Completely OT: Attn.Homeowners who have had water damage.....

[disneygirl1977k]

Hey guys,
Not getting a whole lot of answers on the web, so I thought you guys might be able to answer some questions for me......I have just filed a claim with my homeowners insurance because it seems we have EXTENSIVE water damage to our kitchen floor and possibly into the cabinets as well, possible leak for over a year!!! YIKES.....however, my question is....has anyone ever dealt with this type thing and can give me some insights as to what happens, how long it takes, and around how much it costs?? Our homeowners comp. is sending someone out to give us an estimate thursday and they said they take the total cost of damage, say $3000.00 and deduct our $1000.00 deductible and then send us a check for $2000.00 and we hire a contractor to come out and fix it.....so I was wondering if anyone knew about how much this would cost to fix. or kind of what happens....i know this is way OT here, but you guys seem to have the answers to everything.
Kristy

 

[Anne MN]

Price can vary depending on what is damaged. if it is a new house (newly built) they the builder has to get involved(warranty issues)
if it is an older home- is the leak from the roof, plumbing? what was damaged? just the floor, weight bearing walls, sheetrock?
I would get the estimate from the insurance company and see what they say is damaged-(make sure someone is home so they do not "miss" anything) start there- call a contractor or 2 to come and bid on the job- see what they say needs to be repaired and what is damaged- compare the 2 quoted- see if they are alike and were the differ- if the contractor finds more damage- contact the insurance company about it and they will have to add it to the bill if you go with that contractor.

we did it the other way around- contacted the contractor- got the bid and then called the insurance company and sent them a copy of the bid.

we have been "remodeling" our house for it seems like forever- doing most of the work ourselves- it is a looong process if you do that - you learn a lot about materials costs and how to operate fun power tools (like floor sanders, mitre saws, sawzalls, and other fun things that can take fingers to limbs off

 

[disneygirl1977k]

The cold water was leaking under our kitchen sink and the man said today, looks like it could have been leaking over a year and then said he wondered it the whole floor cabinets didn't need to be ripped out, so who knows, the majority (85%) of our kitchen floor is damaged, he mentioned ripping up the vinyl, particle boards, sub-flooring and ripping out the cabinets, so I have no idea, he told me he would have to think about it for a while and call me back with a ball park figure.....so I don't know.
Kristy

 

[Anne MN]

I would call a licensed contractor to come and give an estimate. they are the ones who would do the work and usually know more than the insurance adjustor. the adjustors are just general, they do not usually get into specific areas. the could send the same person out for your roof damage and for smoke damage inside. 2 very different areas, same adjustor. that is why we start with the professional and then tell the insurance company what needs to be fixed.

you are talking a whole kitchen remodel basically. is kitchen on ground floor or is there a basement or another floor below?
if there is, check the walls and areas directly under the leaky area- it will probably have damage also.
we had this with a garbage disposal- it leaked, didn't know untill there was water in thebasement below the area.

 

[disneygirl1977k]

The kitchen is on the ground floor, it is like a box, if you were to walk in, to your left is the kitchen tabke and two double doors which is where our washer and dryer is, the wall you would be facing there is a back door, opens up to the backyard, the kitchen cabinets, sink, the right side is the stove, more cabinets and the fridge.....now I just pulled off the wallpaper and on the wall above the dishwasher is just black (mold) i am guessing, so if the entire floor has to be ripped up, the cabinets have to be ripped out and I don't know what they would do about the wall, (tear it down??????) I cannot even guess how much I think it would cost????? We did have a professional contractor come out today, the adjuster comes thursday, so what do you suggest, get a quote from the contractor that came out today and then give that to the adjuster when he comes out thursday??? Is that what I would do????? I am just about sick about this, I know that our insurance covers this, however, its just such a mess and hassle to go through all of this, however, I do have a 2 yo DS and I don't want ANY mold due to health reasons, you know. He already has to do breathing treatments in the winter.
Thanks for the advice so far, I appreciate it.
Kristy

 

[poohluvrs]

I would get the bid from the independant contractor and then see what the adjuster comes in at w/ an estimate, as they are ultimately the ones who will determine how much (if it's even a covered loss) they will pay out, they will work w/ you though, if their estimate seems low, which is why its a good idea to get your own estimate. As far as the black mold (hope you dont have it ....), this is generally now an exclusion on policies, as it is a very expensive issue for ins. co's to correct, and after many losses arising from this (believe notrious ones in TX) many have decided to specifically exclude it from a policy, which they are allowed to do ,,,,good luck hope it works out for your family

 

[poohluvrs]

PS - your best thing to do would be to read your policy******

 

[PlutoPony]

IF the estimates come in fairly low, you might want to consider paying it out of pocket and not putting in a claim (especially with a $1k deductible). Around here, insurance companies are very likely to drop you after several small or one large claim. Yes I know they're supposed to give a reason for dropping you, but as I recall the reasons don't have to be "good" in the homeowners eyes - at least for the people I know....
Good luck!

 

[poohluvrs]

I agree - I would see how much it's going to cost, and not put in a claim if it's not too much of a hardship for what the price may be beyond your $1k deductible...companies here in the NE are dropping insureds for any reason they can, putting in a claim is a sure way to get your policy earmarked....

 

[luvthatdisney]

We had this happen - well sort of - about 10 years ago. We had the water line under the kitchen sink to burst. I was alone at home (DH had gone to work - it was a Saturday) and it was about 8:00 am. I was still in my pj's and went it heard it burst I jumped out of bed to see what had happened. Well in just a few seconds the kitchen was standing in about 2 inches of water - it was pouring out - I tried to reach under the sink to the shut off valve, but I could not turn it. I was drenched and in my pj's but I ran next door and asked my neighbor (did not know them real well) if her husband was home - she kind of looked shocked and not sure what was wrong with me, but she got him and he had to go under our house to turn off the water. Needless to say our entire kitchen floor was ruined. I did dry it up, but by the next day it was warped really bad. The insurance co came out about 3 days later and paid for an entire new floor - subfloor and all - about 2K. The water did run down into our den, but thank goodness it had been a carport at one time - so the carpet got wet, but the actual floor was concrete. The ins co also paid for a carpet cleaner to come out and soak up the water in our den carpet.

We did have to get estimates - from 3 different contractors - 2 we picked and one the ins co suggested. We did end up using one of ours. Good luck in getting your kitchen fixed - it sounds more extensive than what we had. Still it is very frustrating not being able to use your kitchen - you never realize how much time you actually spend in there until it is off limits!!

 

[impsmom]

Sorry you have to deal with this. I think it's all going to depend on the insurance company and the policy. No experience with a kitchen, but our basement flooded (due to a backed up drainage pipe). Insurance came out within 2 days and actually called in their own company to fix it. We had to make a list of everything damaged and come up with a replacement cost. Their people were here ripping out the damaged walls and flooring that day and sprayed some kind of stuff to kill/stop mold. It took about 2 weeks to get everything dried out and put back together.
I hope you don't have a black mold problem. I know some insurance companies won't cover that anymore because of the cost to properly fix it.

 

[Evil Queen]

Last year my kitchen and laundry room kept flooding...(Don't USE store bought pipe cleaners..Draino, etc-if your pipes are "bad" they will finish eating away at them).

They jackhammered my entire kitchen floor (I have a small, thin, long kitchen), tore out my wall in my laundry room and tore out a hole in my outside wall to fix pipe.

Now I think I have leaking at the other end of the house, ARGH.

My cost $2600. Being in Florida, didn't claim it on insurance, due to figuring the "Big One" may hit (hurricane wise), might need it later. We didn't, but CLOSE twice, but who knows, more claims made the closer insurance companies look at your liability to them.