Water permeates grout, which can bloat your sub floor. Goodness knows hardwood is another nightmare. Even if the top is replaced, make certain the sub floor is examined.

Make SURE to get everything in writing. Your insurance company will give you enough money to get going again and live, without having to sign off.

I learned there's such a thing as a "Named Storm Deductible." What this frequently is, is a deductible that increases if your damage is due to a Named Storm. It can be something awful like it going from, say, $1000 to 10% of the insured value. Granted, after the fact is not the time to deal with this, but for anyone who lives in a dangerous area? Review your policy.

Don't let them undervalue your clothing and shoes. In the fire we had, I was able to produce receipts to show my Justin cowboy boots weren't 'shoes.' In a flood, much is still somewhere around. Take pictures.

I really don't have a lot to offer, but to 2nd beachum into NOT letting yourself be pressured.

Valuable and timely advice. Lots and lots of pictures were taken. Demo is done except for ceramic tile. I think we'll take out the stuff that we want to replace but I'm hoping the new tile can stay on our concrete slab. We're waiting out the drying process, right now, and are temporarily relocated. I won't be rushed, at least, though I want to get my floor plans on here for some help ASAP. I need a distraction from dealing with insurance!

Ooooh Alex, thanks for the reminder about taking photos. You need it before, during and after demo. The demo people broke our countertop and refused to admit it. I'm still fighting to get compensated.

Alex, we had very expensive ceramic tile on our concrete sub floor. The water disintegrated all the mastic that held the tile to the sub floor.

They demo only two rooms and said the rest were dried but when we started to do the flooring, the rest of tiles just lifted up. We then had to pay for demo on the remainder of the entire first floor.

Insurance is about doing as little as possible and paying as little as possible.

Oh man. I really hoped that my pretty tile would be salvageable.

We've taken out everything 4ft and lower, except tile. My studs are still damp enough to register 25% and above on a moisture meter but it's only been a couple of weeks since the water receded and less since we've removed drywall and insulation. I know that the drying process can take quite a while and we're content to wait that out.

Time-stamped photos every step of the way will be a way of life until we've moved in and are settled!

Do you have turbines and fans in the house? We had our downstairs sealed with plastic and multiple fans and machines that sucks the moisture out. They collected the water in the air into our sink and barrels out in the yard. There were hoses connected to tiny holes that lead out to the barrels.

It was amazing how much water was collected daily.

We had these machines going for four weeks or more. I think mitigation was two months including demo.

We have fans but it's been impossible to find available dehumidifiers with the local demand. We'll get them in eventually.