Yikes! You may be right. Not what we were planning (famous last words) on top of the other major expenses.

What does this home warranty cover?

I wonder how far it spread, if it got under the shower then I agree its a gut job, but perhaps the floor has a slight slope away from the shower, you could cut out the damaged subfloor if it didn't go under the shower. Unlikely but possible.

We currently don't know what the home warranty covers. They gave us a postcard from the company along with all the legal papers when we closed. Now being motivated to find out, we're waiting for a return call. Looking at their website, I'm guessing we have the "basic" plan which doesn't cover plumbing issues, but we'll see. Meanwhile, we've closed the door to the bathroom and will have someone who knows have a look. Our alternate activity for the day has been to paint our bedroom.

Home warrantied typically cover almost nothing but new appliances that don't need warranties. And then only after a fight and a large deductible that equals a standard service charge from most repair guys.

If this were an acute situation, homeowners might cover it. This is old water damage. No one but you will have to pay for that. At least it's exposing the garbage that needs to be ripped out anyway! Think of that as a positive.

live_wire_oak

That's not home warranty territory. That is a complete gut to the studs, remediate the mold, and rebuild the bath from scratch.

Yup. You're doing a bath reno! So, let's get started...

The original plan was a bath reno, just not the kind that involves removing the subfloor! *sigh*

Now it is. Sorry.

Not only removing the subfloor, but treating the joists for mold. At least you'll get a good view of them and their spacing and will be able to replace that awful subfloor. Now you can fix it to have tile!

DIY doesn't even start to be fun until you have to get the Sawzall out! Bathrooms aren't so bad, at least they are small.

We had a toilet leak that resulted in replacing not only the subfloor but the joists. Details/pics here

OMG, Weedy! At least at the end you had a much nicer bathroom.

Oh wow ... been there and fixed that a couple of times.

Did some fool forget to install the wax ring?

Remove the toilet and the sink cabinet ... remove the flooring down to the subfloor and see how big the damaged spot is. Remove subfloor and check the joists.

You can slice out the damaged subfloor and "sister" in joists to reinforce the floor, then patch the subfloor.

Pull the toilet, cabinet, and floor. Remove a little drywall below the baseboard line and take a peek at the studs. Demolition is not always a freight train; it can be nuanced.

No advice, just...I'm sorry!

weedy, awsome job, simple, well though out, i have a tub surround that ready for tile you game.

I don't think that the home warranty would cover that. Did you get a home inspection? That might be whom you should be looking to for liability. Was the floor soft to walk on? Did it give at all? If so, it should have been noted in the report. Where you there with the inspector during the inspection? You would have to prove that the previous owners knew it was leaking and covered it up. That would probably be very difficult.

Home inspectors are never liable, the contract you sign with them will state this specifically. Read the general provisions on this example http://www.homeinspectionplus.com/contract2.pdf