r/HomeImprovement • u/HumanistPeach • Feb 17 '20

Contractors just flooded my upstairs while replacing water heater, it’s raining in my kitchen- what to expect next?

So our water heater died this weekend. The repair guys just came over today, and promptly flooded all the water that was inside the old broken water heater onto my upstairs floor (carpeted), and there was so much that it immediately started pouring from my kitchen ceiling out of two hanging light fixtures. It definitely spread quite a bit, because there are two patches in the drywall that were invisible before that are now obvious, and the seams of at least two sheets of drywall are showing/swollen with water. We’ve already put the business’s insurance in touch with our homeowner’s insurance, and my boyfriend does all the IT for this company, so I’m not worried about them trying to screw us over, I’m more just looking to see how long I should except repairs to take, what the potential repairs might be, etc. TYIA!

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u/Hfftygdertg2 Feb 18 '20

Water doesn't instantly ruin everything it touches. Mold takes time to grow. Drywall is definitely ruined. But the framing and the subfloor are fine if they can dry out quickly (within a day or two, probably). Carpet and flooring flooring probably need to be removed to dry everything out. If the cabinets got wet they might or might not be damaged depending on the construction and how long they were wet.

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u/nekomancey Feb 18 '20

If water ran down the inside of a wall enough that it did something that makes you notice on the outside, it should be torn down and replaced. I've torn out walls after a second story flood. Mold can grow all over in a warm moist inside of a wall with no ventilation quite prodigiously.

That's just me, local building code for what HAS to be done will vary by location.

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u/Mego1989 Feb 18 '20

Drywall needs to come off but the wall does not need to be torn down. Wood dries just fine.

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u/nekomancey Feb 18 '20

Indeed I only meant the drywall not the studs. They might be load bearing you can't just rip em out anyway :)