FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – It’s been a little over a week since we had that winter storm that disrupted many families. Sadly some are still feeling the impact.
Residents living at Village Oaks Apartments in Farmington Hills continue to live in the aftermath of burst pipes -- A nightmare that has been ongoing since Christmas Day.
“The hallway was flooded, and then water is coming out of the lightbulb,” said one current resident wishing not to be named. “Ever since then, it’s just been fans. Clean the carpet, at least. It’s just been fans and paint. It is like a mildew smell.”
The problem was so bad that some residents like Carla and Vince Carafelli, along with their then one-year-old, ended up moving out.
“The water came through in our ceiling fan and burst a hole through the ceiling,” said Carla Carafelli. “There’s about two to three inches of standing water that had come down the stairs.”
They say their apartment was one of the worst damaged because It’s directly underneath the pipe that burst for the second time. But they believe there’s a deeper issue.
“When our landlord came, he sent a crew to come out with blowers, and they said the reason why the pipe burst was because it wasn’t insulated, and there’s no heat in the laundry room,” Carla Carafelli said.
The Carafelli’s insist the last straw was when they noticed paint being applied over walls believed to contain mildew and other hazards that could harm their son, who was one at the time.
“We didn’t want him to be around that musky smell, that mildew smell, because it’s no room in there,” said Vince Carafelli. “We had to move a lot of our stuff into our own bedroom and into the hallway.”
Unfortunately, they had to throw away a lot of items. But others still living at the complex are still hoping and praying for change fast.
“New carpets for the hallway,” said the woman hoping not to be named. “They need to get new drywall and make sure it’s like a mold prevention type of thing. Do what you got to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
The management company at Village Oaks Apartments, Kaftan Communities, sent Local 4 the following statement in response to the situation.
“At approximately 2 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2022, a pipe burst in the laundry room at the Village Oaks Apartment community in Farmington. The extremely low temperatures and record wind chills, along with the laundry room window being left open, caused a pipe to burst in the laundry room. The water was shut off immediately, and the pipe was fixed shortly thereafter. Two licensed contractors were called to the property. The first arrived at approximately 5:15 a.m. to complete the initial water extraction in the affected areas. The second contractor arrived at approximately 8 a.m., placing air movers and conducting moisture readings. One unit had water damage, but they declared the unit was habitable. The next day, we identified two other apartment units that required minor repairs but were still habitable. The water damage was largely limited to the laundry room, common hallway, and the affected unit. We are continuing to work on repairs with the goal to have them completed as soon as possible.”
Kaftan Communities
