City accused of shirking responsibility for homeowners’ cement mess

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This article was published 16/07/2021 (1548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nearly seven weeks after thick sludge linked to a city construction project came up through their sewer lines, residents of Semple Avenue homes are facing tens of thousands of dollars of damages.

After the mixture containing cement rose through a sewer drain at her home on May 29, Kaitlin Bialek quickly contacted her insurance company. She’s received a verbal estimate for just some of the extensive repairs.

“They have to dig five feet around the whole perimeter of our home to replace the weeping tiles and that quote came in at $30,000,” said Bialek. “It’s a huge dollar amount. We were shocked.”

She said that work will not include landscape removal and replacement, sidewalk repairs, moving and replacing her deck, or the weeping tiles themselves. Nor is it expected to cover her damaged basement floor, backflow valve, floor drain or bathroom door.

The homeowner said she’s been warned the total repairs could cost as much as double the early excavation quote. She said she’s not sure how much her insurance will cover.

The City of Winnipeg has confirmed a grout material breached the area’s combined sewer and entered some homes as a city contractor worked on a new sewer trunk shaft. In early June, the city said it was aware of at least 12 homes affected by the incident, though some only experienced a sewer service disruption. At the time, the city told homeowners to contact their insurance companies, noting they could also make a claim with the city by calling 311.

Bialek accused the city of doing far too little to help homeowners. Ideally, she said the government should reach out to ensure all damages are covered and extend its own insurance coverage to pay for it. She said she attempted to file a city claim for damage but couldn’t do so because several repair costs are still undetermined.

“We’re frustrated because the city (project) did this damage to our home and now we’re left to clean up this mess,” said Bialek.

To make matters worse, she said her basement floods each time it rains, since the clogged weeping tiles no longer work.

“The last heavy rain we got a couple weeks ago, my husband took six or seven Shop-Vacs full of water out of our basement. So the longer this gets left, the more damage to our home,” said Bialek.

The sludge also reached the basement, much of the first floor and parts of the yard at the home of Fraser Jack, who was working out of town when the incident took place. Two days later, he came home to find the hardened material in his toilet, filling part of his bathtub and covering the floors of several rooms.

On Thursday, Jack said he still can’t live in his home due to the extensive damage, though he has been seeking repairs. He said his repair bill could reach six figures.

“I’ll be out of my house probably for (months)… Nothing has been touched inside the house other than the removal of the cement,” said Jack.

Semple Avenue resident George Munroe said he has also faced major disruptions due to the backup, including weeping tile damage and an inability to do laundry for at least 10 days because his pipes were “full of cement.”

Munroe also believes the city’s response has fallen short.

“They’ve done the damage, they should repair it,” he said. “They should have had a city employee here (right away) going from house to house (to assess this).”

In a written statement on Thursday, the city said the exact cause of the breach in still being investigated.

“The city and the contractor halted operations as soon as we were informed grout was coming up, to minimize potential damage caused by the breach. When the breach was first discovered, residents were asked to run water to help minimize any grout hardening,” said city spokesperson Adam Campbell, in an emailed statement.

Campbell said the city completed repairs to its infrastructure on July 2 but is “unable to comment on specific claims” at individual properties.

“At this stage, property owners who have coverage for damages available to them under their property insurance policies would typically need to discuss those matters with their insurance adjuster,” said Campbell.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga