Cherry Creek North at a glance
- Setting
- The blocks north of First Avenue near the Cherry Creek shopping center, with a walkable retail core and residential streets around it.
- Typical housing
- Side-by-side and stacked duplexes, townhomes and small condo buildings, many built in recent decades, with some remaining older houses.
- Commercial buildings
- Street-level shops, galleries, salons and restaurants, often with offices or residences above.
- Government
- City and County of Denver. Permits come from Denver's Community Planning and Development; Denver Water supplies water.
- Common leak sources
- Rooftop decks and flat roofs, upper-floor laundry and baths, shared walls between attached homes, and kitchens above storefronts.
Newer buildings, different problems
Over the past few decades, many of the small original houses on Cherry Creek North's residential streets were replaced by attached homes built to the lot lines. These buildings are often three stories with a rooftop deck, a flat or low-slope roof behind parapets, and laundry and primary baths on the upper floors. The leaks they produce tend to start high and travel down: a deck drain clogs, a parapet cap opens, a washer hose bursts on the top floor and water reaches two finished levels below.
Attached homes add a shared wall. A leak on one side can wet framing and drywall on the other, and if the two homes are in a small association, the roof and exterior may be common elements while interiors belong to each owner. Many of these associations are self-managed by the owners themselves, which means there may be no manager to coordinate. Agree early with your neighbor on who will call whom, and exchange insurance information.
In the retail core, the usual pattern is water moving from an upper-floor tenant, a rooftop unit or a roof drain into a shop ceiling. Leases decide who handles what, and business owners need to think about inventory and lost sales as much as drywall.
Who to contact here
- IfYou own an attached home in a small associationThenNotify your neighbor and the association contact, read the declarations on roofs and shared walls, and call your own insurer.
- IfYou run a business in a leased storefrontThenNotify the landlord in writing and call your commercial insurer about property and business interruption coverage.
- IfRepairs will change plumbing, electrical or structureThenAsk Denver Community Planning and Development whether a permit is needed, or have your contractor confirm it.
- IfWater is coming from the street, a main break or a city sewerThenContact Denver Water for water main issues or the city's wastewater services for sewer problems, and call 911 for any hazard.
Questions for a Cherry Creek North owner to settle in advance
- Is the roof and rooftop deck a common element or each owner's responsibility?
- Who cleans the roof drains and scuppers, and how often?
- Does the building share one water service, or does each home have its own meter and shutoff?
- Who holds the building insurance for the duplex or townhome group, if anyone?
- If I rent my unit, does my tenant know where the shutoffs are?
General information for Cherry Creek, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.