Water Damage Repair Claim - Strip Out & Refurbishment of Entire Flat
As water damage restoration specialists, we were asked to help a couple who claiming for significant water damage. The flat had extensive damage after a leak from a bath waste trap tracked into every room in the flat. It soaked the concrete floor, skirting and tracked up the walls. The water even made its way out in to the communal area of the block of flats.
In order for the property to be stripped out and dried, we arranged alternative accommodation for the couple to stay in for the duration of the works. All their furniture and personal belongings also had to be moved with them due to the scale of the repairs.
Stripping out the property
The strip out and prep work involved:
- removing the flooring, skirting and architrave in every room
- disposing of 4 custom cupboards in hallway and bedrooms
- stripping off the wallpaper in all rooms
- hacking off the plaster in all affected areas
- sanitising all areas the water had tracked to (as it was waste water known as 'grey water' from a bath trap)
- applying a salt neuatraliser to the walls prior to re-plastering and decorating
Drying the property
Once all damaged materials that were beyond economical repair were removed, we installed our industrial air movers and dehumidifiers to dry the saturated walls and floors. Weekly visits were made to the property to check the progress of the drying and ensure the equipment was being used to best effect. The moisture content in the walls were measured with our Protimeter and our Tramex was used on the concrete floors.
Re-instating the flat
After approximately 6 weeks, the property was dry and the following re-reinstatement was carried out:
- all rooms and communal areas were re-plastered and painted
- new screed was poured in all rooms that were having new laminate flooring and tiles laid
- a new damp proof membrane, underlay & laminate flooring were laid
- new skirting and architrave fitted and painted in every room
- new floor tiles and mosaic splash back in kitchen
- 4 new custom wardrobes fitted
- complete bathroom refurb - new porcelain floor and wall tiles fitted & new bathroom suite
Once this was complete, we moved the customer and her contents back in to a completely refurbished flat.
Water damaged plaster wall in hallway contaminated with salts
Water tracked up walls to causing the wallpaper to bubble.
Water damaged bathroom.
Water damaged walls in the communal area. Paint flaking due to water tracking up the wall.
Salts visible on the surface of the plaster.
In the process of stripping the wallpaper in the living room (shows the extent of water damage to walls.)
Floor protection not required due to floor also being replaced.
Laminate flooring, underlay and damp proof sheeting lifted to show saturated concrete floor - which required approx 6 weeks to dry out.
Ceramic tiles being removed in the kitchen. Strip out stopped as suspected asbestos in the Marley tiles and bitumen sub-floor. After testing them both, the bitumen was found to contain Asbestos. We arranged to have the cermaic tiles, marley tiles and all of the bitumen adhesive safely removed by a HSE specialist contractor. This allowed us to tile onto the concrete sub floor.
Salts also visible on plaster walls once the wallpaper was removed.
Plaster hacked off all effected walls throughout the flat to 1.2m (to avoid any contamination by salts in the new plaster).
Air movers and dehumidifiers were installed throughout the property to dry the walls and floors.
Once the property was dried out, self leveling floor screed was poured in several room to allow for a even surface to relay new laminate flooring.
Complete BAL system used for tiling. Primer, Render, Adhesive & Grout.
Excellent product with a 25 year guarantee.
Completed living room with freshly plastered & painted walls. New laminate flooring & skirting too.
Hallway freshly plastered & painted wall. New laminate flooring & skirting & new wardrobes also fitted.
Completed bathroom refurbishment - new suite, new porcelain wall and floor tiles.
Kitchen with newly plastered & painted walls as well as new floor tiles, mosaic tiled splash back and skirting.
Comments
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Im in a strata title in Perth, Western Australia, and I've had this problem surrounding my bathroom, so up the joining walls in hallway and bedroom. Since then, I've had the bathroom fully renovated, thought that would solve the problem, but no! And Strata Insurance wont cover this. Not sure where to start and am probably too scared to start the process!
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Hi Michelle, Insurance companies can reject claims for a number of reasons, not all of them valid reasons. You say you replaced the bathroom but it didn't solve the problem, was the property dried out properly before it was renovated? Did you find the cause of the initial leak? What exactly was the insurance company's reason for rejecting the claim?
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Water leaks are a very common issue in most flats. The water enters the apartments below the affected one most of the time, which causes a bigger problem. Material losses on the things aren't insured, and the floor and walls getting deteriorated are expensive to fix unless the company which takes care of the reparations agrees to a lower price/discount. Most of the time, the repairing steps are the same. The primary steps are removing the floor and then drying the water from the apartment. The average time of fixing the apartment is around 5-6 weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
what caused the water damage?
Where did you get the bathroom sink/shelf unit
Did you have a problem with mold? If mold was present, how did you address it?