pinkbow832
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Post by pinkbow832 on Jun 21, 2011 10:22:29 GMT -5
We're currently having our kitchen renovated in a 1-bedroom condo and I'm hoping someone here has had experience dealing with a contractor's insurance company.
Long story short- during the demo last week, our building had a hot water shutoff. The team working thought they had properly capped the hot water valve, but when the building turned the water back on (after the demo crew left for the day), there was water spraying all over the kitchen and living room for 20 minutes or so before the building maintenance crew was able to get into our unit to turn off the water. In the meantime, there was water almost ankle-deep covering half the living room, which has a parquet hardwood floor.
The contractor is taking full responsibility for the accident and fortunately has a $2M insurance policy. An insurance adjuster is coming today to look at the damage in our, which includes our living room floor that is starting to buckle and some of the building materials (cabinetry, flooring, a few other supplies). We will have to replace the living room floor, however, it is the same floor that extends into the bedroom also- approx. 700 sq/ft total. Is it reasonable to expect the insurance company to pay for the entire area even though only half is ruined and must be replaced? I've never dealt with this kind of issue, and want to make sure we're getting a fair settlement from the insurance company. Any advice would be appreciated!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 10:23:41 GMT -5
I think it is reasonable for the insurance company to pay for the damaged floor. Unfortunately, probably not the entire floor.
That doesn't mean you can't fight for it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 10:27:28 GMT -5
I agree that it doesn't hurt to ask. I think I understand the issue- it will be nearly impossible to replace only the damaged part of the floor without a mismatch. A compromise position might be using flooring that's a different color/style in just the living room, with a clear demarcation between the LR and BR.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jun 21, 2011 10:55:01 GMT -5
Any damage to your neighbor's condo? You're (the contractor) responsible for any water damage that occured in their condo, too.
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pinkbow832
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Post by pinkbow832 on Jun 21, 2011 11:07:44 GMT -5
Any damage to your neighbor's condo? You're (the contractor) responsible for any water damage that occured in their condo, too.
Initially it looked like there was damage, since the water flowed into the unit next to us and 2 below, but now it looks like that was minor and only involved shampooing carpets. Yes, the contractor is working with building management on that issue, we're just trying to figure out what's going on in our own unit.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jun 21, 2011 11:22:53 GMT -5
If you have one continuous floor and replacing one part will leave an obvious transition from old floor to new floor, then I think you should require that the entire floor be replaced. If they can guarantee that you will not be able to tell the difference, then I would be ok with them replacing only the bad part of the floor. You do not want your house to be compromised by the contractor's error.
We had a similar situation with the exterior brick on our house after it was hit by a car. A section had to be replaced due to damage, and they could not find an exact match due to the age of our house. We found a close match and asked that a few more feet of brick be replaced so that the transition was in a place that you cannot see. After completion, if you point it out and look closely you can see where the new brick is, but it is not something that would be obvious without looking right at it. The damage was to ~5% of the brick on our house, so we did not feel that it was right to ask for the entire replacement, but we got it to where we felt that there was no detraction from the value of the house.
Do make sure that you get reimbursed for ALL the expenses related to this issue, including any plumbing fees for the condo management.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 12:16:53 GMT -5
It will depend a lot on the insurance company. Many years ago our dead beat druggie neighbor suggested that some buddies of his blow up our front door with a half stick of dynamite. Fortunately no one was hurt but besides the door damage all of the sheet rock screws on the affected wall popped necessitating re-setting and re applying the skim coat and painting. The repair crew continued that work through out the entire living and dining rooms plus repainted the hallway so everything matched. I suppose if I were paying the bill directly I would have cheaped out and only repaired the one wall. They did a really nice job.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jun 21, 2011 12:58:51 GMT -5
It will depend a lot on the insurance company. Many years ago our dead beat druggie neighbor suggested that some buddies of his blow up our front door with a half stick of dynamite. Fortunately no one was hurt but besides the door damage all of the sheet rock screws on the affected wall popped necessitating re-setting and re applying the skim coat and painting. The repair crew continued that work through out the entire living and dining rooms plus repainted the hallway so everything matched. I suppose if I were paying the bill directly I would have cheaped out and only repaired the one wall. They did a really nice job. What a way to redecorate!!! Actually when the car hit the house on the interior, the insurance company first requested that the wallpaper we put in be an exact replacement, even though they were going to replace the entire room. Thankfully it was old and we couldn't find a replacement, so they gave us a book to choose from. On the paint they said we could do any color.
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moneymaven
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Post by moneymaven on Jun 21, 2011 15:06:07 GMT -5
Pink - yes, you can ask them to replace all of it if the materials cannot be matched well. This happened to our home. Our area was hit by a tornado and the paint was pulled off two sides of the house. I wasn't going to only paint 1/2 of the house - the paint job was 10 years old. They covered the entire thing with just a simple request.
Good luck. FWIW, contractor liability policies really are good policies and they should take care of this without trouble. Keep us posted.
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pinkbow832
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Post by pinkbow832 on Jun 21, 2011 16:39:13 GMT -5
Thanks everyone!
The adjuster was just here looking at everything and measured both the living room and the bedroom, as well as all of the closets that have the same flooring. Since it's one continuous floor, it seems like they'll cover the replacement of everything (fingers crossed!!!).
He did say that they figure out their estimate based on like kind and quality, minus depreciation. We have hardwood parquet flooring, which he said tends to be on the upper end of flooring pricing (approx $10 sq/ft) and that hardwood doesn't depreciate very much, so at this point it looks like we should be able to replace everything. Repair is out of the question, since about 3/4 of the living room was under several inches of water and has been bowing and buckling over the last 5 days, and the flooring is original to our 1960's condo, so even if we could replace that part, it would involve refinishing everything so it matches. Also, removing the entire damaged flooring would guard against any lingering mold issues that could arise in the future.
Needless to say, this has really killed all excitement of having a brand new kitchen!!!
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