Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Wisconsin

Tenant Laundry Use and Damage

A sign was placed on the door leading up to my apartment advertising a vacant apt, stating laundry is available on site. There is only one washer in trash room, a common area for tenants. The washer was not supposed to be hooked up until the room was fireproofed. I went into the trash room and found all the hoses attached to the washer, and both the washer/dryer plugged into the electrical. I called the local Bldg Inspectors office asking if it could be checked out, but the receptionist said the Elect/Plumb Inspector was there and it passed. I then told her about the room having to be fireproofed, she asked the Bldg Inspector; when she came back on the phone, she indicated that everything passed inspection. I called my cousin, who owns half of the building, and told her what was going on. I told her that I was going to run it through a cycle to see if the washer worked because it was sitting for a while. My cousin didn’t give me permission to do it, but she also did not tell me not to do it. I then ran the washer through 1 cycle. Apparently, the hose for the water was not attached properly and leaked, which caused on the 1st floor. The landlord now wants me to pay for all the damage. Am I solely responsible for this damage?

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