Water damage from a ceiling leak

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MikenJen530

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Hey there, my wife and I are new to the forums and we are looking for some help. We have a roof leak that has led to ceiling water damage as well as floor damage in the room below. This is a friends house we are workin on to fix up. She was deployed overseas and she is coming home soon. Her house sitters moved out of state and sent us her house key. They apperantly diddnt house sit as well as they were suppose to and have left our friend in a bad place.

Ok so here are some question we have so far:

1. Do we need to repalce the subfloor as well as anything underneath it?

2. Could the water damage have rotted out the floor compeltely and would we need to replace the entire area of flooring in that room?

Anything that can be sugested would be great.

(will post some more questions in the roof/ceiling section of the forums...so if you have idea for that to please feel free to post there as well)
 
If you can call the insuarance company and file a claim. Best way to go would be a mitigation company. But this is DIY so damn the torpedos!!!

1. You do not need to replace the sub floor. The only instance you will actually need to do this is if the sub floor is actually rotted and soft. Even then you could probably get away with cutting out the rotted section and patching with some Plywood or Advantech.

2. Home Depot sells a Ryobi Moisture Meter. It works just as well and is more user friendly then my $400 Tramex meter that I use on water damage. The Ryobi meter costs about $40. You will need it.

3. Throw a couple of fans and a Dehumidifier in there and let it go. Check your sub floor with the Ryobi meter. You will want between 12% and 15% on the SOFT WOOD SCALE.

4. Any water damage under the sub floor such as the ceiling to the first floor or into a basement would need to addressed also. I would recomend you just rip out any drywall and insulation you come across.
 
Its better to call the public adjuster who will file a claim with the insurance company. He will look at the entire issue and you do not have to get involved in it except for attending the meeting with the insurance company which will be managed by the PA. A Public Adjuster inspects the loss site immediately, analyzes the damages, assembles claim support data, reviews the insured's coverage, determines current replacement costs and exclusively serves the client, not the insurance company. mold south Florida
 
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Turn off the main water line coming into the house to stop the leak from getting worse and weaking the floor above until you can get a plumber to fix the leak. A water leak isn't usually a big deal. Just need to make sure it is allowed to dry out completely before floors, walls, and ceilings are repaired to prevent mold but short term leaks don't usually leave permanent damage. Failure to fix it right away could cause a weak floor and needing drywall and floor joists replaced.
 
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