Forced kitchen Reno due to Flooding

[Quickstatus]

Story:

Water filter leak. Flooding
Dug up timber flooring (glued on concrete slab)
Pulled up carpets
Skirting boards removed
Kick boards under kitchen cabinets removed

Active drying with industrial fans

Damaged timber floors replaced like for like
Damaged carpeted floors payout and used the payout to put in timber floors


But...
When they tried to reinstall the kitchen kickboards they broke a corner of the bench top granite.
Glued it back but still visible and because its a corner and extends beyond cabinet its not structurally sound.

So getting quotes to replace entire benchtop as the granite is no longer available.

So might as well get the payout for the benchtop replacement and do a whole kitchen reno....

Forced reno but there is no better time

I hate kitchen renos. Its basically an excuse to raid your bank account

 

[cove]

I can get you a B-Hyve flood sensor system that we are putting into our own places. It reports to our mobile phones. Last one i supplied a friend was $176 for the device with 2 sensors. One of ours will have 4 sensors so that will be a bit more.
Our last flood cost more than $10,000 and it took a while to fix.

 

[Quickstatus]

I can get you a B-Hyve flood sensor system

Great minds think alike!!
Ive already bought 10

How often have you replaced the batteries

Insurance claim will top $50K

 

[cove]

Our last flood was $18,000.
Batteries should last way more than 12 months but high temperature may reduce that time.

 

[JohnM]

Interesting and very timely.

I live in a small strata complex.

A couple of years ago, a dishwasher installed amateurishly in one unit caused damage that resulted in a big insurance claim that was granted because of incompetence by the letting agent of that unit approving full plumbing repairs that they were not authorised to approve.

Bottom line: it obscured from the assessor the true cause of the damage. Now the insurance company has rated the whole complex a bad risk and has jacked up or premium by c. 40%. Other insurance companies won't quote because of 'claims history'.

All because one owner did an amateur install of a dishwasher, and the insurance assessor didn't get the full picture, the other owners have copped extra costs in perpetuity.

 

[Quickstatus]

jacked up or premium by c. 40%

yes they will get their money back somehow.
I'll be waiting for my premium to be similarly jacked up.

 

[JohnM]

yes they will get their money back somehow.
I'll be waiting for my premium to be similarly jacked up.

What's p*ssing the other owners off is that we suffer detriment through no fault of our own.

We know that one owner did something dodgy but it's hard to prove now that the repair has been done.

We box on...

 

[Quickstatus]

it obscured from the assessor the true cause of the damage

the repair obscured?

 

[JohnM]

the repair obscured?

Yes.

What happened was the letting agent for that unit called out a plumber in response to an SOS from the tenant. What the plumber discovered was an improperly installed waste pipe from the dishwasher had been draining waste under the kitchen cupboards behind the kickboards for some time (months probably).

Instead of just telling the plumber to isolate the dishwasher pending insurance assessment, the letting agent authorised full repairs of the plumbing.

Subsequently, when the assessor attended and found that the kitchen cabinets were all basically stuffed, he did not see exactly what had caused it because the plumbing was then up to spec.

According to the insurance company's Ts&Cs, nobody but them can authorise repairs outside of emergency isolation of the issue. The unauthorised approval for repairs (as opposed to isolating the cause) is what we are trying to take up with the insurance company.

But, of course, they are not following their own well-defined rules...

The other owners contend that the owner of the unit should be responsible and that the kitchen should not have been essentially replaced by insurance.

 

[zig]

I had a flooding incident last September which caused havoc and increased insurance premiums etc. Due to COVID there were delays and I still haven't had the carpet replaced - this is finally due to happen on Monday (fingers crossed).
I am intrigued by the flood sensors and will definitely look at getting some for peace of mind. My flood occurred in a bathroom in part of the house that I don't use regularly, so I didn't spot the leaking for days - you can imagine the mess by that stage. A sensor would certainly give peace of mind.

 

[cove]

We have been installing Orbit B-Hyve flood sensors in our family homes. They are as easy to instal as Orbit B-hyve irrigation controllers and tap timers for garden watering.
I have an app on my phone that reports if a sensor about the size of a twenty cent piece gets wet.
The best thing to do first is to replace all your non reinforced hoses to dishwashers, washing machines and fridges. Most appliances have sub standard hoses that will fail inside a decade.
Water flooding your home is expensive and time consuming to fix.

 

[Denali]

I have a Orbit motion sensor sprayer (shipped from US) and very impressed with the quality of the materials used. Thankfully, or sadly, no more attempted car break ins because it scared them off . The flood thing sounds interesting

 

[zig]

We have been installing Orbit B-Hyve flood sensors in our family homes. They are as easy to instal as Orbit B-hyve irrigation controllers and tap timers for garden watering.
I have an app on my phone that reports if a sensor about the size of a twenty cent piece gets wet.
The best thing to do first is to replace all your non reinforced hoses to dishwashers, washing machines and fridges. Most appliances have sub standard hoses that will fail inside a decade.
Water flooding your home is expensive and time consuming to fix.

Thanks for the tip - I will check the hoses out.

 

[RooFlyer]

My flood and Insurance story.

two years ago I returned home on a Sunday evening to find a pipe in the toilet had burst and flooded about 1 1/2 rooms with about 1 cm of water. Reported to the insurance company who sent an assessor out a few days later.

Carpet in one room and skirting boards all obviously write offs and would be replaced. They also noticed water marks ( 1cm) on the feet of pieces of high-quality Blackwood furniture I have. Several bookcases, a large wall unit, a chiffonier, and coffee table.

I thought then it’s going to be a real PITA to get the water marks sanded off etc for those five pieces which are quite large and bulky. Absolutely amazed then, when the insurance company told me that they were going to write off all the Blackwood furniture and I should get quotes for their replacement. $25 k was the answer. But I was even more amazed when I asked how they were going to arrange to pick up and take away the written-off furniture. Answer was that they weren’t going to do that. As they had written the pieces off, they didn’t care what happened to them afterwards. So they’re still standing where they were with some trivial water marks on the base of their feet, not noticeable to anyone.

 

[VPS]

I can get you a B-Hyve flood sensor system that we are putting into our own places. It reports to our mobile phones. Last one i supplied a friend was $176 for the device with 2 sensors. One of ours will have 4 sensors so that will be a bit more.
Our last flood cost more than $10,000 and it took a while to fix.

Great minds think alike!!
Ive already bought 10

How often have you replaced the batteries

Insurance claim will top $50K

I've been looking at these - I can see these on Amazon Orbit 71005 B-hyve Flood Sensor 5-Piece Extension Pack, Neutral: Amazon.com.au: Lawn & Garden but they don't appear to sell the hub

Where did you get yours from

 

[zig]

I've been looking at these - I can see these on Amazon Orbit 71005 B-hyve Flood Sensor 5-Piece Extension Pack, Neutral: Amazon.com.au: Lawn & Garden but they don't appear to sell the hub

Where did you get yours from

It is available on Amazon, I can’t post link at the minute - $51.

 

[Carrots]

My flood and Insurance story.

two years ago I returned home on a Sunday evening to find a pipe in the toilet had burst and flooded about 1 1/2 rooms with about 1 cm of water. Reported to the insurance company who sent an assessor out a few days later.

Carpet in one room and skirting boards all obviously write offs and would be replaced. They also noticed water marks ( 1cm) on the feet of pieces of high-quality Blackwood furniture I have. Several bookcases, a large wall unit, a chiffonier, and coffee table.

I thought then it’s going to be a real PITA to get the water marks sanded off etc for those five pieces which are quite large and bulky. Absolutely amazed then, when the insurance company told me that they were going to write off all the Blackwood furniture and I should get quotes for their replacement. $25 k was the answer. But I was even more amazed when I asked how they were going to arrange to pick up and take away the written-off furniture. Answer was that they weren’t going to do that. As they had written the pieces off, they didn’t care what happened to them afterwards. So they’re still standing where they were with some trivial water marks on the base of their feet, not noticeable to anyone.

And there in is the issue with the industry and why claims costs are spiraling out control, and by extension, premiums increasing.

(and that is definitely no negative comment towards you!)

 

[VPS]

It is available on Amazon, I can’t post link at the minute - $51.

would appreciate the link when you can - thanks

 

[zig]

would appreciate the link when you can - thanks

This is what I saw when I was browsing, now not sure if it is the correct hub ??
ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1

 

[VPS]

This is what I saw when I was browsing, now not sure if it is the correct hub ??
ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1

thanks - that says it is 21006 and the link I had says you need 21008 - I'll do some more googling