We had a fairly severe leak about a month ago on the gasket of a copper hot water line connection to a master bath faucet. Found it after it had run all day - needless to say, a lot of mess as it ran through master closet, through floor/ceiling to dining room, foyer and pantry below, and through that to the basement. Total time exposed to the hot water could have been anywhere from a couple to 12 hours while we were away at work.
The wood floors are somewhat cupped but improving a bit and I think may be OK w/a sanding down the road. But the thing that really has me annoyed is after a couple weeks, some of the porcelain tiles have started working loose in the bathroom which is all tiled, but I'm sure some water worked its way through hairline cracks into the subfloor. I also know that the cavity between the first floor ceiling and master bathroom floor had water in it to the point that we're replacing that ceiling.
I suspect the builder just put the tiles right onto subfloor - they are a bit thicker than a normal ceramic tile and are level with 3/4" tongue and groove wood floors in an adjacent room, so I don't think a cement backer was used. Tiles are mostly 6x6 w/a few 6x12. I'm wondering if we should be thinking about trying to pull up the loose ones and recementing (particularly if we can find more of the same type or clean them up enough - I have a small pile of spares) which would let us avoid pulling up all trimwork throughout the bath and getting into a much larger scale project if this would likely work as a long-term fix once the floor is dry. Or once this happens, are we better off to just have it all ripped out and replaced on top of hardibacker on top of either current or new subfloor?
The only silver lining I am trying to take out of this is that because our ceiling is going to be ripped out underneath, I have a great opportunity to put in hydronic radiant under the subfloor. But I can't start any of the drywall work until I do the hyronic radiant, and I can't really do that unless I come to a decision on the tile floor.
Not sure what our insurance company will suggest in this case, but figured I'd ask some others w/experience.
The wood floors are somewhat cupped but improving a bit and I think may be OK w/a sanding down the road. But the thing that really has me annoyed is after a couple weeks, some of the porcelain tiles have started working loose in the bathroom which is all tiled, but I'm sure some water worked its way through hairline cracks into the subfloor. I also know that the cavity between the first floor ceiling and master bathroom floor had water in it to the point that we're replacing that ceiling.
I suspect the builder just put the tiles right onto subfloor - they are a bit thicker than a normal ceramic tile and are level with 3/4" tongue and groove wood floors in an adjacent room, so I don't think a cement backer was used. Tiles are mostly 6x6 w/a few 6x12. I'm wondering if we should be thinking about trying to pull up the loose ones and recementing (particularly if we can find more of the same type or clean them up enough - I have a small pile of spares) which would let us avoid pulling up all trimwork throughout the bath and getting into a much larger scale project if this would likely work as a long-term fix once the floor is dry. Or once this happens, are we better off to just have it all ripped out and replaced on top of hardibacker on top of either current or new subfloor?
The only silver lining I am trying to take out of this is that because our ceiling is going to be ripped out underneath, I have a great opportunity to put in hydronic radiant under the subfloor. But I can't start any of the drywall work until I do the hyronic radiant, and I can't really do that unless I come to a decision on the tile floor.
Not sure what our insurance company will suggest in this case, but figured I'd ask some others w/experience.
