Can a plumbing flood warp my interior doors and the garage frame?

The sticking doors are a direct result of the sudden humidity spike and the structural swelling in the frame you already noticed. When that much water hits the subfloor and the wall plates, the wood expands rapidly. If your garage door frame is already out of alignment, you can bet the interior door jambs are next. Don't try to shave or plane the doors down yet. If you do that now while the wood is at its peak moisture content, you’re going to be left with huge, ugly gaps once the house finally dries out. You need to get profesional **industrial dehumidifiers** and air movers in there yesterday. Since you're in a duplex, this isn't just a DIY fan job. That water is sitting in the floor joists and the wall cavities between you and your neighbor. If it’s not dried out properly within 24 to 48 hours, you're looking at mold issues on top of the structural swelling. The creaking laminate is a bad sign—it means the core material has absorbed water and is starting to 'peak' at the seams and pull at the subfloor. Call your homeowners insurance immediatly and stop talking to that plumber. You pay your premiums for exactly this reason. Let your insurance company handle the mitigation and the repairs. They have a process called **subrogation** where they’ll pay for your fixes and then go after the plumber’s liability insurance to get thier money back. It takes the pressure off you to play detective or debt collector while you're already stressed out.

Since there's a neighbor involved, you definitly have to loop in the strata manager. There are likely common property elements in that shared wall that need to be documented for the building's records. The plumber trying to dodge blame over a video call is a massive red flag, so make sure you keep the invoice and the notes from the second plumber who actualy found the loose hose. That’s your smoking gun for the insurance claim.

If the garage door frame is allready acting up, does that mean the actual studs are swelling too? I’m still learning about how houses are put together, but that sounds super fast for wood to move. For the interior doors, is it better to keep them wide open while the dehumidifiers are running? I’m worried if they’re shut and the frame shrinks back, they might get trapped or dry in a wierd, warped shape. Also, do the cheap hollow doors handle this better or worse than solid wood? I always thougt solid wood was tougher, but maybe it absorbs more water?

Keep them open for sure. If a door is shut and the jamb starts moving, it can bind so tight you'll have to kick it down or pull the pins just to get into the room. Most modern interior doors are just pressed sawdust or hollow-core, and they're basically sponges. If the bottom edge wasn't sealed with paint—wich they almost never are—they’ll suck up moisture from the wet floor and 'mushroom' out. Keep the air moving around all sides of the slab, otherwise, you're looking at a full replacement once the humidity drops and they stay warped.

Watch the strike plates once things start drying out. Even if the door itself stays flat, the frame shifting just a tiny bit means the latch won't line up anymore. I had a leak way smaller than yours and still had to relocate two strike plates becasue the house settled back differently. Also, keep an eye on the casing trim. If the mitered corners at the top start pulling apart or looking like a V, that’s a dead giveaway the wall studs are still holding moisture. Seriously, don't try to fix anything with a screwdriver yet or you'll just be doing the work twice.

One thing people miss is the hinge screws. If that lumber got as soaked as you say, the wood fibers around those screws are basically mush right now. Once it dries, they might not "bite" anymore, and you'll get a sagging door that drags on the floor. I'd definitely check if the top hinges are pulling away from the jamb. If they are, you might need to run some 3-inch screws thru the hinge and into the wall studs to pull everything back tight once the dehumidifiers do their thing.