I can't offer any great insight or info, but I am sorry you are going through this. I am impressed by your attitude. It is great that you are handling this so well, gathering information, looking for solutions and able to trust your GC. Good luck, I hope it is all taken care of quickly and done right.

Well, this is my opinion:

You are paying for a new house, not a water damaged house and right now this is what you have even though not horrible. I would want the wet sheetrock cut out and the insulation removed that has gotten wet, and both replaced with new, and the entire ceiling repainted so the patch will match right. I would want to meet with the flooring people in person to discuss the condition of the hardwood. This is frustrating I know, but honestly these things do happen, and this is completely fixable so don't be too overbearing about it, but do not accept anything your not sure about.

I second jca1. It needs to be opened up and dried out so you don't end up with mold growing in that area. What I would be worried about is the floors and if your island cabinets got damaged.

Oh man! Didn't Kygirl also have a problem with her ceiling? Not sure if she still reads but maybe she can offer some insight? I agree with the others. I would want all of it torn out and redone. Good Luck!

luckymom: Thanks for your kind words.

jcal: It is actually a two story so there is no insulation between the first and second floor. We think it ran straight off the toilet to the light fixture below. We'll know more today. My husband is there now talking to the GC about what we are going to do. He says he's going to make him do everything you said. I'll keep you posted.

Lyfia: me too! They are going to disconnect and move the island this morning to see if there is damage underneath. There is a prep sink in the island and believe it or not, a lot of the water ran off into the sink. That is, of course, the same sink my GC gave me a hard time about putting in. Bet he's glad we did it anyway... As for the mold, that hasn't crossed my mind yet. OH, I have heard so many mold stories...horror stories. Thanks for bringing that up. We will definitely bring that up.

Lindybarts: I'll try to find KYgirl. Hopefully she can share some insight with us. Thanks for your help.

Yes, you should be there when the subs come back in to see what needs to be done.

You especially need to talk to the plumbing contractor to find out *exactly* what went wrong. Was it a fitting? Was it a pipe that burst? Maybe a fixture (did you mention a toilet?) failed, which would make it easier for me to trust the plumbing itself. Is there too much pressure from the city water main (there is a pressure regulator at the supply entrance, or there should be). Talk to your the plumbing contractor about the condition of the plumbing in the *rest* of the house. Ask if the other plumbing and fixtures can be pressure tested.

househappy, mold needs some time to grow and it won't happen if allowed to dry quickly. That is why opening it up and allowing it to dry out will prevent mold from starting to grow. If it keeps moist for a while it gives mold a chance to grow.

OK, I have now lost my good attitude. My GC wants to wait it out and see what happens. Let's wait until everything dries out and then we'll see what we need to do. NEVERMIND THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO CLOSE ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!! So, closing is delayed indefinitely. Yes, it was the toilet. Discovered this morning that one of the lines behind the toilet (I don't know what it is called) was never hooked up. So, we didn't have a leak, we had a STREAM of water coming directly from a pipe. I am going over to take pictures of the floor tonight and I'll try to post. Our GC told us he has seen much worse and basically acted like this is not that big of a deal. Hey, it only puts my entire life on hold while he waits for the floor/ceiling to dry at TURTLE SPEED. It's only costing us more money every day we delay closing. It's only giving me less and less time to get out of my current house before the new owners move in. Ahhh, OK, I just had to vent. Thanks to all of you who have offered your expertise. I'll keep you updated.

They need to at least put fans on it to help dry out and run the AC if you have one.

Yes, these things do happen. BUT! Several wrong things led to this problem, none of them the doing of the potential homeowner. I did my plumbing. I shut off all the supply stops, turned on the main (actually my pump) valve and checked everything. No leaks, good. Then I installed the supply tube to the stop valve at a commode, placed the other end of the supply tube in a bucket, turned on the stop and flushed out the stop valve/tube assembly, turned off the stop, attached the supply tube to the commode, filled the commode, flushed the commode, let it refill. Then move to the next one. Takes time, but less overall time than househappy is experiencing. I am disappointed in the reaction of the GC. Just to be sure what he is presently thinking, take clipboard with you, ask him again to explain how he will handle this problem, make notes. As he hears himself explaining and knowing that notes are being made, his plan may begin to get better. If not, time to start insisting.

At the very least I'd insist on the wet drywall in the ceiling being cut out so that that the framing inside can dry out. If your bathroom was already tiled, then the subfloor is wet and also needs to dry out.

I had my share of water leaks, and got to chat with water remediation companies several times. In fact it might be a good idea for you to call one in and see what they recommend. The times I had them out, they'd always cut out any drywall that was above a certain moisture level. If the drywall was below their cutting-out threshold but still moist, they'd put fans on it to dry. If the framing was a certain moisture level they'd also put fans on the framing after cutting out the drywall. For framing that showed mold, they'd cut it out entirely.

Unbelievable.

The main water supply should not even be hooked up to your home's plumbing until the plumber has pressure-tested the house plumbing. I visited my house while it was being built and the supply line had an air pressure gauge attached to it. They were making sure the pipes in the house would hold a steady pressure *before* doing the hookup to the city water supply. Someone (the plumbing contractor) skipped a very basic step. Maybe it wasn't the plumbing crew that turned on the water, but the house should not have even *had* a water supply at this point.

Has the GC been paid? Is the closing date specified in your contract? Are there penalties for missing the closing date? If a delayed closing costs you in extra carrying costs, then I'd try to recover those from your GC's final payment. He'll have to find a way to recover it from the plumbers.

Instruct your GC to contact the plumbing contractor to inquire about his insurance.

Your GC's reaction is unacceptable I think, and perhaps he has forgotten that he works for you, you are his boss.

I have seen this type of damage a lot over the years being in the homeowners insurance business and here is my take on it. Based upon the drywall damage as seen in the photos it needs to be pulled and replaced. While it's possible some of it may be dried with fans the cost to do that versus cutting it out and replacing just isn't worth it. Plus you really need to get the framing behind it dry as quickly as possible. The entire continuous ceiling should then be painted to match.

The floors may be a bit more difficult as you already have some cupping of the wood. Usually the cupping and warping will get worse before it gets better so don't be suprised over the next day or two if it looks and feels worse. The GC probably wants to wait and see if thats the case or not. If the cupping is very slight it may go back down but it usually takes a few weeks for wood floors to dry out completely after being wet enought to show cupping.

Worst case scenario is the entire floor will have to be resanded and finished, the problem with that is they can't sand flooring with too high of a moisture content or it will buckle again so the damaged area should be pulled and replaced as you are not in a situation to wait a month or longer for it to dry out. You also don't want to put off the floors until after you have moved in because you then have a whole lot of furniture and contents to worry about moving etc.. Plus refinishing floors is dusty and smelly work requiring you to be out of the house for several days once it's done.

Unfortunately you can't sand and refinish just the area and get it to look right. If this was a pantry or small bathroom you may get away with it but not in the middle of the kitchen. It's too bad because if you have to resand it you have just lost some of the useful life of your floor as you can only sand it so many times before it has to be replaced.

Hopefully it turns out not to be too bad and it can easily be repaired but if not hang in there and work through it. The idea of getting a water mitigation company out to take a look is also not a bad idea just for a second opinion. They can use moisture meters to tell you how bad the floors are and if they can dry them or not.

Good luck.

The earlier mention of testing needs clarification. That pressure test is done before any insulation or drywall. No fixtures nor supply stops are installed, the piping is simply capped. The test insures that no leaks will be in areas that will be difficult to access later. In the case cited above, the supply stop was left open and unconnected. I close the stops when installing them. Often some smaller debris gets in the stop outlet opening during the final steps in finishing the house and flushing first keeps the debris out of the toilet fill valve.

Yes, bus_driver, you're right. Now that I remember back, that pressure gauge was on my piping before the drywall went up and the fixtures went in. The only thing that got tested at that step was the pipes going through the walls.

What further testing, if any, *is* done before the water supply is turned on for the first time? It was a very unfortunate occurrence that a fixture connection was simply overlooked.

Reminds me once of when I was changing my own oil on a motorcycle. I poured new oil in the filler tube, and noticed oil running onto the garage floor. I had forgotten to replace the drain plug.

Thanks to all of you for your help. No time right now for individual replies. I have waited all day to update this so I would know more to tell you. This is all I know at this point.

Late yesterday afternoon we had a drywall contractor come out. He "beat around" on the ceiling and went upstairs to check the drywall, flooring and joists in the attic. He said it was dry as a bone with no moisture to be found. My husband also checked to be sure it was completely dry up there and he confirmed that it was. At that point, they repaired and re-mudded the drywall and it is drying as we speak.

Today, my husband met with the hardwood floor contractor. They had a long discussion about what we do at this point. His recommendation was to leave it alone. Give it some time for the cupping to lay back down. At that point, (in 6+ months from now) he will come back and look at it again. If it has "laid back down" at that time he will sand and poly again. He really felt like the cupping would repair itself with time. He and our GC both said they will pull it all out if that is what we want. However, we have to realize that it will take weeks (if not a MONTH) to get back to this point. Cabinetry will have to come out, the wood will have to sit inside the house for a while and then we have to start the process again of sand/stain/poly.

Does this sound reasonable to you? We are in a rock and hard place right now. My husband wants to just move in and wait it out like the hardwood guy recommended. He thinks our GC is honorable and will do whatever it takes to make this right. I, on the other hand, want to do whatever needs to be done to ensure we get the house we've been dreaming about, even if that means waiting. We must be out of this house by the 31st. At that point, we have nowhere else to go. Are we making a huge mistake if we close on Friday and wait and see what the floors will do?

Househappy ,
I am so sorry this has happened to you :( I was discussing the leak in your house with my husband who builds homes for a living (he's the GC for our current home). He suggests that you type or have the contractor type a letter stating the conditions of the repair (in the event the floors arenÂt back to normal). These are my DH words "The letter needs to include tolerances stating "acceptable repair attempts"(e.g. if floor does not lay down ¼" over four months, builder will agree to repair/replace floor by sanding, refinishingÂ..). Everything needs to be documented with photos and vivid descriptions and included in your closing packet as an amendment. The bottom line is just making sure that you are covered before you sign those closing documents regardless of how honorable the builder is." I hope this is helpful. Happy closing
HB

Having not seen the damage it's hard not to go with the hardwood company who has seen it in person. I have not seen very many floors go back down to where it is acceptable but it does happen on rare occasion if the damage is very minor.

I agree you need to get something in writing. If the floor does have to be replaced be aware all of the furniture on the floor will have to be moved out and back again. You will also have to be out of the house for quite a few days while the work is done and the floors refinished. Who is paying for you to have the furniture moved around and for you to stay in a hotel or somewhere else during this process. If cabinets have to come out thats a huge job while you are living there.

Not to sway you in one direction or the other but if you have the contractor willing to make the correction with the flooring and the cabinets now why not take advantage of it? How hard will it be to get him back at a later date to make the fix? And what if he has different subs by then? Will the work be the same? It may be difficult now but not nearly as bad once you are all moved into the house. I guess you have to weigh the chances that the floor will subside and not be noticable.

Why not a second flooring contractor to take a look and gets his thoughts on whether it will or will not go down?

You are in a tight spot, hope all goes well.

househappy, are you sure you don't want another opinion on the floors? I'm certainly no expert, but have been told on more than one occasion that bad cupping cannot be fixed. If it were me, I would want them replaced now. Think of the hassle you will be going through later, with sanding and refinishing while living there! As far as your living situation, store your things, and look for a month to month rental in an apartment complex. If they get started now, there is a great chance, since they have 20 days before your move out date, that you wouldn't have to employ any of the above referenced solutions.

I understand there are other factors, just look at the bigger picture in every way. Delay now, or face moving your family and belongings out once you are settled, just in time for the holidays.

Good luck with this one.

Amy

Well if you do decide to wait I would sign some kind of contract for getting it taken care of along with an escrow account where you withhold payment until it is satisfactorily resolved.

Househappy,
Any updates? I hope that you are satisfied with progress involving the ceiling issue. Hope to hear from you soon.
HB