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New house, water damage, not sure where to begin

Let me guess, you are not a ktar listener.

And the company whose name is on top of the receipt is likely not a rosie-certified partner

www.rosieonthehouse.com

Sorry about the problem, and that the repair wasn't done correctly or to your satisfaction.

If they do pull the water heater for a wall repair, you might want to consider the installation of a water heater drip pan and plumbing to take that water outside.
 
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Update:

I contacted the home warranty company. Expected, they will only cover physical malfunctions in regards to the water heater. So they would replace the broken hose. Not really worth the $75 deductible to have them replace a $6 hose.

I contacted the homeowners insurance company and they're sending out a company tonight to start getting things dried up and start the repair process. I'll be curious to see what they come up with for an overall estimate for repairs!
 
sdilley14 said:
Update:

I contacted the home warranty company. Expected, they will only cover physical malfunctions in regards to the water heater. So they would replace the broken hose. Not really worth the $75 deductible to have them replace a $6 hose.

I contacted the homeowners insurance company and they're sending out a company tonight to start getting things dried up and start the repair process. I'll be curious to see what they come up with for an overall estimate for repairs!
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Tell them you are concerned about mold and want a real mold inspection. It all depends on how wet things got, but my concern would be they underplay the concern. It stuff in your walls got wet, this is an issue that is not cleaned up cosmetically because mold can take a period of time to develop. And if the inside of the walls got wet, how do they determine that?

http://www.epa.gov/mold

http://blackmold.awardspace.com/where-mold-grow.html
 
And why is a hose involved going to and or from the water heater?
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tobefirst said:
I am not very knowledgeable on this, so forgive my ignorance, but do you really mean that they remove the bottom 4 *feet* of drywall to inspect? Or did you mean 4 inches?
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Water will wick up the walls, so you need to rip out 4 feet of drywall. Right to the studs, let it air out and replace. With new drywall.
 
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Huntn said:
Tell them you are concerned about mold and want a real mold inspection. It all depends on how wet things got, but my concern would be they underplay the concern. It stuff in your walls got wet, this is an issue that is not cleaned up cosmetically because mold can take a period of time to develop. And if the inside of the walls got wet, how do they determine that?

http://www.epa.gov/mold

http://blackmold.awardspace.com/where-mold-grow.html
Click to expand...

The company coming out tonight is certified with the EPA for mold assessment/removal/repair/...whatever you call it, lol. So I would assume they will give a fair and accurate assessment of the situation.
 
How did your house pass inspection with hoses on the water heater. Is that a weird code where you live or just shoddy work?
 
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MacNut said:
How did your house pass inspection with hoses on the water heater. Is that a weird code where you live or just shoddy work?
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There are two "metal coated" braided hoses that are attached to the top of the water heater. Looks like one is for hot water and one is for cold water. I'm not sure what else would be used aside from these types of hoses to move the water in and out of the heater??
 
Copper pipes is the most popular, though Pex piping is now gaining in popularity.
 
sdilley14 said:
While they're making these repairs I'll have them upgrade to one of these. Thanks for the advice!
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Pex is becoming standard now. You should never have hoses under constant pressure. They are a point of failure. This is why you have shut offs on washing machines. Even supply lines to sinks and toilets will fail at some point.
 
sdilley14 said:
There are two "metal coated" braided hoses that are attached to the top of the water heater. Looks like one is for hot water and one is for cold water. I'm not sure what else would be used aside from these types of hoses to move the water in and out of the heater??
Click to expand...

The old standby for this was a corrugated flexible copper pipe. It sounds like someone before you cheaped out and used the braided hoses.

A water heater shouldn't have non-metal plumbing within the first inches. It can be a very hot place right at the connection - there might be a pocket of excessively heated water. The heat will destroy plastic (and rubber) that otherwise would be fine with normal temperature hot water.
 
When the maintenance guys from my apartment complex replaced the water heater in my unit they used Sharkbite (www.sharkbite.com) "hoses" so they didn't have to sweat the connections. They actually make them specifically for water heater connections FIP Flexible Water Heater Connectors: 12", 15", 18", and 24" Flexible Connectors I suppose it's a cop-out to use these but they've been in for almost 3 years and (knock on wood) haven't leaked, though it has resulted in a slight water hammer when one of the toilets stops filling after flushing.
 
hallux said:
When the maintenance guys from my apartment complex replaced the water heater in my unit they used Sharkbite (www.sharkbite.com) "hoses" so they didn't have to sweat the connections. They actually make them specifically for water heater connections FIP Flexible Water Heater Connectors: 12", 15", 18", and 24" Flexible Connectors I suppose it's a cop-out to use these but they've been in for almost 3 years and (knock on wood) haven't leaked, though it has resulted in a slight water hammer when one of the toilets stops filling after flushing.
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Sharkbites can work with copper or pex. I was sceptical about it until I used it for some quick fixes where I didn't want to solider the pipe. They are strong and do a good job. But nothing beats a good sweat job.

For a water heater I would still do copper from the tank to the shut off. After that first 12 inches pex is fine.
 
I haven't gotten a full estimate yet, but they started the work on the house yesterday. Drying everything out, ripping out drywall on 2 walls, replacing the flooring in the bedroom, replacing the trim around the floor in the bedroom, and who knows what else comes along with all this, lol. Looks to be a project that will cost a couple thousand at least. Well worth the $1k insurance deductible. Fortunately the insurance adjuster and the contractor got to the house at the same time, so they're in sync with what work needs to be done and what is covered. And I had planned on replacing the flooring in that bedroom anyways, so this works out kind of perfectly, lol.
 
Bill came in at $4800. WELL worth the insurance deductible. And at least I'm getting a new bedroom floor out of the deal, lol.
 
sdilley14 said:
Bill came in at $4800. WELL worth the insurance deductible. And at least I'm getting a new bedroom floor out of the deal, lol.
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I wonder what impact, if any, that would or at least could have on the home insurance rate or policy details down the road, and/or as far as disclosures or anything like that if the house would be sold in the future.
 
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C DM said:
I wonder what impact, if any, that would have on the home insurance rate or policy details down the road, and/or as far as disclosures or anything like that if the house would be sold in the future.
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I was wondering the same thing. I'm almost expecting them to either drop me or jack up the premium. I've only owned the house for a month and already made a $4800 claim. They need to make up for that one way or another.
 
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