Water Leak - Home Addition- HELP

11 years ago

We are right in the middle of a 1400 sq ft. home addition/ remodel to our existing home. Drywall and Hardwoods are in and my builders were going to prime/ paint interior walls this week. BTW we are not in the house.
So yesterday, Saturday morning my neighbor called me and said she saw water pouring from my house windows. I rushed over to find the entire 1st floor covered in water and almost the entire 2nd floor covered too. My builders showed up too and discovered a delta shower rough in valve that the plastic cap busted off and in turn the flood began.
So my builders called a professional disaster clean up service that have installed dehumidifiers and fans throughout the house. We do have Builders Risk Insurance, which I called and an adjuster is suppose to head out Monday or Tuesday.
So the entire 1st floor drywall had water dripping down, the hardwoods are unfinished and were completely soaked, and the crawlspace was standing in about 4 ft of water.
I NEED ADVICE. Has this ever happened to anyone during construction. I have kids and I am so worried about the future possibility of mold. And of everyone wanting to try and dry/save items vs replacing....Can you even dry out insulation or drywall?
Pls advise on working with insurance, builders, request for items replaced, any stories or advice would greatly be appreciated!

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Comments (4)

stevenwes
11 years ago
Lady,

Never had this happen, but did have a tree fall on the roof exposing the inside to rain water. The fix was remove everything down to the framing, dry out the framing and rebuild. The rebuild included insulation, flooring , doors, bathroom fixtures, ect. Hope this helps
pprioroh
11 years ago
Wow. That is terrible.

If it's a large professional operation, the disaster folks can make it right. Since it came from upstairs down I imagine all the affected walls need completely gutted. Hardwood may be saved if it's dried quickly enough.

Don't know you , but I'll be prayerful for the outcome, I can only imagine how stressful that is.

I would speak directly with the disaster folks and make SURE that whatever they feel is needed is happening. You don't want builder or insurance company taking shortcuts to get the price down and then having hidden problems that will pop up years later.
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toxcrusadr
11 years ago
Definitely can't save drywall and insulation. What a mess! Keep us posted on the outcome.
chiefneil
11 years ago
I had several water leaks when my house was new. For smaller leaks that are caught quickly, the remediation guys just used the dehumidifiers and fans for a few days. They used moisture test gizmos to check the drywall down at floor level to make sure it had dried out.

For a larger leak that went on a little longer, they cut out the bottom 12" of drywall to expose the framing, and also pulled up the flooring working from the wet area out until the flooring was coming up mold-free. A few cabinets had to get pulled out as well. These leaks were on interior walls so no insulation to worry about. After a week of fans and dehumidifiers my builder put everything back together - new drywall, flooring, and paint.

In your case where the unfinished wood was totally submerged, I think I'd want to rip and replace it all since it will likely dry unevenly and warp, plus it will take quite a long time for the bottom of the wood to dry which will allow mold to grow.

I personally wouldn't be too concerned about mold on the framing just yet for a short-term dousing like yours. Once the framing is dry any mold will die, and your builder can hit it with some bleach if it really bothers you.