Dishwasher leaked, damaged wood floors

[wishes114]

Friday night, DH discovered water on the floor in front of the dishwasher. He shut it off and mopped it up. He said it was quite a bit. He went downstairs to our finished basement to make sure it hadn't leaked down there...it had. We ended up cutting a pretty big hole in the ceiling to release the water and to dry it out in order to prevent mold growth.

Later on, we noticed the wood floors in the kitchen were bowing and warped. There is probably 1/4-1/3 of the kitchen with warped floorboards. It is pretty noticeable.

I called the insurance company this morning to inquire what we should do. We have to get an estimate and decide if we want to file a claim. Our deductible is $1450. I am pretty sure the damage is much more than that. We have never had a homeowners claim and he said that one claim would not cause a jump of our premium, so I am not concerned about that.

This is my question: our home is about 7 years old. I am not sure how easy it will be to match the flooring. I want it to match of course. Will the insurance company replace the entire wood floor that extends into the powder room bathroom? How does this work exactly? We are considering tile or permastone instead of wood floors in that I am not crazy about wood floors with a dog. Will the insurance company just give us money for the damage and we can replace with what we want or do we have to replace with wood floors? As I said earlier, I have never had a claim before, so I am not sure how this works.

We are also in the market for a new dishwasher. If you recently bought one and love it, please chime in!

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Jeff_G]

Based on my experience, you should get a quote to repair the damaged areas of the floor, and a second quote replace upto an acceptable area if they cannot match the flooring. Your insurance company will send out an insurance adjuster who will look over the damage and give you an estimate of what they will pay out. They will write you a check minus your deductible and subtract depreciation. If you fix the floor they will give you the subtracted depreciation.

So lets say they claim it will take $3,000 to fix the flooring, and they determine a 7 year old floor is worth $2500 now, they will write you a check for $1050. if you fix the flooring you get the $500 once you submit an invoice from the construction company.

Now if you choose to replace the flooring with another material which costs more you are free to do so but you have to pay for the upgraded materials.

As for fixing the floor vs replacing the whole thing the insurance company adjuster will decide, you can have some opinions from flooring folks to backup your side if they say it must be all replaced.


Last if the cost to replace the flooring is low enough, you may be better off not filing a claim. While this claim might not raise your premium much, the next one could, or your insurance company could just drop you. Insurance companies are tracking every claim you make in a national database (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) where every insurance company can now look as see how many claims you have filed.

Also the details can vary state by state and insurance policy by policy so its best to read your insurance policy or ask your agent. Just be sure you tell your insurance agent you are just making an inquiry and not a claim, as it appear just asking questions about what a policy will cover for a loss can be considered a claim by some insurance companies.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

This happened to my coworker. They were placed in a hotel while the repairs were done. Not only did the kitchen floor get replaced, but since the kitchen floor was tile and continuous with the hallway and foyer, all that got replaced too. The walls behind the cabinets were damaged as well, and the entire kitchen was replaced so that the bottom cabs would match the top. You should absolutely get a quote and follow through with what insurance would pay for before you decide what to do. As I told my coworker, this is what insurance is for, don't feel like you are taking advantage to get everything you are entitled to get. As PP said, insurance is different in every state, so ask lots of questions first. My coworker ended up with a $10,000 kitchen upgrade for his deductible.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Friday night, DH discovered water on the floor in front of the dishwasher. He shut it off and mopped it up. He said it was quite a bit. He went downstairs to our finished basement to make sure it hadn't leaked down there...it had. We ended up cutting a pretty big hole in the ceiling to release the water and to dry it out in order to prevent mold growth.

Later on, we noticed the wood floors in the kitchen were bowing and warped. There is probably 1/4-1/3 of the kitchen with warped floorboards. It is pretty noticeable.

I called the insurance company this morning to inquire what we should do. We have to get an estimate and decide if we want to file a claim. Our deductible is $1450. I am pretty sure the damage is much more than that. We have never had a homeowners claim and he said that one claim would not cause a jump of our premium, so I am not concerned about that.

This is my question: our home is about 7 years old. I am not sure how easy it will be to match the flooring. I want it to match of course. Will the insurance company replace the entire wood floor that extends into the powder room bathroom? How does this work exactly? We are considering tile or permastone instead of wood floors in that I am not crazy about wood floors with a dog. Will the insurance company just give us money for the damage and we can replace with what we want or do we have to replace with wood floors? As I said earlier, I have never had a claim before, so I am not sure how this works.

We are also in the market for a new dishwasher. If you recently bought one and love it, please chime in!

Thanks in advance for your help.

We had something similar happen to us a couple of years ago. We came home from vacation to discover a wet basement floor. The culprit was a failed water valve on our refrigerator that caused water to leak behind our refrigerator, through our kitchen floor, down a basement wall to our basement floor.

It took about $17,000 to redo our ground-level hardwoods, the basement wall and the basement carpet. Our insurance paid for it all, less our deductible. We went with the companies it recommended and they did a great job, but we probably could've used our own companies so long as the estimate was reasonable. The insurer paid the contractor directly.

 

[Disney Dynamite]

I think it depends entirely on your insurance provider, so don't be shy about asking them a ton of questions, as others have suggested. My DH and I are going through a similar situation right now after an under-the-sink disposal leaked and wreaked havoc on our kitchen cabinets and the hardwood in our living room that is directly beside the kitchen. Our deductible is $1,000, and according to the adjuster's estimates, we have $9,000 worth of damage at this point. Filing a claim was definitely worth it in our situation.

We replaced the disposal ourselves to stop the water leak, and we've already been reimbursed for it. At a minimum, we're looking at two new kitchen cabinets (they were able to match them exactly to the undamaged cabinets in our kitchen), some drywall that will be removed to check for mold once the cabinets are removed, and new hardwood in our living room, two small hallways and master bedroom due to our floors not having any transition pieces. If they're unable to find an exact match for the hardwood, we've been told that we'll be getting new hardwood throughout the entire house.

Based on our experience, our insurance provider wrote us a check directly, and we will pay the contractor with that money. If the total goes over the amount that insurance gave us (due to finding mold or having to replace all the hardwood in our house), we'll submit that to our insurance for more money. I imagine if we wanted to go with a different floor altogether, they would let us if we picked up the tab for the difference.

Good luck, OP!

 

[Dean1953]

I install and re-finish wood floors for a living. Are your existing floors the typical 2 and 1/4 inches wide, 3/4 inches thick that was installed unfinished and then sanded and finished on site? Are they 3/4 inch thick prefinished floors? Are they engineered floors? You need to wait 3-4 weeks for the damaged floors dry out and "sit" down. The damage looks a lot worse now then it might 2-3 weeks from now. If the warping goes down, you can probably sand the floors without replacing boards (does not apply to engineered floors or floors less than 3/4 inch thick). A good rule to go by is to shut off water to appliances that sit on wood floors, if you are going to be gone for more than 1 day.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I install and re-finish wood floors for a living. Are your existing floors the typical 2 and 1/4 inches wide, 3/4 inches thick that was installed unfinished and then sanded and finished on site? Are they 3/4 inch thick prefinished floors? Are they engineered floors? You need to wait 3-4 weeks for the damaged floors dry out and "sit" down. The damage looks a lot worse now then it might 2-3 weeks from now. If the warping goes down, you can probably sand the floors without replacing boards (does not apply to engineered floors or floors less than 3/4 inch thick). A good rule to go by is to shut off water to appliances that sit on wood floors, if you are going to be gone for more than 1 day.

I just want to confirm what Dean said. We have had three leaks in our kitchen over the last 10 years (garbage disposal failed & leaked, ice maker in frig broke & leaked, dishwasher leaked). All 3 times our hardwood floors buckled. We brought in fans, dried the floors out and within a month or two they looked brand new again. We never had them refinished. If you sand them down when they are still buckled, when they dry and flatten back out you will have grooves between the boards. Our hardwood floors are the old fashioned kind - laid as raw wood and sanded/finished in place.

 

[Green Tea]

We had a similar incident. Someone told us to call the insurance company. Suddenly my towels and drying ended up a $47K claim. The floors had to be sanded on the whole floor. There was not enough remaining so they paid again for new. All the plaster was replaced. Wallpaper, everything. Water is incredibly damaging.

 

[havaneselover]

We had a similar incident. Someone told us to call the insurance company. Suddenly my towels and drying ended up a $47K claim. The floors had to be sanded on the whole floor. There was not enough remaining so they paid again for new. All the plaster was replaced. Wallpaper, everything. Water is incredibly damaging.

I had site finished hardwoods installed in my kitchen/family room and foyer/dining room/living room floors refinished in 2013 for $6 K total. You must have had some serious damage : (

We had a dishwasher leak in a previous home. Luckily the site finished hardwoods dried okay. We didn't have an air mover brought in.

I wouldn't even know how to turn off the water to the appliances but I guess I need to figure that out. Dealing with the aftermath of these surprises is unbelievably stressful.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We had a major flood in our downstairs powder room the stop thing on the wall behind the toilet failed (water everywhere). We have AMICA and they were amazing!

We called the company they recommended for drying out (we had 3/4 days of fans and dehumidifier over Christmas that year UGH). They came right out that day to start us drying. The adjuster came out with the restoration company after the fans were done. He recommended all of our downstairs wood floors be replaced, all of downstairs was repainted (all the same color and there was some damage to a wall), all of our trim was repainted as well. It was really stunning how much they did!

We had never had a homeowners claim so it was all new to us.

AMICA paid us directly and we paid the restoration folks. After it was all done the adjuster came out to check the work / make sure we were happy.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Just wanted to add: what ever option you go with for the flooring...buy extra. Whether it be tile or hardwood. We had to repair an area of our hardwood flooring only to find it was discontinued. Luckily, when we first had it installed my husband had the idea of buying extra because prior to that just about so many of the other things we've purchased for our house has been discontinued. Very frustrating. I love my hardwood floors, however it I had to do it again, I would go with tile in the kitchen. As far as a dishwasher, we have a Bosch. Love it. So quiet, everything gets really clean.

 

[wishes114]

Thank you everyone! The floors are pre-finished, tongue and groove type. We bought the house when it was 6 years old so I am not sure where they were purchased from.

The insurance agent never mentioned having an adjuster out. He said to get an estimate and we would go from there. That may have been because he wanted to make sure the damage was more than our deductible before we filed the claim.

I have 2 contractors scheduled for tomorrow to get estimates. I am anxious to hear what they say and how much actual damage we have. I also noticed there was a little damage on the cabinets near the bottom, so I will have them look at that too.

Thanks, again.

 

[wishes114]

Just as an update -- we had two contractors over today to get an estimate. No numbers yet but both said the entire floor will probably need to be replaced.

We found out that our wood floor was installed under the cabinets. This means the countertops and cabinets will need to be ripped out so the flooring can be removed. From what they said, they will just reinstall the cabinets and countertops. I am a little worried about this and concerned they will be damaged. Does anyone know if this is standard practice. This is turning into a big old project I don't want to face. Ugh.

The floors are engineered and he said they can't be dried out - the damage is done.

One thing I have learned - water can be very damaging.

 

[mikehn]

Our premium went up after we filed a claim for the same thing. After all is said and done, make sure to place a water detector underneath all your appliances. They are cheap and you can get them off amazon.

 

[ken2]

Yep.Our brand new washer had a bad pump seal.It didnt damage the floors due to them being tile.But it wasnt fun to find out it had been leaking and running into the electrical box.Luckly we had turned it off due to one heck of a noise it was making.

 

[MommyBryn]

I'm sorry this happened to you. We just moved into a new home and the dishwasher leaked a week before closing and ruined the whole length of the wood flooring and the lower kitchen cabinets. Thankfully they just replaced the kitchen in tile (the rest of the house is wood, though), so that eases my mind a bit, but I can't imagine having to deal with it all ourselves, and reading this post has me glad that there's just a little less wood to deal with in the future if there are more leaks.

Hoping you get it taken care of with minimal hassle.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Friday night, DH discovered water on the floor in front of the dishwasher. He shut it off and mopped it up. He said it was quite a bit. He went downstairs to our finished basement to make sure it hadn't leaked down there...it had. We ended up cutting a pretty big hole in the ceiling to release the water and to dry it out in order to prevent mold growth.

Later on, we noticed the wood floors in the kitchen were bowing and warped. There is probably 1/4-1/3 of the kitchen with warped floorboards. It is pretty noticeable.

I called the insurance company this morning to inquire what we should do. We have to get an estimate and decide if we want to file a claim. Our deductible is $1450. I am pretty sure the damage is much more than that. We have never had a homeowners claim and he said that one claim would not cause a jump of our premium, so I am not concerned about that.

This is my question: our home is about 7 years old. I am not sure how easy it will be to match the flooring. I want it to match of course. Will the insurance company replace the entire wood floor that extends into the powder room bathroom? How does this work exactly? We are considering tile or permastone instead of wood floors in that I am not crazy about wood floors with a dog. Will the insurance company just give us money for the damage and we can replace with what we want or do we have to replace with wood floors? As I said earlier, I have never had a claim before, so I am not sure how this works.

We are also in the market for a new dishwasher. If you recently bought one and love it, please chime in!

Thanks in advance for your help.

We had a toilet that overflowed through the night on our 2nd floor and if seeped through the flooring, down the walls, through the first floor and into the basement. Fun! Ugh!

We needed mitigate and called the emergency company that cleans up and helps dry you out. That alone was a pretty penny that was covered.

They had to cut a portion of the carpet on the 2nd floor, remove linoleum on the first and then then basement was fine after being dried. A good portion of dry wall from the walls and ceiling of a 1st floor bathroom and "hallway" (not really one but no other name for this open space) was removed.

We have USAA--this is what the restoration justified.
1. Carpet--entire hallway plus stairs to first floor was replaced because there was no room separation and carpet was one piece. Bedrooms were not because there was room separation, aka a door. Family room was not included because the bottom stair was considered sufficient for room separation. Insurance covered cost of labor and materials for removal and installation of new carpet. Quality was contractor grade, so we were only covered for the equivalent in materials. Pretty sure if it were higher grade, we would have been covered.

2. The linoleum that was ripped up was literally part of one HUGE piece with no separation (door jams). So even though it was removed from Portions of 2 rooms, the kitchen was included. Insurance covered labor for removal of the rest of the linoleum and installation labor and materials of new lineloeum.

3. Dry wall installation, priming, and painting was covered as well as the rest of the room as applicable.

Once all the insurance estimates came back, we were then permitted to CHANGE anything we wanted--I.e. Upgrade. The insurance funds were credited and we paid the balance.

We did upgrade the carpet to one grade up from basic. We opted to change the main level to wood. Kitchen, bath, and "hall" had the linoleum credit applied and the family and living rooms were added as though they were just regular jobs.

It was all very seamless. Our deductible was only $500.

They also discovered an issue with our dryer venting when the ceiling was opened up. So that was added as an out of pocket repair.

As far as the wood, it would depend upon type of floor and how easy it would be to match it. For USAA, their goal is restoration which would include a room not looking like damage has ever taken place.

Regarding cabinets--sometimes that has to be done. Has your insurance company recommended anyone?
They took the kick board off our cabinets in the bathroom where the water damage began. It it was successfully dried out. The flooring was ceramic time and that "saved the day" so to speak.


We used Paul Davis Restoration, which was who they directed us to, but we were under no obligation to use them. They did fabulous work though.

No idea is the premium went up as we literally just closed on the sale of this home, yesterday.

And yes--this is a headache. Our damage was about 2nd or 3rd week of January and we were not done until beginning of March.

Best of luck!

 

[Jennifer Pager]

I think you should first repair the leakage then for wooden floors you can replace only the affected areas of the wooden floors of the kitchen as now the modern floor installers have great techniques that will surely fix the matching floorings. You may also add a carpet on it to protect the shine of wooden floorings for a longer run.

 

[xlxo]

After having a kitchen pipe burst a few years ago... I strongly advise getting one of those water sensors. You won't be home all the time, but for the time you are there... it's worth it to get to the shut off valve in time.
http://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-WA100-3-Water-3-Pack/dp/B002VECNMQ

 

[Gracie09]

Zombie thread...