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Who's Responsible For Water Intusion/Damage?

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barbers

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California.

Water entered inside a bedroom wall of my residence through a 1" diameter conduit surrounding the incoming telephone cable. My telephone company (SBC/AT&T) does not dispute that its conduit was, in fact, the pathway for water entering my home. But its claims people tell me that, unless I can prove that an SBC/AT&T facility --- like and underground vault or junction box --- was the source of the water, then they are not responsitble for the resulting damage. I cannot prove where the source of the water is.

Notwithstanding, since their conduit was undeniably the pathway for the water (ie. if not for it, my property would not have been damaged), should they be responsible for repairing the water damage? (Total repair cost was about $3700.)
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
barbers said:
What is the name of your state? California.

Water entered inside a bedroom wall of my residence through a 1" diameter conduit surrounding the incoming telephone cable. My telephone company (SBC/AT&T) does not dispute that its conduit was, in fact, the pathway for water entering my home. But its claims people tell me that, unless I can prove that an SBC/AT&T facility --- like and underground vault or junction box --- was the source of the water, then they are not responsitble for the resulting damage. I cannot prove where the source of the water is.

Notwithstanding, since their conduit was undeniably the pathway for the water (ie. if not for it, my property would not have been damaged), should they be responsible for repairing the water damage? (Total repair cost was about $3700.)
**A: who installed the conduit inside the wall and made a hole in the house siding?
 

barbers

Junior Member
HomeGuru said:
**A: who installed the conduit inside the wall and made a hole in the house siding?
The conduit was installed by the predecessor phone company to SBC, called Pacific Telephone, when the house was built in the mid-'60s. The conduit actually comes in through the foundation, not through a hole in the siding.
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
barbers said:
The conduit was installed by the predecessor phone company to SBC, called Pacific Telephone, when the house was built in the mid-'60s. The conduit actually comes in through the foundation, not through a hole in the siding.

**A: so you are saying that water is coming up through your house foundation slab?
 

barbers

Junior Member
HomeGuru said:
**A: so you are saying that water is coming up through your house foundation slab?
No, the the phone company's conduit enters the house through the foundation. The conduit was the pathway for the water. At the "house" end, the conduit stops inside a bedroom wall. At the other end, the conduit stops somewhere out in my yard (although the phone cable inside it extends on to a phone co. junction box). The "yard" end of the conduit is higher in elevation than the "house" end, so water flowed "downhill" through the conduit and inside my wall.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Ok, so you have damage now from a conduit that was installed in the 60's. Have you recently had any work done that would have changed the status quo and now allowed water to enter or is the damgae just recently discovered long term damage?

Is the bedroom in the basement?
 

barbers

Junior Member
justalayman said:
Ok, so you have damage now from a conduit that was installed in the 60's. Have you recently had any work done that would have changed the status quo and now allowed water to enter or is the damgae just recently discovered long term damage?

Is the bedroom in the basement?
___________________________________________________________________

Nope, the bedroom is on the main floor. House has no basement.

The current water intrusion incident happened over a couple of months. But, when repairing the damage, it was clear that the flooring in the same area had been repaired previously. The suspicion is that water came in at some point in the past, but only the "symptom" was repaired, not the "cause". The suspicion is that only when we get heavy rains over a short time period will the phone cable's conduit fill up with water and run downhill into my house.

BTW, the phone company dug several holes in my yard and was able to convince themselves -- and me -- that the source of the water was not from one of their underground vaults or junction boxes. I am willing to accept the notion that the water is simply coming from normal ground water seepage -- when it rains heavily.

The question still remains, are they responsible for my damage simply by virtue of the fact that it would not have occurred except for the presence of (and likely improper installation of) their conduit? Again, they admit that their conduit was the pathway for the water.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Please excuse me but I am trying to get the full picture here.

You claim the outside end of the condit is higher than the inside end. You also state:
the conduit stops somewhere out in my yard
How are you sure the outside is higher if you don;t know exactly where it is? In current installations ,if any conduit is used in telecom installs, it is generally just a small stub outside that penetrates the wall. It would be at the same elevation as the foundation, nothing higher.

All in all, I do not believe the phone company has any responsibility here. The installation is over 30 years old. Nothing has been done that would have caused the leak. It sounds that a seal at the end of the conduit merely degraded over time. Go dig it up and reseal it. Reseal around the conduit as well.

or better yet. have the phone company install an interface box on the outside of your home. Any conduit from that point (if used) could not fill up as the interface box is not watertight and would drain rather than channeling the water into your home.
 

barbers

Junior Member
Thanks, but the water intrustion problem itself has been solved and will not re-occur.

The conduit extends underground (and uphill) at least 15 feet into my yard. ie. it's not just a small stub. It's clear that the conduit was not sealed at the "yard" end. This allowed ground water to enter it and flow inside the wall of my house. It's clear that the same thing has happened at least once in the past. The phone company admits that all this is true.

My question still is: Is the phone company responsible for repairing the damage done by the water entering my house through their conduit? Or are they not liable because the source of the water itself was not from their underground vault or junction box?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
barbers said:
My question still is: Is the phone company responsible for repairing the damage done by the water entering my house through their conduit? Or are they not liable because the source of the water itself was not from their underground vault or junction box?
I believe there is no liability on the phone company's part for two reasons:

1. The installation is over 30 years old. Nothing has been done to it recently to disturb any seal or such. Things do wear out. If it was sealed, yours apparently wore out. If it wasn't sealed at some point, this would have happened every time the ground got saturated. I would think it would have shown up on the floor very regularly if this was the cases.

2. The current phone company did not install the conduit.
 

barbers

Junior Member
Thanks, justalayman. I appreciate your time and judgement on this issue. BTW, are you a lawyer (or contractor or layman)?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
barbers said:
Thanks, justalayman. I appreciate your time and judgement on this issue. BTW, are you a lawyer (or contractor or layman)?
As the tag says, justalayman concerning anything documentable that this forum deals with.
 

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