We own a condominium that incurred water damage when workers were working on the community's main water supply at the pump house. When the water was turned back on, a large air pocket in the lines raised our toilet tank cover enough to knock an aerosol can onto the toilet cover in addition to breaking a glass compote bowl that was knocked off to floor. It was large enough to break the shut-off fixture in our toilet tank causing the water to flow onto our hardwood flooring for 3 days before it was discovered. Approximately 200- 250 square feet of hardwood is now "cupped" even after 160 days of drying out.
Our By-Laws state that the damage must be "repaired and to a condition as good as that existing before the casualty." Nationwide Ins. (the condo associations insurance company) will "repair" the hardwood but will not guarantee that the appearance will be as it was beforehand nor will they rip up the whole floor to ensure it is restored to its prior condition and uniform appearance. The association will not either - stating that it was a defective part that caused the damage and not the air pocket force. My personal property insurance company (State Farm) is supposed to cover what Nationwide won't but has already stated that they will not replace the entire flooring either.
The floor is only 4 years old. It was in beautiful condition before with no scratches or damage to it. We walked around in our socks to keep it in new condition because within 4 months after we moved in here we regretted the move and therefore decided to sell at the first opportunity. Due to circumstances that has not yet happened. However, as soon as the market is better we hope to be able to put it on the market. We don't feel as though we should have to have a flooring that a buyer will notice a "patch job" and ask for a reduction or one that would have bought it if the floor were uniform in appearance. We don't know which direction to go in or who is really responsible for the damages.
Our insurance company, State Farm, along with the Association's Insurance company is suing the manufacturer for a defective part to recover their damages but we will be left with a defective floor that may be less than the condition it was in appearance beforehand.
We have also had to pay the plumbing bill of $300 to fix the toilet of which the insurance companies will not cover because we own the plumbing fixture that broke.
We don't know where to turn. The association is supposed to notify us 24 hrs in advance when they are doing something that will affect the owners - we had 1 hours notice according the message left on our answering machine that we didn't know about until we got home and played it after we discovered the damage. Neither was there a message telling us to check our units after the water was turned back on. (Although we were out-of-state at the time it happened we could have had someone check it for us if we had been properly notified.)
Thanks- sorry the post was so long
Our By-Laws state that the damage must be "repaired and to a condition as good as that existing before the casualty." Nationwide Ins. (the condo associations insurance company) will "repair" the hardwood but will not guarantee that the appearance will be as it was beforehand nor will they rip up the whole floor to ensure it is restored to its prior condition and uniform appearance. The association will not either - stating that it was a defective part that caused the damage and not the air pocket force. My personal property insurance company (State Farm) is supposed to cover what Nationwide won't but has already stated that they will not replace the entire flooring either.
The floor is only 4 years old. It was in beautiful condition before with no scratches or damage to it. We walked around in our socks to keep it in new condition because within 4 months after we moved in here we regretted the move and therefore decided to sell at the first opportunity. Due to circumstances that has not yet happened. However, as soon as the market is better we hope to be able to put it on the market. We don't feel as though we should have to have a flooring that a buyer will notice a "patch job" and ask for a reduction or one that would have bought it if the floor were uniform in appearance. We don't know which direction to go in or who is really responsible for the damages.
Our insurance company, State Farm, along with the Association's Insurance company is suing the manufacturer for a defective part to recover their damages but we will be left with a defective floor that may be less than the condition it was in appearance beforehand.
We have also had to pay the plumbing bill of $300 to fix the toilet of which the insurance companies will not cover because we own the plumbing fixture that broke.
We don't know where to turn. The association is supposed to notify us 24 hrs in advance when they are doing something that will affect the owners - we had 1 hours notice according the message left on our answering machine that we didn't know about until we got home and played it after we discovered the damage. Neither was there a message telling us to check our units after the water was turned back on. (Although we were out-of-state at the time it happened we could have had someone check it for us if we had been properly notified.)
Thanks- sorry the post was so long
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