Water Leak in House and had to Cancel Vacation

[VacationForever]

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

Tiles are too hard on the feet and back. We have wood floors and will never go back to tile.

 

[rapmarks]

I hate having my house torn apart. I have been able to hire a young man in Florida for some tasks and I save them up so I don’t have to climb on ladders. He told me he paints and while I am up north he is painting my house inside and out. I know he is a perfectionist so I am not worried. If there is a hurricane warning he will put my shutters up too. My neighbor said right now it is a mess. He offered to send me pictures but I don’t care to see the mess. I know getting new flooring is a real mess and I would not want to be in your shoes.
I bought 25 gallons of paint for the job and hope it is enough.

 

[Panina]

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.

I am looking at this as fate leading us where we need to be. We were contemplating renovating the baths and floors or moving. We were leaning towards moving to a smaller community. Since this fix will probably take months it stopped us in our tracks. One thing I have learned is to quickly adjust.

 

[Panina]

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

Not really, one is actually a den with glass french doors.

 

[Panina]

Luxury vinyl is great as well.

I have had luxury vinyl in a prior home as well as doing vinyl in my moms condo and I loved it. The professional consensus for this home is tile floors. If I had tile floors the air conditioner backup would probably caused minimal damage. Unfortunately where the air condition unit was placed when the house was built was not the best place.

 

[Panina]

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

What I prefer and what will minimize damage risk if it happens again are two different things. I can use a throw rug on the tile.

 

[Panina]

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

Wow, that is so nice. Did you put that throughout your home?

 

[Panina]

Tiles are too hard on the feet and back. We have wood floors and will never go back to tile.

I love wood floors but do not ever want to deal with this again.

 

[klpca]

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

We also did "wood" tile. I love the floors. It's been 11 years and they still look the same. I don't love that they are cold and hard on the feet but we have area rugs and I wear cushy slippers (I have RA and my feet always hurt, so it probably wouldn't bother me except for that).

 

[easyrider]

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

I pulled all of the carpet out and installed hardwood and tile. We have two flights of stairs that I wish I had went carpet on the stairs. The hardwood stairs are noisy and slippery when wearing socks.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

We also did "wood" tile. I love the floors. It's been 11 years and they still look the same. I don't love that they are cold and hard on the feet but we have area rugs and I wear cushy slippers (I have RA and my feet always hurt, so it probably wouldn't bother me except for that).

View attachment 94846View attachment 94847

I see my next project. Carpet on the stairs.

Bill

 

[joestein]

Wow, that is so nice. Did you put that throughout your home?

It is my old house. We put that throughout the first floor, except for the powder room. It was a relatively cheap tile at under $4/sqft. But that was back in 2017/18 or so.

My new home has a beautiful wood floor throughout, but I am not a fan of the "wear". If I accidentally drop something heavy, it sometimes makes an indent on the floor. Plus it is in my kitchen and water and wood don't mix.

 

[klpca]

btw, here is the link to what we used. Wood tile They have lighter colors now, so there are more contemporary choices. The nice part is that the tile is textured to look more realistic, and the plank sizes are 8"x40" which helps make it look more like wood and less like tile. I didn't choose this, our decorator did, and she did a great job. It wasn't cheap but it has been worth every penny.

This isn't what I used, but I love it. The planks are 8"x48" - even better. Tile bar wood tile

 

[WinniWoman]

I am looking at this as fate leading us where we need to be. We were contemplating renovating the baths and floors or moving. We were leaning towards moving to a smaller community. Since this fix will probably take months it stopped us in our tracks. One thing I have learned is to quickly adjust.

You were going to move AGAIN? How can you stand it?! Exhausting!

 

[WinniWoman]

I pulled all of the carpet out and installed hardwood and tile. We have two flights of stairs that I wish I had went carpet on the stairs. The hardwood stairs are noisy and slippery when wearing socks.

Bill

You can put clear thin rubber strips on the edge of the stairs . We got them on Amazon for our other home and you couldn’t even notice them. And they worked great.

 

[WinniWoman]

I see my next project. Carpet on the stairs.

Bill

Carpet on the stairs- unless thin- can be more dangerous actually.

 

[WinniWoman]

It is my old house. We put that throughout the first floor, except for the powder room. It was a relatively cheap tile at under $4/sqft. But that was back in 2017/18 or so.

My new home has a beautiful wood floor throughout, but I am not a fan of the "wear". If I accidentally drop something heavy, it sometimes makes an indent on the floor. Plus it is in my kitchen and water and wood don't mix.

I had wood floors in my former house including the kitchen- for 32 years, as I do now- never had an issue with water. If some water gets on the floor- I simply wipe it up. It’s no big deal.

Dropping something can dent wood but I have found wood can take a beating if it’s decent wood.

 

[Panina]

An exhausting day...the adjuster called me this morning. I was told (and it is no where clearly stated in my policy) that I will be reimbursed up to $3000 for emergency remediation but if the bill is more, unless they are part of the insurance network, no more would be paid. By using their network I am 100% covered no matter the cost. I immediately had to cancel the contract that I signed last night for the remediation company to represent me as well as having them remove their equipment immediately.

Also was told if for the repairs I don't use someone in their network, the maximum I can get is $10,000, in the network what it costs.

This sounds like an HMO policy. Just sharing for those of you in Florida insured under the states insurance Citizens. They say this is to keep costs down.

Meanwhile no call back for the continue water remediation from them and I will have to wait for the inspector to come out in 7 days, nothing available sooner. Meanwhile I sent in all the documentation required.

 

[pedro47]

Panina, please have many, many photos for the insurance adjuster to review and see the water damages.
Photos or videos of your home before the water damages and photos or videos showing the water damages.
Good luck and keep your head up.

 

[Panina]

Panina, please have many, many photos for the insurance adjuster to review and see the water damages.
Photos or videos of your home before the water damages and photos or videos showing the water damages.
Good luck and keep your head up.

They have everything. Remember I hired my own water remediation person and have his pictures. I have an air conditioner bill stating they fixed a leak. I have the leak detection company verifying it looks like the damage was caused by the air conditioner leak. If they want prior photos I can get them from the MLS listing when I purchased my home showing the floors were good.

Today the new water remediation company came from the insurance company and he doesn't feel the floors can be saved. I have to wait until next Friday, which is quite a while, for the inspector from the insurance company to come. My guess is the delay is from all the flooding that happened in South Florida recently. I have also gotten all the required documents to the Insurance Company's assesor. Now it is just waiting.

 

[Panina]

I had wood floors in my former house including the kitchen- for 32 years, as I do now- never had an issue with water. If done water gets on the floor- I simply wipe it up. It’s no big deal.

Dropping something can dent wood but I have found wood can take a beating if it’s decent wood.

If the water went over the wood I would not have the problem. It penetrated beneath the wood supposedly through the glue grooves. I was also told the finishing on the top of the wood I have does not allow the wood to dry underneath.

 

[Panina]

You were going to move AGAIN? How can you stand it?! Exhausting!

We were discussing selling and moving. We realized this house is too big for us and wanted to downsize. Truthfully in the last two years what is important to me has drastically changed and I prefer life more simple.

Between selling costs and moving costs we wouldn't save much but we really prefer a smaller community. We were going back and forth, move or renovate. I look at this leak as faith to stay put and do the few renovations we want. After they fix my floors, we will probably update the tile in our kitchen. It is pure white with grout and we have to constantly clean it. Also will redo the shower and floor in the master bath. The old owners renovated the cabinets and counters so we would just finish it up.

So ultimately our final move is years from now, probably an Independent Living Community.

 

[geist1223]

We were discussing selling and moving. We realized this house is too big for us and wanted to downsize. Truthfully in the last two years what is important to me has drastically changed and I prefer life more simple.

Between selling costs and moving costs we wouldn't save much but we really prefer a smaller community. We were going back and forth, move or renovate. I look at this leak as faith to stay put and do the few renovations we want. After they fix my floors, we will probably update the tile in our kitchen. It is pure white with grout and we have to constantly clean it. Also will redo the shower and floor in the master bath. The old owners renovated the cabinets and counters so we would just finish it up.

So ultimately our final move is years from now, probably an Independent Living Community.

"We." Did I miss a few posts or few years?

 

[Panina]

"We." Did I miss a few posts or few years?

Yes you did. I am with a significant other who appreciates me. I am very happy.

 

[pedro47]

I'm so glad you are happy.