If I understand correctly the insurance is willing to pay $5,500 to replace all the flooring. When you get your contractors quote you will be able to see if the insurance company is way off or not. You should also get a couple of quotes and make sure they detail what the contractor will be doing (replacing insulation, etc).
If your cabinets are wet and disintegrating I would ask the insurance company to send another adjuster to check because you feel they need to be replaced and you are not confident the first adjuster has caught all the problems. Tell them about the humidity in the crawlspace and that the adjuster didn't even investigate that area. Good luck!

My neighbor is a contractor and I asked him what it would cost for the floor and subfloor and he said triple what they are wanting to pay and he also said 1/2 inch particle board is not adequate for subfloor. ( I know that particle board just disintegrates when it is in contact with water). To me that is asinine to use for subfloor especially for a kitchen and bathroom. I am going to have him submit a bid to show that they are very under estimating it. He is way too busy right now to take this job on, though.

The $5,500 is not just for all the flooring replacement but also for removing all the cabinets and putting patches on the damaged areas ( the panels) and resetting the cabinets and replacing the vanity in the bathroom. Also, the dumpster to get rid of all the debris.

These cabinets were custom built for this kitchen, not particle board boxes with a thin veneer applied.

That is nowhere near enough money. That's probably not even enough to install the floor. You're going to see $3-5/sq ft for the wood plus another probably 3/sq ft for installation. Do the math, and that's without subfloor or demo.

The neighbor came over to get specs so he can submit a bid. He brought over his reciprocating saw and cut a small hole in the flooring under a piece of ceramic tile that we pried up. The subfloor was 2 layers of plywood and more than a inch thick. This was put on about 1968 which was maybe before they started using cement backer board? The ceramic tile was right on plywood and even with the plywood soaking wet it was tough to pry it up.

I can't imagine how bouncy the floor would be with only 1/2 subfloor; not only that, I am sure there is a code they are required to abide by.

No one would use particle board for subfloor over joists. Perhaps you mean OSB (chipboard, oriented strand board). In any case 1/2" is NOT adequate to hold up the floor. Needs to be at least 3/4". My house, built in 1989, fairly run of the mill tract house, has 1" tongue and groove OSB which is specifically designed as subflooring. Very heavy stuff.

1/2" sheathing on the deck followed by 1/2" underlayment (plugged, touched and sanded or PTS for short) followed, unless they were laying hardwood. This was the norm for years on Long Island before they were even making 3/4" T&G OSB. I believe the code called for 1" and how you got there was kind of up to you.

To toxcrusadr:
On the paper they sent me, they have listed R&R underlayment 1/2 inch particle board. They don't even have that for the bath and the laundry rooms. They just planned on R&R tile floor. In the bath the floor is sloping 1 1/4 inch from one end of a 4 foot level to the other with the toilet at the bottom of the slope.

I have been checking into it and it seems OK to use 3/4 inch OSB T&G along with the 1/2 laminate that I picked out.

To millworkman:

I am not quite sure if they planned on using the soaked through plywood that is on the joists even though that is starting to delaminate. Both layers of subfloor together appear to be a little more than an inch although they are wet enough that the layers are splitting apart so hard to measure accurately.
No one seems to know if there is code or not. The country said it was up to the town; I have not talked to the town yet but I doubt they have any as it is a population 500 town. ( We don't even have dog licenses here).

The contractor neighbor said it is pretty much standard here to have a floor with everything figured in at 1 inch or a little thicker.

Thank you both for your help.

Gardenerlorisc:

There are some red flags here, sorry for being direct and no, I donâÂÂt work for insurance companies. The only time I have ever seen an insurance company depreciate a claim 50% in 30 years is when the property is in extremely poor condition to begin with.

The adjuster may have suspected the claim was due to poor maintenance and gave you the best they could. This is likely analogous to turning in a fender bender on a car when the fender already had a ton of damage, rust and faded and blistered paint. No insurance company is going to pay for all the preexisting problems.

⢠If the floor is out of level 1 üâ over 4 feet, it was a preexisting condition and wasnâÂÂt caused by a water leak.

⢠If the cabinet s infested with bugs, that has nothing to do with the insurance claim.

⢠Floor joints wonâÂÂt become damaged from a short term water leak if properly dried. IâÂÂve seen framed houses exposed to the elements for two years with no damage. If there was a long term water leak under that vanity, then yes, the floor joist could have some rot but insurance wonâÂÂt pay for that.

⢠A crawl space with 75% RH is likely nothing to do with the insurance claim if they put in dehumidification and fans and dried everything properly. Older crawl spaces are typically unconditioned with many issues and high humidity can be one of those issues.

⢠If you currently had two layers of subflooring, ýâ was originally installed over the first layer. If the area was in poor condition to begin with, the adjuster is not going to pay to bring everything up to code. ThatâÂÂs an uphill battle you may never win.

It sounds like you were planning on remodeling the bathroom anyway. IâÂÂd take the insurance money and use it to repair the bathroom properly.

Know this, insurance policies are written where the property owner is responsible for general maintenance and upkeep. Insurance companies hate to insure poorly maintained properties and will cancel a policy if they know of poor conditions.

If the house is in poor condition and you fight areas of a claim that are maintenance issues, donâÂÂt be surprised if your policy gets cancelled.

To mepop,

Thanks for your reply. I question your observation that the depreciation is due to poor maintenance. I keep everything up the way it should be kept. ( I admit that keeping very light colored ceramic tile spotless is hard with 3 big dogs). lol But, I do the best I can.

Is it normal maintenance to remove the bottom panel of the dishwasher to check for leaks? I am a 66 year old retired female and don't recall ever hearing of a homeowner checking under there. I am going to purchase a sensor that detects water leaks which is a very cheap solution to the mess I have now.

The dishwasher was purchased the end of 2012 and installed by the dealer and I had them out several times at the end of 2013 before the warranty ran out although there is a 10 year warranty for major components. There is no way to know how long it has been leaking but I sent the defective part that they replaced to the insurance company for possible subrogation.

The bug situation are bugs that are called sowbugs ( they gather in damp places and to me look like tiny armadillos). The way I found them was I took up the transition piece between the laminate and the ceramic tile and they were crawling around on the plastic soft floor stuff. That was when I realized I had a big problem. If all the floor was tiled, I would have no way of knowing there was a leak until the floor all fell in.

I am the one who crawled around in the 3 foot crawlspace and pulled wet insulation down to find the source of the leak and I also put a big fan and a dehumidifier down there to dry it out.

I talked with the insurance adjuster yesterday and they are going to change the estimate to reflect the difference of subflooring and are going to leave it open ended for additional damages as the demo proceeds.

Yesterday the flooring guy was here and he said you need to get that dining room flooring up sooner rather than later because that will have black mold under there so I moved all the dining room furniture out and took up all the flooring and plastic stuff, sprayed the wet plywood down with a bleach solution and got a fan running on it. Does that sound like a person who doesn't do maintenance? I may just paint that subfloor to seal in any mold until the contractor gets here.

I had no plans for redoing the bathroom; it was perfect just the way it was.

Insurance companies are in business to make money/profits, and will try to get away with paying you the smallest amount that you will accept.

Be persistent, do not accept ''no'' for a reasonable request, ask to speak with supervisors as needed, involve your agent, contact CEO, and state insurance regulatory agency if necessary.

Am speaking from personal experience.

Thank you for sharing