after browsing through this board and reading some of the posts, the one that caught my eye was posted by Wile E back in 09. Yes I know late and all that, but still feel compelled.
A few (hopefull) helpful and useful tips for dealing with a water leak in your house.
Assuming you’re the homeowner and for most of these even if you’re a renter;
if the leak is putting water into a different room of the house, call your homeowners insurance company (or landlord)
unless you catch the leak as its happening or its out in the open and not in the wall, crawlspace, attic, under the sink in a cabinet, call your insurance, call a plumber and call a professional disaster cleanup company, in that order. Water is a necessary evil inside a structure and if you have a leak 9 times out of 10 you will not know how long or how far it has spread unless it is a large leak somewhere like a bathroom or laundry room where some of the water lines are out in the open. (worst culprit for water damage waterline to refrigerator with icemaker/water dispenser followed by undercounter dishwasher for minor leak causing large damage)
unless you have insurance from a crooked company the only thing you will have to pay is the plumber to fix the leak and the deductible on your policy.
if you call your insurance agent (the person who sold you the policy) they will do everything they can to make sure you what you want and to make the experience as painless as possible, because you are their income and they want you to remain their customer. the insurance agent has no authority at all over your claim.
expect a more than one visit from the adjustor. The adjustor will have a list of preferred providers and will give you the top three for the cleanup and repairs of your home. its usually best to pick one of these because most insurance companies put their own warranty on top of the contractors warranty and these companies are on the preferred providers list for a good reason, they do good work and don’t cause the insurance company more to repair bad repairs. Remember that the insurance adjustor is your friend not your enemy, they want to get your house back in order properly and as fast as possible. the longer the contractor is working on your house the more it costs. the contractor is likely to install drying equipment that will substantially increase your power bill. submit your power bill as part of your claim, the insurance company will pay it (details vary on the procedure for this from company to company)
I offer this advice as someone who recently stopped working for a national disaster cleanup company (not disaster kleenup) for several years
sheesh, left out this dang it, make certain the contractor YOU hire (insurance can only recommend in most cases) and yes the contractor is working for YOU not the insurance company no matter where you their company name from, make certain they are iicrc certified as this is the most widely accepted standard for distaster cleanup and restoration in the insurance industry in my experience. an example is a state farm adjustor who was iicrc certified as a master restorer this means 1000s of hours physically doing every level of job in a restoration from cleanup and dryout to hanging drywall, taping/texturing, trim, carpet cleaning and laying, painting, microbial remediation, job planning, supervision, and execution the whole thing from start to finish. plus yearly training to maintain her masters certificate. all this while working as an adjustor.
Reported for forum change.
Why? He’s apparently responding to a post I made in this forum a while ago. He didn’t bump an old thread but responded in the same forum it was originally posted.
Per the OP, thanks for the advice. It was a hole in the drain pipe so it only leaked when I ran water. I fixed it myself with the help of plumbers that we use at my workplace (a lot) they just charged me cost for the pipe replacement. I guess I could have tried my insurance but the damage wasn’t that great. The cabinets are old beyond belief and already falling apart. I just didn’t think they’d give me much if anything to replace them.
Coincidentally, a coworker had a catastrophic pipe burst that has flooded her entire house. She couldn’t get the water turned off in the bathroom or outside the house so it took her a while to stop the leak. It was on a weekend so she tried cleaning up herself but was advised by many people to contact her insurance, which she did on Monday, and they helped her get professional help to clean it up.