“You Expected Them to Install AC?” — Airbnb Host Gets Zero Sympathy After Window Unit Floods Property

An Airbnb host showed the damage done to his rental unit due to what he says is an air conditioning unit that wasn't installed properly in the house he owns, but he's not getting any sympathy from TikTok.

The Airbnb host, who goes by Coach (@realtrtalks) on TikTok, begins their video showing what looks like spilled water on the floor: "So our tenants said the house was leaking," he says as he pans the camera around the building to show the extent of the spillage in the unit.

"And it's leaking because they put an air conditioner not in the window, and the water leaked down through the floor and ruined our entire floor. So, this was done by the tenant."

They then walk throughout the house to show the extent of the damage, even walking into the basement to show the further damage that was caused by what appears to be an improper installation of the air conditioner inside the unit.

"They said the house is leaking everything is leaking blah blah blah." Coach walks into the basement to show the damage the leaking air conditioner did to the ceiling of the unit's basement, showing "bubbles" that have formed in the basement room's ceiling, which are presumably filled with water.

"So it leaked through so if you were to go upstairs we're standing the same area as we were, where we just were upstairs. And it leaked through a bunch of places in the floor because the tenant, again, didn't put the A/C outside the window and it leaked in."

They walk back upstairs and follow the trail of water to the A/C unit again to show the air conditioner resting on a chair to further demonstrate that the unit wasn't properly placed outside of the window.

Aireserv describes the basic functions of window air conditioning units as such: "A window AC unit uses the same principles as any other type of air conditioning system. It uses refrigeration properties to remove heat and humidity from a room while cooling air circulates into the room. The basic components include a thermostat, a fan or blower, tubing filled with refrigerant, a compressor, an evaporator coil, and a condenser coil. As the temperature in the room rises, it triggers the thermostat in the AC unit, which turns on the blower. Room air is pulled into the unit and moves over the cold refrigerant coils. The air is cooled as it passes over the cold coils and is pushed out into the room, cooling it and bringing down the temperature."

What's not mentioned in the aforementioned blurb, however, is the "drainage" components that are a part of window A/C units: the reason why they must be placed outside of a window is that water forms during this cooling process and it needs to filter out somewhere.

Family Handyman describes how faulty air conditioning units could potentially leak water into a home and if it's the drainage system is compromised or not directing the drained water properly from the A/C unit and outdoors, where the back of the system is usually placed.

"Window air conditioners, however, feature drainage systems that direct the water outside. A faulty drainage system is usually the culprit when the unit leaks onto the windowsill or the floor."

It's why so many homes/buildings that don't feature central/forced air conditioning systems usually rock these unsightly boxes outside of a window: because there needs to be a place for the water to funnel out into.

According to Coach, however, it seems like these tenants didn't get that memo and thought that the windowed air conditioning unit would be completely fine just perched up on a table inside of the home.

Commenters didn't seem to have any sympathy for the Airbnb host, however, many people mentioned that since it was his unit, it was his responsibility to install the air conditioner.

Another said that it was his own fault for renting out a unit that didn't have air conditioning in it for his tenants, especially during the brutal heat wave of 2023 that's afflicting so many people during the summer.

Some people bluntly said that they will never feel any sympathy for Airbnb hosts.

What do you think? Is the tenant at fault for installing the air conditioner incorrectly? Or do you need to know more about the situation to judge who is presumably in the wrong for this specific situation?