Edinburgh flooding: Up to £20k of damage in Canonmills apartment hotel as bedrooms, oak flooring and lift shaft hit

Major overnight flooding caused up to £20,000 worth of damage inside a block of serviced apartments in Canonmills.

Two ground floor apartments in the Canon Court ApartHotel were completely flooded with guests relocated to other rooms, while a video shows water flowing across oak flooring in a reception area inside the building - and a lift shaft has been damaged.

Co-owner Matt Hansen, who runs the business with his wife Jen, said: "Having invested over £250,000 upgrading the building and apartments since January 2019, we were finally starting to see the light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel - with guests slowly returning as of last week.

"Our entire reception lobby, lift shaft and ground floor apartments were flooded. Guests have had to be relocated and a wet/dry vacuum cleaner sourced urgently this morning. The clean up operation will go on over the next week and our brand new flooring will need to be ripped up and replaced.

Oak flooring on the ground floor of the Canon Court ApartHotel has been damaged, while part of the road nearby has cracked due to the flooding.

"Lift engineers are assessing the damage to the lift shaft and until then it is out of order, placing further burden on our short staffed post Covid-19 housekeeping team."

Mr Hansen is hopeful that the flood damage will be covered by insurance.

Neighbouring business, Napier Bathrooms and Interiors, was also badly hit by overnight flash flooding with flooring, carpets, plasterboard and a Georgio Armani sink unit worth about £10,000 all damaged.

Owner Johnny Bacigalupo claimed he previously raised concerns about inadequate drainage in the area with the city council.

An Edinburgh City Council spokesperson said their officers have been visiting the premises today with sandbags and will check the area for any gully blockages.

Counting the cost

Mr Hansen said the new ground floor oak flooring cost about £7,000 and they had just planted about £3,000 worth of lavender flowers in the gardens which have also been ruined.

He believes the total cost of the flood damage will range from £15,000 to £20,000, excluding any expense for the lift repairs.

Video footage taken on Tuesday night inside the building shows floodwater coming into the apartment building on Wednesday morning.

Pictures also show a part of the road just outside the car park which has cracked due to the flooding.

He also said litter had floated into their land from across the road where there is a BP garage with a Marks and Spencer shop inside.

It comes as Edinburgh was hit by a major thunder and lightning storm overnight.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said the unusually persistent lightning resulted from high temperatures and severe convection which caused high levels of energy in the atmosphere.

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