Tigerbait28

Yea, cement board.

Yea, sorry. Console version.

Anyone playing this and looking for a fleet?

Had the same thing happen to me. After 3 or 4 tries I ended up just waiting a minute or two after the auto-sign in message and the game came on.

I was allowed access to their unit but didn't take their TV down and open the wall yet. It didn't occur to me that if that is indeed the issue we should be able to repair the line right there rather than running a whole new line.

The HVAC company said the same about the coil. After getting quoted for replacing the coil or entire air handler I had them bring a new air handler with them so they would be ready to replace once the pressure test confirmed the issue. They confirmed the issue was not with the air handler but rather the line itself.

Background: I bought the second floor unit in a condo complex back in Nov 2021 that came with a home warranty. There was an elderly lady living below initially. Not long after her family moved her to a nursing home. The family whom I'd imagine own the unit did some renovations and moved in some renters. Two ladies (not hot) and their two kids.

Somewhere along the way I started having issues with my AC cooling the unit. At first it was about once a quarter and steadily became more frequent and the home warranty company would just send someone out who would refill the freon and charge me $75 for the service fee. No matter how much I argued that there was a leak somewhere the adjusters I spoke with would continue to say that the technician couldn't find a leak so the issue was resolved because the unit would blow cold air again after refilling the refrigerant. Inevitably it would start to run low, freeze up, and ultimately stop blowing cold air. Cycle starts over where I would call them up and go through the whole routine over again. (This post would be 10x longer if I were to try and describe the conversations that I had with each of the 5-6 technicians that were sent out over the course of the year begging them to find, report, and fix the underlying issue.)

In November of 2022 I decided not to renew my home warranty since it was costing me 75 bucks per house call and the issue was not being resolved. A buddy of mine connected me with an HVAC company that was finally willing to find the issue and they confirmed there is a leak in the line set. I asked the neighbors if we could come in to take a look and can see they mounted a TV right where we believe the line is running.

Next step is to run a new line which will likely cost a few thousand dollars. I've got an email out to the HOA president to discuss the possibility of running the line on the exterior of the building which may not be an option according to our HOA management company. Either way I'm thinking it should be the owner of the downstairs responsibility to pay for the damages if in fact they punctured my line with their TV installation.

Curious if anyone has ever had a similar situation or if I have a right to ask for the renters/home owner to pay for the damages? If so, how should I go about it?

TL/DR: Downstairs neighbor potentially punctured my AC refrigerant line. Do I have a right to ask for the renters/home owner to pay for the damages? If so, how should I go about it?