MN Water Damage – Will Your Home Insurance Policy Pay For Water Damage? Part 1
Water Damage | Water Damage Insurance Water damage cleanup, repair and restoration can be a costly operation, and surely you’d want to receive financial help from your home insurance policy. In fact, water damage is one of the top reasons why most home insurance plan holders make claims. Unfortunately, home insurance tends to be tricky when it comes to water damage, which is why many people have had negative experiences when claiming insurance benefits for their water damaged house. The biggest challenge in making a water damage insurance claim lies in determining whether your water damage problem is covered by your policy. But even if you are uncertain about whether your insurance plan will cover your water damage expenses, it is still best to report any water damage incident to your provider. Water Damage Insurance Reporting Even in the panic of finding your home flooded, don’t forget to call up your insurance company to report the damage. Ask them about the step by step process they require in making a claim, and you may also ask for some recommendations on which water damage companies you can trust. You are not obliged to heed their advice, but there’s no harm in including the recommended companies in your comparisons when you ask for quotes. If you have had any kind of water intrusion, a proper inspection by a Certified (IICRC) Water Damage Restoration Professional can help detect water intrusion issues early, saving thousands of dollars in repairs costs. After receiving your report, your insurance company will most likely send an agent out to evaluate and document the loss, but in the meantime, before you or your water damage restoration service start the cleanup, take pictures of your water damaged home. After extracting the water, you should also take pictures of your water damaged floors. Take individual photos of everything that get damaged, including water damaged ceilings and walls, furniture, and even small loose items. These photos will come in handy when you make a claim; some homeowners have even taken videos. While taking pictures, write down these damaged items in a list. The goal is to give your insurance company a clear idea of the full extent of the damage. Other documents that can help make your claim stronger include cost estimates, a complete water damage report, and receipts of repairs, restoration, and even sanitizing services you used. If your insurance agent and water damage repair company comes up with a different cost estimates, they will have to agree on a single amount, usually halfway between their estimates. Just make sure nothing is compromised in terms of the complete repair and restoration your home will need. Homeowners Insurance on Water Damage – What’s Covered and What’s Not Since policies cover different types of losses, insurance companies have different standards, and water damage is caused by many reasons, not all water damage incidents are automatically covered. Water damage incidents that are covered are those that occur due to material defects such as dishwasher malfunctions or burst pipes, and those that are accidental in nature. However, insurance companies will not pay for damage caused by neglect, carelessness, or poor maintenance. There are exceptions, though. There are sudden and unexpected reasons that are beyond your control that insurance agencies nevertheless exclude from their basic coverage. These include water damage caused by natural disasters such as heavy rainfall or river overflows; such damage is considered to be flood damage, which is a common exclusion. Usually, home insurance policies offer separate coverage packages for the water damage incidents their basic plans do not cover. This way, homeowners...
Read MoreBuying A New Home? Look For Signs Of Water Damage
Buying a New Home? Inspect For Signs of Water Damage With so many houses on the market, there has never been a better time to buy. Whether you live in the area or not, house prices are low thanks to the plethora of foreclosures within the last few years. Sadly, when it comes to the housing market, one person’s loss is another person’s gain. But not always. While shopping for a new home or even a vacation property, it is important to know what the signs of water damage are so you can sport them long before you get into a potential buyer’s contract. Look For Signs of Water Damage Knowing what to look for during your home search can help you greatly in the long end. Not only will it give you an idea of the work that may need to be done to restore the home but it will flag the fact that the home does have problems. Too often lately, home buyers are complaining of home inspections that did not show serious water damage or mold damage problems. While home inspectors are supposed to record all findings of damage or problems to the home, some do not. When observing for signs of water damage of a potential property to buy, begin with the exterior. Start with the roof. Are there any missing or damaged shingles? Bent or damaged gutters? Is the roof collapsed in any area? Is the chimney damaged or cracked? Are any areas of the roof or directly under the roof stained or damaged? Ask your realtor for their opinion. Find out how old the roof is as well and when it might need to be replaced. Next, check all exterior walls and windows. Do you notice any collapsed walls? Are there any cracks or stepping in the walls? Are the exterior walls wet even though they should be dry? Are any windows broken or cracked? Can you notice any sign of water intrusion through any windows or window wells? Finally, look at the lawn and backyard. Are there any puddles or flooded areas? How does the ground slope” towards or away from the house? Does any of the landscaping look damaged or drowned? Again, talk to your Realtor through the process and ask questions. Regarding the interior of the home, document anything you find suspicious and make sure you check everything. Observe the walls, ceilings and floors. Are any of the surfaces wet? Can you spot any cracks? Do you see any stains? A water stain on the ceiling may point to a roof leak, however if you have water pipes in the attic these may be the issue. Look at the walls. Do you see any signs of flaking, swelling or any discoloration or yellowing? Are any of the walls soft to the touch? Is the ceiling ballooning anywhere? Can you see any visible signs of mold? While inspecting rooms, check for warped or damaged wood. For example, check hardwood floors, baseboards and cupboards. If you see any warping or bucking in the hardwood floors, it is most likely a sign of water damage. Look closely for molds on wood. If there is carpet, check for stains or areas of wetness. Check inside cupboards for water stains. Water stains in the bottom of your cabinets can be a product of a leak in your sink pipes. In the kitchen, check to see if there is an exhaust fan: does it work? Also, check the bathrooms: do they have fans and do they work? In both kitchens and bathrooms, test fixtures to see...
Read MoreWater Damaged Floor Repair and Restoration
Restoration On A Water Damaged Hardwood Floor You might be familiar with this situation: you have recently installed beautiful cherry wood floors and then you notice the thing most dreaded by homeowners…..warped floor boards. Your first instinct might be to fix the floor. A word of caution, though: are you ready for what you might find? Repairing water damage on a hardwood floor is a task that may be necessary from time to time on a small scale with intermittent spillages or minor leaks. Alternatively you may be faced with major water damage following flood or a large body of water that has saturated your hardwood floorboards. Repairing Minor Hardwood Floor Water Damage If you have discovered a minor leak that has allowed water to seep onto your hardwood floorboards, there may be a single spot that has become damp and discoloured compared to the rest of your floor. In this case there are some simple steps that you can take to repair the hardwood floor water damage. Firstly, make sure you have identified the source of the water damage and fixed it completely. Any later repair work will be for nothing if you do not seal the leak or repair the pipes from where the water is coming. Next, you may be faced with a spot that is discoloured and possibly swollen and cracked or warped. The wood grain has become affected by the water damage and has reacted. Dry out the affected area until it is completely dry before beginning any restoration work on it. Begin by sanding back the affected area starting with a coarse sandpaper before moving back to a finer grit. Once the area has been sanded back and the stain edges are smooth treat the area with a wood sealant that matches the rest of the floor. Following one coat of sealant it may be necessary to sand it back before adding another coat. Some kind of blending process may have to be done so that the damaged area winds up looking the same as the original floor. Major Hardwood Floor Water Damage Repair When a lot of moisture has been absorbed by a hardwood floor the most common result is that the wood expands. When the boards expand they become wider and one of two things might happen, you might have a buckled floor or you may have a floor that is cupped. In either case you are left with a seriously uneven floor. In order to restore the water damaged hardwood floor without having to pull up the entire floor and replace it you can use a process known as desiccant dehumidification. This is carried out by bringing in a desiccant dehumidifier which if very effective at reducing the humidity level in the air. The desiccant dehumidifier can be run under sealed conditions to completely remove the moisture from the area. In this case you are removing moisture from the floorboards. Running a dehumidifier for an extended period will help to reduce the swollen floorboards and counteract the cupping or buckling that has taken place. As the moisture is drawn out of the air it will also be drawn out of the hardwood floorboards and they will shrink back to their normal size. Effectively you want the top surface of the floorboards and the bottom surface to be balanced in moisture content. Once the floor has been properly dried and the moisture is removed from the surrounding area, the floor can be sanded back and refinished so that it is returned to its original smoothness again. If the hardwood floor has...
Read MoreMinneapolis Water Damage Floor Repair MN | Water Damaged Floors
Repair and Restoration For Water Damaged Floors In all cases of water damage in floors, cleanup should always start with removing any standing water to prevent further damage. Next, discard any floor materials that cannot be salvaged anymore such as carpet padding. It is also very important to remove excess moisture from the floor and especially the subfloor of wooden floorings. This can be done by using dehumidifiers or fans and other drying devices that force dry air onto the area and help restore the correct level of humidity. Once the surface is thoroughly dry, it should be treated against mold growth. Water Damage Floor Repair After applying an anti-mold treatment, the floor should be ready for repair and restoration. The specific methods for restoring water damaged floors will depend on the type of floors that were affected. For carpeted floors, replace the carpet padding and then reinstall new carpet if the old one was severely damaged and beyond cleaning. For water damaged wooden floors, make sure you have removed all hardwood that was damaged. The subfloor must also be replaced if the water has weakened it. Apply a floor-leveling compound and then install new wood flooring, making sure it has the same color, thickness and texture as the existing floor. Re-sanding and refinishing the replacement wood pieces may also be necessary so they will blend with the rest of the floor. For water-damaged tiles, use baking soda and water solution to clean stains off tiles. If there is serious staining and discoloration, it would be necessary to call a tile professional. If there are cracked grout lines or any loose tiles, they would have to be removed and replaced. It is important to make sure there is no moisture in the surface underneath the tiles. When It’s Best to Call for Professional Help Whether you have had water damage in your home caused by a storm or the cause of water damage in your home is sewage backup, do not attempt to do the cleanup yourself. You will be putting yourself at great risk because you are dealing with highly contaminated water. You should call a water damage restoration professional instead. Also, if the water damage is extensive, affecting large areas or more than one floor, then it is also best to call professional help because you may not be able to clean up everything quickly and time is of the essence in any water damage incident. Molds can grow on a surface that has been wet for just a day or two. In addition, the wet floor and subfloor must be dried thoroughly and this is done properly with the use of specialized equipment. You may have to rent them so why not just hire a professional water damage crew who already has the needed equipment and training to do the job efficiently. Calling for professional help is not just a convenient way to have your water damaged floors cleaned up and restored. In most cases, it is necessary to prevent further damage....
Read MoreWater Damage Cleanup, Repair and Restoration MN
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