A downtown San Jose resident recently woke up one morning to find small puddles of water seeping up through the hardwood floors near the kitchen of her condo. She noticed that some of the planks were buckling as well. The resident thought the source of the water intrusion was the kitchen dishwasher or garbage disposal and investigated immediately. Neither turned out to be the culprit and there was no indication of where the water was coming from. The resident obviously felt helpless and distressed.

It turns out that the water was running down inside the walls from an upstairs neighbor. The kitchen sink in the upstairs neighbor’s unit apparently was inadvertently left running from the night before. There also seems to have been a clog in the sink causing the running water to overflow and run out of the sink onto the kitchen floor. Long story short, the water started pooling in the dining room carpet and started to seep through the floors, down the walls, and ended coming up through the downstairs flooring. While I’m not sure of all the exact details of how the problem originated or what caused the water to start running down inside the walls, I do know that it caused a substantial amount of damage to both upstairs and downstairs units.

The downstairs neighbor had to hire a specialty contractor who promptly opened up the kitchen walls to dry out the water to prevent any mold issues. And don’t forget about the hardwood floors that started buckling. Those will have to be replaced as well. And the upstairs neighbor had to replace and repair a substantial amount of flooring also. If there was a silver lining to this nightmare (and for both upstairs and downstairs neighbors, it was a nightmare), its that the upstairs neighbor was properly insured. Fortunately, that meant that the coverage included damage for both upstairs and downstairs units. Most HOA’s include insurance covering the common areas and building, but not for personal property or damage inside units. If you own a condo or are thinking about buying a condo, be sure that you talk to your insurance agent to determine if you have the proper type of homeowner’s insurance and the correct amount of coverage. A knowledgeable insurance agent will ask to see the complex master policy to ensure that you are properly covered.

Mayor Chuck Reed at National Night Out in St. James Park

The St. James Historic District Neighborhood Association is sponsoring National Night Out next Tuesday night, August 7, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, at St. James Park. National Night Out is a community event held throughout the country to promote neighborhood spirit and safety, and to support crime and drug prevention. The event will feature food and a live band. This is also a great opportunity to meet your downtown neighbors as well as local police and city officials.

National Night Out is being sponsored by the St. James Historic District Neighborhood Association, in partnership with San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services. St. James Park is located between First and Second Streets, and St. James and St. John.

The other day someone asked me how the San Jose Grand Prix went. I said it was a great race and a fantastic event for downtown San Jose. He then asked me about the residents that essentially get blocked in or blocked out, as the case may be, by the San Jose Grand Prix because they live within the race perimeter. I hadn’t thought much about that.

I always think of the race as a great event to walk to if you live in downtown San Jose. And if the race continues in the years to come, many of the units in the new high rise complexes such as Axis and Three Sixty will have spectacular views of the race. But if you live within the race perimeter, then for a period of time you have to deal with limited access to your home. And during the race weekend, you either have the best location or the worst location, depending on if you are a race fan. There may be other downtown events, such as Mardi Gras, that may have an impact on where you live. Just another factor to consider when living in downtown San Jose.