How much standing water did you have in your yard? Other than breeding mosquitoes, I wouldn't worry about standing water in my neighbors yard, better theirs than yours . . . however, if you have drainage issues on your property, that's dependent on slope. I can't tell the slope, but from a casual glance, it looks like your yard is the higher ground so drains into theirs. I wouldn't plant a rose garden in an area of standing water. I'd either do a rain garden or a french drain, as some have suggested. Then plant the rose garden outside of that zone. The rain garden and/or french drain will hold and slowly release the water so they will take care of that part, leaving another higher ground area for the roses . . . Roses like moist conditions so if it's just occasionally for a few hours after a rain maybe not a big issue if the roses are the right kind. I love me some "Rosa palustris" which is the native swamp rose, it would do fine there, it is a stunning bloomer but not repeat. But of course roses hate dampness, so if the water is there for any length of time it's not going to work for other roses. Figure out a way to drain it away first, then deal with the roses part . . .

Brad I am glad that you are okay and oh my what a handful of things you are having to deal with. I, too, hope Nancy is okay.. There have been so many terrible storms. The electric people should be back soon. for your tree. They are so busy right now. Monday night they were clocking winds at 81mph and warning they were coming this direction, but we were blessed and they went just north of us, so many trees and lines came down and people are are still having to deal with the weather with no power. I am sorry about the Cicadas too. They are another thing to bother right now with all the storms and I am glad you at least have the hope of blooms soon. kay

You need to write a professional - but firm - email to the person who has been assigned to handle your claim requesting answers regarding your questions related to the restoration of the damage in your home. I have a question for you. I know two people who had water damage in their house which affected their wood flooring. The first was a dishwasher leak that occurred when my friend was out of town (I believe he started the dishwasher as he was leaving to go out of town for work - which he did every week). He came home four days later and discovered what had happened. His basement was unfinished which helped limit the amount of $$$ related to water damage. My other friend had a similar event like you did - a toilet overflowed - and they were out of town for the next week. It leaked down into the foyer + went into two bedrooms + part of the upstairs hallway. Different insurance companies were involved for the two claims - however, both insurance companies included replacement (or restoration if possible) for all continuous (uninterrupted) flooring. My one friend had carpet in a family room that separated his kitchen from his foyer - however, he argued that it would look odd for all of the wood floors on the first floor to be refinished - except for the foyer. The insurance company paid to have the wood floors in the foyer refinished to match the rest of the hardwood floors. My second friend had engineered wood floors that were 4-5 years old. They couldn't be refinished + the same engineered wood flooring was no longer available. She was allowed to select a new engineered wood floor to use for all areas contiguous to damaged areas. She basically was able to select a new engineered wood floor for her entire house. So, if your bedroom flooring is contiguous to the hallway - and if you cannot purchase engineered hardwood that matches your current flooring, I would assume that the insurance company should be responsible for replacing all floors that are contiguous. I assume that your existing engineered wood flooring is no longer available (engineered wood flooring is constantly being discontinued + new colors/sizes are added). Based upon the posts on here where people are trying to find a few boxes of matching engineered wood flooring, it seems like it's unlikely yours is still being sold.

Floods are no fun! We are 16 months into one on our home. Mainly it has consisted of arguing with insurance, what a nightmare! So sorry youre going through this. No need to change your wall colors, they are lovely. As far as floors , go with a medium toned wood. Not dark but not light. Do not choose a gray finish or a blonde finish. Just a warm medium toned brown. You will get the best longevity out of a classic color like this. Most finishes have aluminum oxide in them now which makes them durable, but check. Also make sure you're choosing a floor that has a thick wear layer so it can be refinished if needed . Preferrably a 3x wear layer. As far as the wood species goes it simply depends on how much movement you want in the grain. If you want knots etc. I would make sure NOT to get beveled edges on your planks as those can be hard to clean and catch pet hair and dust etc. Anything white oak or above on the Jenka scale is going to be pretty hearty. Many of these are exotic woods which naturally have a lot of red in them so likely not what you would want and some like Hickory have a lot of movement in the wood pattern which some love and others don't. On that same note many of these will naturally darken over time. I use white oak a lot for its durability, consitancy and ability to be changed easily depending on stain color.