After Hurricane IKE I installed Bruce Hickory Engineered Flooring in my dining room. Yesterday I had a pipe leak that coated the dining room with water. Today I pulled up the floor. I put it out in the sun and it dried.
Question: Can I reuse the flooring? Some of it warped in drying so I am going to weigh it down to try an straighten it out. It smelled when wet. The smell seems to have left after the drying but it is outside so it is impossible to tell if it will smell indoors when used.
I'd let it dry a really long time - like a month. With plenty of air circulation. Moreover, I'd do as you suggested and try to reduce the warping during the drying period.
As a last resort, and I'm reluctant to offer this advice here, you might try calling Bruce for any tips they might have.
Since you're asking for opinions, mine would be that you probably cannot re-use it or at least some of it. A lot of engineered flooring manufacturers suggest that it not be installed below grade so they are obviously concerned about moisture. If you cannot use all of it, you may have problems with the same style flooring coming from a different batch and possibly having a color match problem. My first suggestion would be to contact your insurance guy. Even If your deductible eats up your labor, you might still be able to get your material paid for.
If he had misspelled it in the body of the reply then I wouldn't give it a second thought, but the guy is signing his "name" that way. Personally I thought Gordon was just trying to be helpful, and if I had misspelled my own name I wouldn't mind at all if somebody pointed it out to me. Of course, "Amatuer" could have been ironically misspelled on purpose to see if anybody was paying attention, but somehow I doubt it.
My flooring guy recommends NOT reusing any flooring that has been soaked with water. It is easy enough for you to see why. It warps, distends, and becomes misshapen. Worse, it loses its perfect dimensions, which makes those pretty closed joint installations possible since it will no longer fit together well.
My personal experience is that he is right. I tried to save some engineered flooring and reinstall after it had been covered with water for a day. Absolutely no luck. And the pieces I finally pounded and sanded into place looked like crap.
The good news is that you can take a sample of your current floor and buy replacement pieces that match pretty well.
IMHO in the name is even more reason to accept the spelling. What If some one "thought" your name was really Steve Tuner. My sister's daughter's name is Saen vs. what many expect to be Sean, or is that visa versa. If his name was actually Tu, should it be corrected to, to, too, or two? Maybe Gordon's last name is really spelled Shamway but he does not want the association with the creep selling towels.
Except that you now have the branding by the insurance company of having a house that has suffered water damage, enough to put you on the C.L.U.E. list. As a restoration/remodel/repair guy, this is important to know. Your claim, the amount paid, the amount of damage, and the type of damage will all be dutifully recorded. This will affect your insurance premiums (as in increase) until the unforeseeable future.
Most people have no idea this system exists. It started as an information sharing device between insurance companies to make sure they didn't inherit a latent claim from one another. Specifically, mold damage. Many years ago before water and mold claims began to be excluded from policy protection, there were claims from latent defects in property due to improper repair. A flooded house may have the walls stain killed and painted and the carpet replaced, but he mold lives on. In a particularly humid climate, it is only a matter of time before the mold asserts itself in a very aggressive way. And we all know the prodigious amounts of money paid for mold and water claims from plumbing leaks, hurricane and tornado damage, roof leaks, etc.
I no longer deal directly with insurance companies due to their lack of integrity. But in advising my clients, some will listen and some will not. Without ANY exception, those reporting water damage have either be canceled outright or face higher (around 20% or their premium) rates or policy modifications to exclude any claims from water damage. I am sure there are those here that personally know exceptions, but that's my experience.
At this point, the CLUE system is used by a lot of different companies for a lot of different reasons. Imagine seeing it used to negotiate against you in a real estate transaction. It will follow you around for future underwriting of insurance of both home, and now with its expanded coverage, your auto.
DAGS "Insurance CLUE list" and check out what you find. You can even find out information yourself now with sites like this:
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information stays around for a long time, and could cost you thousands in future insurance premiums, as well as put a negative point against your property should you decide to sell it.
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