Will insurance replace water damaged hardwood floors?
In general, water damage restoration companies will not pull-out hardwood floors, kitchen cabinets, tile floors or bathroom tubs without the claims adjuster’s approval. Industry standard is for water damage companies to attempt to salvage such materials before they are declared unsalvageable. This is all a part of the water damage insurance claims process. Before your claims adjuster buys you brand new hardwood floors, he or she needs to document the FACT of their unsalvageable water damage.
After hardwood floors have been dried, they must also be allowed time to re-acclimate. The re-acclimation period ranges from 30-60 days. It is not the job of the water damage restoration professional to determine whether or not hardwood floors are salvageable, that is the job of a flooring expert. Once the floors are dry, your insurance company will send out a vender to make a recommendation to refinish or replace the floors.
Keep in mind, the water damage flooring expert does not want to risk refinishing your floors if they are not 99% sure that they can make your damaged floors look brand new again. Going through the water damage claims process can take time & cause stress, but you can trust Flood Metrix to explain this process and provide clear, accurate insight every step of the way. The following notes are from a real flood damage claim.
Conversation with Water Damage Claims Adjuster
These notes have been prepared to summarize our conversation with regards to a recent water damage restoration flood claim. After successfully drying the affected floors, visible water damage, specifically cupping, has been noted. At the insurance adjustors request, the affected hardwood floors have been scheduled for removal. We will remove the affected areas included in the water removal/cleanup portion of this project only & shall bill service with Xactimate WTR lines items.
Flood Damage Project Notes
The hardwood floor drying effort of this flood damage project was a success. After an estimated 36 hours of flooding, the saturation levels of all affected hardwood floors had increased to an average of 45 out of 100. The highest floor saturation reading taken was 63. Please note that hardwood flooring is generally considered saturated once moisture content levels reach a reading of 21 & above.
Advanced structural drying equipment was used to help dry the flooded basement, flooded kitchen level & flooded bathroom levels. All water damaged areas of this flood damage cleanup project started with an average humidity above 70% with an indoor in door temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Three negative pressure floor drying systems, directed heat, & 1 inflatable heat mat were used in combination with multiple air movers and dehumidifiers to achieve our dry goal.
Within 4 days we were able to restore over 90% of the water damaged floors to a moisture content level of 16. Additionally, we were able to manipulate temperatures to 95 degrees and back down to 70 while decreasing relative humidity to an average of 45%. Equipment was then employed to salvage water damaged kitchen cabinets and affected wall cavities.
