Update: leak -call insurance or not -Squishy flooring and contracting help
Update - I had my pest control guy go under my house and he found an active significant leak that is causing the flooring problems. He sent me a video. This is such a mess, as I had a plumber here yesterday and he could not get to the leak, as I guess the crawl space is tight..so I have to find a smaller plumber or open up the flooring and go from there. I know this is urgent and am doing everything to get it repaired asap. Question - do I call insurance? I have read that you should make sure you would get enough reimbursement to make it worth it and that they sometimes dont pay for leaks and still raise rates. I have my policy in front of me and dont see anything specifically about leaks. For deductible is says "other loses" and lists 1/2% with an amount of about $1200. Any help is appreciated. thank you
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So, my kitchen floor is vinyl and a part of it has become very squishy. I thought I had posted at the beginning of this dilemma, but I searched and couldnt find it. Major pandemic brain fog must be happening Anyway, I was concerned about what was happening, so have had a couple of contractors look at it. )t is located near a sliding door, but the squishy part is a few feet away from the sliding door. We did pull up some of the flooring right near the door and there does seem to be dry rot (ugh). For anyone following my I-want-to-sell-my-house saga, I did talk to a real estate agent/mortgage broker and it does not seem like it going to work for me to do that right now (mostly b/c the inventory is too low in terms of me being able to afford something that would work better and I would need to sell my house first to make this work financially).
Contractor 1 was recommended by a friend who used to do construction. Although she did not have direct knowledge of his work. She has a friend who used him recently for some minor projects and was very happy. He mostly looked at it, felt it, declared it a joist issue and said he would charge me about $800, plus the cost of flooring and having someone else putting that in. What bothered me about him is that I was not sure he really *knew* it was a joist issue. I also asked about asbestos concerns (house is from 1975 and has asbestos in ceilings) and he said he did not think there was asbestos and would proceed as such.
Contractor 2 -recommended by a friend who is a plumber but has an injury so she cant help me as much as she normally would. He thinks that my sliding doors must have had caulk wear away and rain/wind blowing the rain) caused the damage. He thinks it would be $7000, but of course does not know for sure until he opens it. He collected a sample for asbestos testing (I agreed to this and he charged for that piece, but we agreed that is all I am agreeing to for now). Have not heard back yet
Contractor 3- recommended by a friend who had some mildew/mold bathroom issues. He thinks there was a leak from my outside faucet. Pretty much same story as contractor 2 from there, except did not give any idea of cost. Allowed him to do asbestos sample too as I wanted the option to use him. Waiting to hear back
Contractor 4- His former work partner was recommended to me as someone very honest by a friend, who acknowledged he may be retired. He was retired, but referred me to this guy, his former partner. He came over, basically said he could not determine a cause, but we need to do that. Said he might be willing to go under the house (he is 60 and not sure if he can do it). Said he would come back this week to try that. I am hoping he will do that as I am thinking that will be helpful?
So, any ideas on determining what may be going on or who to work with? Any advice at all? I don't know if I should have someone open it up without knowing how much they would charge...but also this seems like it is something that needs to be taken care of. Also, I had no one in the house before this happened (Covid wise), but again it seems important. Thanks!
Last edited by JustMe; 04-08-2021 at 11:02 AM.
lucky single mom to 20 yr old dd and 17 yr old ds through 2 very different adoption routes