Recurring problems in the laundry rooms of Hamilton College House have led to minor room flooding, extended waiting periods and annoyed house residents.
Two of the building's laundry rooms have been closed since fall break to prevent further flooding, but an overarching concern still remains because Facilities and Real Estate Services has not been able to determine the cause of the problems. One possibility that some officials are looking into is that faulty sealant in the laundry room floors could be a source of the leaking.
"We've been trying really hard to figure out what is causing the leaking," said Hamilton Dean Tabitha Dell'Angelo, who noted that it is possible that "there's some kind of problem with the sealant in the floor, which is causing leaking into the room underneath."
Facilities spokesman Tony Sorrentino noted that even if sealants are in good condition, high water volume could be the culprit.
Sorrentino cited the building's age as a major reason for the laundry room leaks.
"These are very old buildings, and many of their infrastructure systems are 30-plus years old, and this is what happens when the building gets old," Sorrentino said.
Though some of the problems may stem from the machines themselves, which are provided to Penn by HiGene Laundry Co., HiGene General Manager John Christian said that the company performs weekly laundry room checks and has found no major problems with the machines in Hamilton.
"There are two laundry rooms right now that are closed, and Penn closed them -- we did not," Christian said, adding that "we're responsible for the machines since they belong to us, but this is obviously a facilities issue that Penn is dealing with in some way. We do not know what is going on."
Many residents have complained about the difficulty they are having getting their clothes clean, according to Dell'Angelo, who expressed her frustration with Facilities Services.
"I know that Facilities is working on it, [but] they don't always keep me up to date on what the progress is," she said.
Many residents expressed annoyance with the problems.
"For the last three weeks, the laundry machines in our laundry room have been unplugged and been in the middle of the room. The pipes are disconnected, so we obviously can't use those," 12th floor resident and College and Wharton junior Gayle Hameister said.
Now "we have to go to the 10th or 14th floor, but there's always a long wait because everyone's competing for the few rooms that are open, so it takes a little longer to do laundry," she added.
Others say they have found ways to avoid the lines.
"Usually when I do my laundry, the laundry rooms are free, so it really hasn't affected me personally," Engineering sophomore Evan Adelman said.
Wharton sophomore Connie Meng noted that "it seems like the traffic is heavier than usual, but I usually try to do my laundry at times when not so many people are using the machines."
