Insurance and Related Safety Precautions
The Willabay Shores Condominiums were built between 1980 and 1991.
Each building contains four condominium units and each unit has a single
car garage dedicated to that unit. Each unit also has a dedicated furnace
room off of the patio or balcony that is the property of the condo owner.
All appliances and equipment in the unit, the garages, and the furnace
room belongs to the owner. Owners are solely responsible for any repair
and maintenance of property that they own and is not part of the common
elements of the condo complex. Please note that the patios and balconies
are limited common elements that are owned by the association but the
owner of the condo has exclusive use of these elements.
If you need any help or have any questions about these items, feel free to
contact our property management firm, Lakes Property Management
(LPM).
Please note that the information in this section may change without notice.
Condo Insurance
Each unit owner is responsible for insuring the content of the inside of
their units. This includes all the appliances, cabinets, the drywall on the
interior walls, the windows, flooring such as carpets and hardwood floors,
all plumbing fixtures, and of course all the owner's personal property.
Interior walls are those between spaces in your unit such as between the
living room and the kitchen or between bedrooms. The condominium
association insurance covers the common elements of the property,
including the walls and drywall that are along the outer perimeter of the
unit. The condominium declaration and bylaws spell out what is common
property and what is not. With the exception of the ceilings, the association
coverage does not apply to the interior of the units in most of the cases
where we have seen damage due to water leaks, roof leaks, broken
windows, etc. Please consult your insurance agent if you have any
questions.
While the association bylaws only require that an owner insure their
personal property, it is imperative that you make sure that your condo
insurance adequately covers you for any loss inside your unit, including
damage to building property.
Another important item that owners must consider is that individual
insurance coverage on a unit may not cover damage due to freezing pipes
and water leaks if the unit is unoccupied and the owner has not taken
reasonable steps to insure that the unit is heated properly and the water is
shut off. You may be paying for damage yourself if something happens
while the unit is unoccupied for an extended time and you leave your water
on. Please consult your individual policy to see if these situations apply to
your coverage.
Water Pipe Precautions
Many of the condo units at Willabay Shores are used by their owners only
in the summer. Other owners are here for a period of time and then live in
other locations for a while. Please remember that you are partially
responsible for protecting your property and your neighbor’s property
when you are gone. There are a few very important things that you have to
do as a condominium owner.
1. When you plan to be away from your condominium for more that a day,
please insure that your water is shut off for your unit before you leave.
Also make sure you have completely drained any water from your pipes by
running a faucet and flushing all toilets. Owners may be held responsible
for the cost of repair if a water leak occurred when no one has been at the
unit for several days and the water is not shut off. Even if you leave your
condo for more than a few days in the summer, please take the time to shut
off the water to your unit.
Your water shut off valve may be in either of several places.
A. In the common utility room at the end of the garage hallway.
B. In the common utility area under the stairs in the entry hall of your
building.
C. Inside the hall closet in your unit.
In any case, all water meters are set up with a valve on the outside of the
meter and a valve on the inside of your meter. Please insure that you know
which valves are associated with your unit and ALWAYS turn off both
valves when you are going to be away. This simple precaution has saved us
a lot of expense over the years. If you know where one of your valves is,
you can always determine where the other one is by following the pipe to
the other side of the water meter with the large white face and wires
coming off the top.
When you shut off your water for an extended time you should also shut
off your electric hot water heater by turning its breaker off. This breaker
is in your utility room and is always labeled with something like heater or
hot water heater. DO NOT turn your furnace breaker off. By doing this,
you will extend the life of your heater and save money.
One other suggestion that we have heard that may help keep these pipes
from freezing is to leave your kitchen cabinet doors open if you will be
away from the condo in the winter for any long period of time. This will
allow the heated air in the condo to reach the kitchen wall where most of
the water pipes are. This is especially important in the upper cabinets of
the downstairs "A" and "B" units and for any cabinets that have been
installed on a wall that is a common wall with a furnace room. Another
location that sometimes can be a problem is very cold weather is the
master bathroom vanity in the “B” and “D” units. These vanities have
pipes that are very close to the wall shared with the garage hall or garage
attic area. Keeping these cabinet doors open too will help keep your pipes
warm.
2. We have also had problems with water pipes going to the owner's
furnace room. These are usually associated with central humidifiers that
owners have had installed in their units. Since these furnace rooms are not
heated in the winter, any water pipes inside these rooms or inside the wall
adjacent to the furnace room may freeze up when it is below zero outside.
Condo owners are responsible for insuring that this water line is turned off
in the winter if there is a valve for that purpose.
3. When you return to your property and turn your water on for the first
time, please observe this simple precaution to make sure you do not have
any leaks.
While all of your sink valves are closed, turn your water on at the valve
location for your unit. You will normally hear a rush of water as the pipes
and toilets fill up with water. After a minute or so, the water meter should
stop moving. It will start to move again when you open one of your valves.
If for any reason, you still see the meter move (even very slowly) or hear
water running after a few minutes, this may be an indication that there is a
leak in your line. The leak may not be in your unit. If you suspect a leak
like this, please contact the property manager. There are pipes between the
floors of our building and these pipes can freeze up if the downstairs unit
gets too cold. This would be the case, for instance, if that downstairs unit
had a furnace failure.
Furnace Precautions
1. Please insure that your furnace is in good working order, and has a new
filter installed before you leave your condo unattended for the winter. If
you lose heat in your condo while you are away, the temperature in your
unit may drop below freezing in some spots. If your water is off, this will
minimize the likelihood of a water pipe burst.
2. If you have one of the newer High Efficiency Furnaces, you must insure
that the condensate water runoff from these furnaces is disposed of safely
and that it will not freeze in the winter. Here again, a good heating
contractor can help you out. We DO NOT recommend buying one of these
furnaces that give off water by products due to the problems associated
with getting rid of this water in the winter. Many owners have removed
these furnaces for this reason.
If you have one of these types of furnaces, we have determined from the
Village of Williams Bay, that it is acceptable to have a furnace sump pump
installed that can pump this condensate water to a drain. If the water is
left to drain outside, it may freeze up and back up into your furnace.
Another thing that you have to consider with these furnaces is that you
have to keep the furnace room from freezing, either with an acceptable
heater or completely sealing and insulating the furnace room. Again, the
board and village inspector do not recommend these types of furnaces for
these reasons.
3. If you do not have a high efficiency furnace in your unit, the vent
opening on the front of the furnace room door must remain open and
match the requirements for your furnace. Your furnace needs air to
operate properly. If this vent is blocked, dangerous carbon monoxide may
build up in the room and get into the building.
This vent door can only be closed if your heating contractor has installed a
high efficiency furnace. See the note above regarding why these things are
not a good idea. Because of a risk of the furnace room getting too cold, we
have partially covered these door vents on the inside with a sheetmetal
plate. Please do not remove that plate and make sure your heating
contractor reviews the size of the open air space if you buy a new furnace.