New Homeowner Woes - But they get a new kitchen!

[DerbyDad03]

A young couple recently bought the house across the street from me. It's a 1940-ish colonial.

They moved back from another state and were living with Mom while they did some work on the house. They removed some old (cheap) built-ins, they painted, they carpeted, etc.

One thing they hired out was the replacement of the upstairs bathroom floor. This is a significant part of this story.

The kitchen had old but serviceable cabinets, so they were going to live with them for a while. This is also significant.

We went away on vacation for a week and when we got back we were surprised that they hadn't moved in yet. They had told me that they were going to move in during the week we were gone, but instead there was dumpster in the yard (wasn't there the week before) and the house looked as empty as when we left. Curious, we thought.

Well, I saw the wife the next day. It turns out that she left the house at about 2 PM on the day we left and came back around noon the next day. As she pulled in the driveway she wondered "Why are the back steps so wet? Did someone leave a hose running?"

When she got out of the car she saw the water running from under the back door next to the kitchen.

According to how she explained it, the guy who did the bathroom floor left a nut loose on the toilet and it let go sometime after she left the day before.

The bathroom was above the kitchen and water was pouring down through the ceiling, out of the cabinets, out from around the windows, etc. The kitchen needs to be gutted, the dining room walls and ceiling will be replaced, etc. The new floor in the bathroom was ruined as was some of the hardwood in the hallway.

"Luckily" it's an unfinished basement, so all they had to do (for now) was have the fire department pump the water out and get the fans running.

They said their insurance company will cover the repairs, but they (the ins co) are going after the flooring contractor for reimbursement.

Meanwhile, it's back to Mom's basement for a while longer.

[Red Green]

DerbyDad03 wrote in news:86aeb33e-c301-4712-903a- [e-mail]:

I think I beter go check my nuts.

Just finished redoing a bathroom today.

[hallerb]

my dad & family in phoenix went on a cruise, while they were gone my brother stopped daily to feed and water dogs they had doggie door.

found water coming from around front door, 2 feet of water in home from a split line to the osmsis water treatment system in kitchen'' he had a heck of a time getting door open

25 grand later the place looked great.....

insurance paid it all

[h]

Heh. I had the SAME thing happen in '97, but it was the toilet tank which developed a spontaneous crack, about 2-24 hours (we figure) after we left for a Renaissance re-enactment. The real problem was that the "cat sitter" we selected obviously didn't show up EVER, even though she was being paid to come every 12 hours. ($30 a day-45 minutes total per day, and she lived less than 1 mile away back in 1997!)

The second day after we left, our friend, who was dropping off her cat to be sat with mine (she and the cat used to live here) found there was a RIVER pouring out one of the kitchen windows, standing water in the kitchen, rain pouring from the ceiling, etc. She quickly figured out that the upstairs toilet tank had cracked(!) and water had been pouring out for "A VERY LONG TIME". She turned off the water supply to the toilet and solved the immediate problem and called me. I had already retuned home before the cat sitter had even made an appearance. We're talking 3 days, no visits, no wet food nor fresh water for kittehs! Never paid her a dime, never called her again. Blackballed her all over. BIATCH! Called the cops to see if I could pressed charges, but they said no.

And yes, I got a "new" kitchen out of Amica, but it wasn't as nice as what I had, even though my policy specified "replacement value". DON'T USE AMICA!!! They will bone you if they can. When my house was damaged, those bastards just accused me of CAUSING the damage. Umm...yeah, not home at the time and we had a WORLD CLASS (Wood Mode) kitchen destroyed by the water. We had to replace it with an OK (Merrilat) kitchen. And WE are the thieves? Really? Don't think so. Amica sucks! I paid them for 15 years before the damage, with no claims. Really?

I realized that I had gotten screwed big time when we had a pipe burst in the wall in 2007, and Allstate was ALL OVER IT. I made one phone call, and they had guys out with fans, equipment, etc., and they ripped out the floors, wet walls, etc. They make Amica look like morons. I can't believe I paid Amica money for so many years.

Don't make my mistake! Don't use Amica. They WILL NOT PAY.