Water Leak in House and had to Cancel Vacation

[Panina]

I was supposed to go this week to one of my favorite timeshare places Plantation Beach Club in Stuart. I had to cancel due to a water leak in my home.


Three weeks ago I had a flow of water in my garage that leaked thru to the house to the dining room area. It was not apparent where the water was leaking from but I saw rust on my water heater so I called my plumber. He told me it was coming from the air condition. I did change my water heater because the rust was bad and he felt soon it would be another problem.


I called the air conditioner guy and he fixed it. Then I called water remediation as it was apparent my wood floors had gotten wet. They opened baseboards to make sure I did not have a mold issue and then set up air tents to dry it.


Week one it hardly dried, the same the second week. They sent a trouble shooter who opened more baseboards and did more testing. He is 99% sure I have a broken pipe in the slab. 1% it is from a wall pipe but there is no sign of that. It was recommended I hire a leak detection company as they have the proper equipment to pinpoint the problem.


Tomorrow the leak detection company is company. My gut says it is a broken pipe in the slab. My stomach turns knowing the mess and inconvenience this will cause. Financially I will put it through insurance. If the slab is the problem they have to lift the floors, being they are wood and 25 years old it will be a complete redo in my house. This all means packing, putting things in storage and moving out while the work is done.


I am praying it is a roof leak but there is no sign it is and the roof is only 3 years old.


I am trying to look at the bright side. The water leak from the garage might have been a blessing in disguise to find this problem that could have become worse.

 

[klpca]

I wish you nothing but the best. We had a leak (twice!) due to polybutylene pipes - and the clean up mess and then the mess when the house had to be repiped was pretty bad. It went on for a couple of months.

I hope that you can reschedule your vacation. You deserve it after what has happened.

 

[rapmarks]

Oh what a mess. Hope they find the cause without too much disruption

 

[b2bailey]

I am so sorry you are having to go through this -- sounds like it could be major inconvenience. Agree it was better to discover sooner than later.

 

[Dori]

When all of this mess is resolved, you will definitely need a vacation. I’m sorry to hear of all the disruption in your life.

Dori

 

[moonstone]

. Financially I will put it through insurance. If the slab is the problem they have to lift the floors, being they are wood and 25 years old it will be a complete redo in my house. This all means packing, putting things in storage and moving out while the work is done.

If you have a decent home insurance company and they hire, or have, a decent remediation company, they will do all the packing up, fixing and repairing, then bring your things back and put them were they were packed up from. If any of your furniture rungs or other possessions got wet they will remediate them as well. Those companies have ozone machines that fit beds or large furniture to get any musty or smoke smell out. The insurance company should also cover the cost of temporary accommodations for you while repairs are being done and possibly cover the cost of your cancelled trip due to the repairs. Our oldest DS has been in the insurance restoration business for over 20 years and is now a VP of commercial large loss for a major North American restoration company, but he started out doing residential claims in the Toronto area. He saw even relatively small insurance companies arrange all of that for people after fires or floods. He also said that unlike car insurance your home insurance premiums should not go up due to a claim but often an insurance company justifies a rise with some other (lame) excuse. Good luck!


~Diane

 

[billymach4]

Well I wish you the best. As you know it is a disaster. Hope you can have to most minimum of inconvenience.

 

[pedro47]

Wishing you better times and remember to take a vacation after this water leakage problem have been fixed.
Good Luck.

 

[Passepartout]

Ouch! Back in 2002, we were getting ready to leave in the morning to go to China. I smelled something and went to the basement to check and found 2-to 3 inches of sewage coming up out of the shower drain. The city's sewer was blocked just downstream from our house. We and they got a remediation company out- remember it's late at night. They had about 10 people clearing the basement out hauling our stuff to be cleaned or destroyed. It wasn't optional for us to stay and supervise. We couldn't stay in the house, so we went to China for a month!

It was a mess and expensive. The city covered the vast majority of the damage and remediation, but there are things that can't be replaced.

You are in our thoughts. @Panina this will pass.

One day at a time!

Jim

 

[MULTIZ321]

If you have a decent home insurance company and they hire, or have, a decent remediation company, they will do all the packing up, fixing and repairing, then bring your things back and put them were they were packed up from. If any of your furniture rungs or other possessions got wet they will remediate them as well. Those companies have ozone machines that fit beds or large furniture to get any musty or smoke smell out. The insurance company should also cover the cost of temporary accommodations for you while repairs are being done and possibly cover the cost of your cancelled trip due to the repairs. Our oldest DS has been in the insurance restoration business for over 20 years and is now a VP of commercial large loss for a major North American restoration company, but he started out doing residential claims in the Toronto area. He saw even relatively small insurance companies arrange all of that for people after fires or floods. He also said that unlike car insurance your home insurance premiums should not go up due to a claim but often an insurance company justifies a rise with some other (lame) excuse. Good luck!


~Diane

+1 on hiring a Remediation Company. They had a successful negotiation with our Insurance Company after a recent storm caused flooding, mold and ceiling damage. If you need a referral, send me a PM.

Richard

 

[Glynda]

Yikes! Water leaks can be so hard to find. I hope it's not that drastic!

 

[WinniWoman]

Omg. So sorry. A nightmare for sure. I know I’d be a reck going through something g like this.

My neighbors had a leak in their brand new house a few years ago. Started when they were away for a weekend.

I will say the remediation company took care of everything and insurance paid for it all. But still hell for them to go through.

But you will get through it and in the end it will all be ok. Then you can enjoy a well deserved vacation once again.

I hope this all gets resolved as quickly as possible. Hang in there!

Keep us posted!

 

[Sugarcubesea]

@Panina, I'm so sorry to hear about your water leak, I so hope that the issue can be quickly found and fixed. Ugh that has to be the worst, to have a broken pipe in the slab.

I hope the leak detection company can determine where the water is coming from and fix it quickly for you.

Take good care and hopefully you will be able to take that vacation really soon

 

[Patri]

How awful. Ride it out as best you can. Dream of where you will travel next.

 

[joestein]

So, I have had some experience with broken pipes in slabs.

In my last house, right before we were supposed to go away, we had a backup in our kitchen sink that overflowed onto the floor. We called a roto rooter type company (not roto rooter - but one who specialized in clearing pipe cloggs).

They were trying to clear the clog for days without any luck. Finally they were able to clear it by cutting into one of the vent stacks. Meanwhile, they said that think that this clog was because of a broken pipe in the slab.

So, about a year or two later, we were redoing the entire downstairs and since the flooring was removed, I thought it was an ideal time to fix the broken pipe in the slab.

We hired one of these detection companies who feeds a line down with a camera and can identify where the break is. They identified the break. I needed to get a plumber to dig down and find the break and repair it. They dug down - No pipe or break. They dug down about 7 ft - it was like a hole to china in my kitchen.

Detection company came back and identified a new spot about 3 feet away from old one. Dug Down - no pipe.

Finally - the plumber started to dig down from where the pipe entered the slab and eventually found the break a few feet away from either detector spot.

At the end - I was out about $8000 to the plumber and 3 weeks of delays to my job. Very unpleasant experience from start to finish. I ended up getting back the $600 paid to the detection company, but the $8000 was around $6000 more than originally estimated.

So... Beware about these detection companies.

Also.. generally only sewer lines are in slabs, so if you go away, you should see it dry up while away. Otherwise, it aint a break in a sewer lines. Water lines don't need to be in slabs because they work on pressure, not gravity.

 

[Panina]

So, I have had some experience with broken pipes in slabs.

In my last house, right before we were supposed to go away, we had a backup in our kitchen sink that overflowed onto the floor. We called a roto rooter type company (not roto rooter - but one who specialized in clearing pipe cloggs).

They were trying to clear the clog for days without any luck. Finally they were able to clear it by cutting into one of the vent stacks. Meanwhile, they said that think that this clog was because of a broken pipe in the slab.

So, about a year or two later, we were redoing the entire downstairs and since the flooring was removed, I thought it was an ideal time to fix the broken pipe in the slab.

We hired one of these detection companies who feeds a line down with a camera and can identify where the break is. They identified the break. I needed to get a plumber to dig down and find the break and repair it. They dug down - No pipe or break. They dug down about 7 ft - it was like a hole to china in my kitchen.

Detection company came back and identified a new spot about 3 feet away from old one. Dug Down - no pipe.

Finally - the plumber started to dig down from where the pipe entered the slab and eventually found the break a few feet away from either detector spot.

At the end - I was out about $8000 to the plumber and 3 weeks of delays to my job. Very unpleasant experience from start to finish. I ended up getting back the $600 paid to the detection company, but the $8000 was around $6000 more than originally estimated.

So... Beware about these detection companies.

Also.. generally only sewer lines are in slabs, so if you go away, you should see it dry up while away. Otherwise, it aint a break in a sewer lines. Water lines don't need to be in slabs because they work on pressure, not gravity.

Where water lines don't need to be in slabs, it looks like mine are. When the remediation company opened the baseboards you could see the water lines going into the slab.

As far as the detection company, right now it is just to determine if the leak is in the slab (or elsewhere) and vicinity and how far the water damage went. If confirmed I will put in an insurance claim and use their guidance.

 

[pedro47]

Where water lines don't need to be in slabs, it looks like mine are. When the remediation company opened the baseboards you could see the water lines going into the slab.

As far as the detection company, right now it is just to determine if the leak is in the slab (or elsewhere) and vicinity and how far the water damage went. If confirmed I will put in an insurance claim and use their guidance.

Do you have homeowner insurance for water and sewer damage ?
Please check your homeowner policy ?

 

[easyrider]

Where water lines don't need to be in slabs, it looks like mine are. When the remediation company opened the baseboards you could see the water lines going into the slab.

As far as the detection company, right now it is just to determine if the leak is in the slab (or elsewhere) and vicinity and how far the water damage went. If confirmed I will put in an insurance claim and use their guidance.

Usually, the plumbing is under the slab by at least a foot or more but does go through the slab at fixtures. Recently, I went to see why there was a wet spot on the carpet at a friends home. It was getting into the house at the outdoor water spigot and slowly flowing through the wall to a low point. Someone attached a ground wire to the spigot that caused electrolysis of the copper pipe which caused the pipe to corrode and leak. I've also seen this happen on dish washers and washing machines connections with copper and galvanized pipes and no dialectic union.

Good luck.

Bill

 

[Panina]

UPDATE: The Leak Detection Company says there is no current active leak, broken pipe/slab or roof leak. My wood floors absorbed the water from the air condition leak like a sponge and it would take months to dry out with the remediation fans on. Even if we did that the floors would stay badly damaged. His recommendation is to remove and replace them with tile floors.

I will be putting in an insurance claim as I have coverage but this still will be a long process and a pain. My guess is they will pay for the dining room, living room, hallways and master bedroom as that is one continuous flooring. My problem will be my 2nd and 3rd bedroom which is a close matching wood but different as well as my kitchen and family room which is tile and is seen/attached to the wood floors in the dr/lr. If I do tile floors for the damaged areas it will not match the kitchen/fr nor the other bedrooms, ultimately too many floorings in the house. So I either absorb the cost to have uniformed floors throughout the house or I do wood floors again.

 

[pedro47]

UPDATE: The Leak Detection Company says there is no current active leak, broken pipe/slab or roof leak. My wood floors absorbed the water from the air condition leak like a sponge and it would take months to dry out with the remediation fans on. Even if we did that the floors would stay badly damaged. His recommendation is to remove and replace them with tile floors.

I will be putting in an insurance claim as I have coverage but this still will be a long process and a pain. My guess is they will pay for the dining room, living room, hallways and master bedroom as that is one continuous flooring. My problem will be my 2nd and 3rd bedroom which is a close matching wood but different as well as my kitchen and family room which is tile and is seen/attached to the wood floors in the dr/lr. If I do tile floors for the damaged areas it will not match the kitchen/fr nor the other bedrooms, ultimately too many floorings in the house. So I either absorb the cost to have uniformed floors throughout the house or I do wood floors again.

Wishing you peace of mind. This is not the end of the world.
Please file your insurance claim ASAP. Insurance companies are a strange breed of companies in Florida.
Take your time, take plenty of photos of each damage room for your records and the insurance company.
Please read your home owner policy about water and sewage damages..
Good Luck.

 

[Patri]

Sort of good news. Aren’t the bedroom doors closed anyway?

 

[rickandcindy23]

Luxury vinyl is great as well.

 

[easyrider]

UPDATE: The Leak Detection Company says there is no current active leak, broken pipe/slab or roof leak. My wood floors absorbed the water from the air condition leak like a sponge and it would take months to dry out with the remediation fans on. Even if we did that the floors would stay badly damaged. His recommendation is to remove and replace them with tile floors.

I will be putting in an insurance claim as I have coverage but this still will be a long process and a pain. My guess is they will pay for the dining room, living room, hallways and master bedroom as that is one continuous flooring. My problem will be my 2nd and 3rd bedroom which is a close matching wood but different as well as my kitchen and family room which is tile and is seen/attached to the wood floors in the dr/lr. If I do tile floors for the damaged areas it will not match the kitchen/fr nor the other bedrooms, ultimately too many floorings in the house. So I either absorb the cost to have uniformed floors throughout the house or I do wood floors again.

We had carpet on our downstairs slab and did install tile when we decided to replace the carpet. The tile looks great but I kind of liked carpet better.

Bill

 

[geist1223]

I prefer Carpet or Luxury Vinyl to any tile or stone.

 

[joestein]

UPDATE: The Leak Detection Company says there is no current active leak, broken pipe/slab or roof leak. My wood floors absorbed the water from the air condition leak like a sponge and it would take months to dry out with the remediation fans on. Even if we did that the floors would stay badly damaged. His recommendation is to remove and replace them with tile floors.

I will be putting in an insurance claim as I have coverage but this still will be a long process and a pain. My guess is they will pay for the dining room, living room, hallways and master bedroom as that is one continuous flooring. My problem will be my 2nd and 3rd bedroom which is a close matching wood but different as well as my kitchen and family room which is tile and is seen/attached to the wood floors in the dr/lr. If I do tile floors for the damaged areas it will not match the kitchen/fr nor the other bedrooms, ultimately too many floorings in the house. So I either absorb the cost to have uniformed floors throughout the house or I do wood floors again.

Nothing like porcelain tile. Especially the ones that really look like wood.