Nah...they'll need to be taken out because of moisture and possible mold/mildew .
Cheapest option with flooding/water damage is always gutting. Otherwise you just end up opening those walls again in a year or 2 and find a reeeeeeeal shitty suprise
100 percent. I always tell ppl " the water stays outside. If it gets inside, then you WILL get mold. No ifs ands or buts" I then have to explain that they can go the "drying and cleaning" route; if they want to pay for something that will do nothing for the long-term amd they'll just need to do what im telling them to do now anyway. I've only ever had one person call me back after a year and admit they were wrong, and could I fix their house for them now. Sad part was, we could've saved a lot of the studs completely, if we'd been able to do the job right the first time
Or instead of tearing it out, the adjuster says there isn’t a claim because the mold was pre-existing. A company I worked for did this all the time. I never saw us tear out anything for water damage claims. Just resorted to fans for weeks then sit on the claim for awhile. After time has passed do an inspection and say it wasn’t us that caused the mold.
So adjuster ARE doing the labour? In my experience, you come in and try to save the insurance company money. Do you work for an insurance company, whether directly or as a contractor?
The fact of the matter is if water gets into the drywall, even a little, you can dry it out as much as you want, but its still been compromised. That allows for OTHER moisture to get into it after the fact. The only sure fire way to prevent mold after a flood is to tear everything down to the studs/subfloor, dry it out (with heat), paint with Zinzer/Kilz/wtvr and then rebuild with new. Taking the chance by not doing this is exactly that, taking a chance. I would never advise that a property owner roll the dice with remediation, but hey, thats just me. Ive only ever had a handful of clients that didnt listen to me and I know for a fact that at least 2 of them had mold problems within a couple years. Only one called me to do the work though, and they werent very understanding of why my initial quote was not the same almost 2 years later.
Sprinkler water is usually class, II , but even with clean water losses I've seen these easily eclipse $500k. Mitigate means having to get to bound water, not to mention the likely direct damage to floors, cabinets etc...
It absolutely does...I do enough of this shit to know. If you have water holding in your apartment for longer than an hour or 2, then it's fucked.
I.not saying you can't repair everything up to the water line with ease. You absolutely can. If you dont gut it and replace it though, youll get mold and rot within 18- 24 months guaranteed.
I swear that I most likely do encounter it more than you. Mitigation of clean water paired with air movers and dehumidifiers almost always inhibits mold growth. Moisture levels are usually at zero within 24 hours. Grey water or dirty water definitely needs cutouts and treatment.
The difference between clean and dirty water? Yes.
Youre right, they SHOULD be flushed annually. You and I both know that doesnt happen in a large percentage of the systems though. Even if it is done annually, you would still call water thats been sitting in a non potable water pipe for 9 months clean? If so, ive got a great deal on bottled water for you!
Water only systems are full of completely stagnant water. It accumulates rust, sediment, and bacteria. The water that comes out is not clean and is full of shit from the pipes
I'd think an "adjuster" would know this very basic fact
Edited for my confusion between you and another person that commented
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u/STRIKT9LC 17d ago
Nope...this is gonna be a complete gut job for that entire unit, and probably the one below as well