and corridor, and it is never something residents should try to shut off.
Ground-floor shops sit under the residential floors. A leak upstairs can close a business below, which brings a second set of leases, owners and insurers into the picture.
Questions to answer on move-in day
- Where is the shutoff for my unit, and does it actually close?
- What is the after-hours maintenance number, and what counts as an emergency?
- Who should I call if water is coming from the unit above and nobody answers the door?
- Does the lease require renters insurance, and does that include liability for damage I cause to other units?
- Where are the leak-prone appliances in my unit: dishwasher, washer, water heater, ice maker?
Common questions
My unit has no shutoff I can find. What should I do?
Ask maintenance to show you, in writing or in person. Many units have shutoffs behind access panels or inside a closet near the water heater.
General information for Englewood, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.