FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — A Federal Way family has been living in a home flooded with raw sewage for a week and their landlord told KING 5 he does not want to hire a professional plumber to fix the problem.
Kirsten Fleishmann, who lives in the home, said the plumbing problems began on Oct. 30. She heard the sound of gushing water in her basement bathroom and discovered a river of raw sewage. It covered her toilet and sink and then flowed from the bathroom into the hall near her children's playroom.
“It smells like human feces and urine,” said Fleishmann. “It’s disgusting. Its unbearable. It travels through the whole house.”
Fleishmann said she contacted her landlord, a man named Qifan Shi, who goes by the name “Tony.” She said he sent a handyman over to check out the bathroom.
However, in a phone call with KING 5 on Tuesday, Tony admitted the man he sent was a "friend who knows plumbing," not a licensed plumber.
Fleishmann said Tony also enlisted a few other men to dig up their front yard in search of any busted pipes, but they promptly hit a power line. That knocked out power to the next-door neighbors, and Tony said the city ordered his workers to stop digging until they could obtain a permit.
Tony returned to the home to check out the excavating job, but refused to answer any further questions. He also said he had no timeline for when the job would be complete.
Fleishmann said her family is considering taking legal action, but in the meantime, they feel powerless.
“We can’t take showers. We can’t use the toilet. We can’t wash dishes. We can’t do laundry,” she said. “We’re living in an unlivable situation and the landlord is dragging his feet.”