Hey all,

I returned from a two-week trip to find my Chicago apartment backed up with sewage while I was away. A plumber was able to pump the water out, but the damage was so bad that a restoration contact had to be called out.

The restoration guy told me that the sewage had a high concentration of bacteria, so it was not safe to stay in and that almost all of my apartment has a moisture reading of 99. They needed to do a mitigation process right away so that the apartment didn’t accumulate more damage.

This includes knocking down the walls that had high moisture damage and then completely tearing out the floor and the bathroom.

I was given a guesstimate timeline of a week for just the sanitization process and then was told that the speed at which my apartment got rebuilt (if it even did) would be up to my landlord and his insurance if he went that route. But the gist I was given was that my apartment would not be livable, and that the construction would be lengthy, and that I would not have a bathroom available to me at all if the option for me to stay was even viable.

I was given an hour to pack lightly and wasn’t able to really inspect any damage, but I could come and box things up that were unaffected.

As far as my living situation, I was told by my landlord that I should start looking at new apartments as he does not have all the info yet on how long everything will take since the damage was extensive. I am currently trying to find out what my options are legally. I am thankfully able to stay with a friend for the week but it is not a sustainable or long term solution. :-(

I’m reaching out in hopes that my community can help me with costs for temporary storage, movers, replacing essential items that have been damaged and the cost of lodging while I am displaced and searching for a new place for myself and my sweet dog to move.

I will update as much as I can here. Thanks for reading.