Home is where the...DAD, the toilet exploded!

[CraigSca]

Ok, hitting Team FOFC for home repair advice.

So yeah. I'm in my home office, minding my own business, when my 16 year old is heard screaming from the other room. In a panic, "I'm yelling are you ok?!", thinking someone horrible is either happening or happening. Eventually, he's able to get out, "Dad, the toilet exploded!"

I run into the bathroom and see water "exploding" out from the wall. The PVC pipe that poked out from the wall is severed (with the valve staring at me helplessly, unable to provide any service at this time).

I run downstairs to "quickly" turn off the water. Run back upstairs and there is water everywhere. Fortunately, it's tile flooring in the bathroom, and it's "clean" water. So, I begin the brigade of towels to start cleaning up the place. There was only slight spillover (about a foot on one end and two feet on the opposite end) into the bedrooms, so I have fans on to attempt to dry them.

The bad part is the actual breakage of the PVC was slightly inside the drywall, meaning that while water was exploding out into the bathroom, some was also leaking behind the drywall. I immediately took an air pump we have to blow up air beds and stuck the nozzle into the drywall, hoping to dry out whatever happened back there.

I head downstairs and I do see SOME evidence of moisture on the ceiling (see attached - you can clearly see the beams in the ceiling and moisture around it).

Plumber will be coming later today to fix the pipe, so we can turn the water back on.

My question is - how do I know if I need to call my insurance company? I have a large deductible, so I don't really care about that. My concern is the possible moisture/mold in the walls.

Is this a case of always call insurance, or only call your agent when...?

[CraigSca]

Pic

[CraigSca]

Scene of the crime

[stevew]

Drywall is generally pretty resilient stuff. If it's squishy I'd be concerned. I'd dry it out as good as you can and monitor the situation.

[JPhillips]

When you say high deductible, what do you mean?

And kudos on the picture. The toilet brush makes it authentic!

[CraigSca]

Ha, thanks JPhillips. I think the deductible on the policy is $1k.

FWIW, the drywall around the broken pipe was still difficult to cut through. Shouldn't I be worried about insulation in between the floors getting wet (or isn't there any - perhaps not)?

As an additional "oh crap", I ran out to the garage and there was a steady dripping of water from one of the light fixtures on the ceiling. It stopped almost immediately, but it was there, and that's not really near where the ceiling damage is showing itself .

[CraigSca]

Actually, the garage is on the opposite side of the wall on the first pic, so it's not too far way.

[JPhillips]

I'd bring in someone to do a real look and decide about insurance after an initial estimate. I'm cautious enough that I would definitely want an expert to take a look.

Do you have a contractor friend that could take a quick look?

[CraigSca]

Hmm...not really. Do you think the plumber would be able to gauge if i needed to call someone?

[britrock88]

Awaiting Lathum...?

[Scarecrow]

NOTE: I am not an insurance agent, nor do I play one on TV

If I remember right from my days working at a water restoration/mold remediation company, general homeowners insurance does not cover water damage, and you have to carry a supplemental policy.

NOTE: I am not a water restoration expert, nor do I play one on TV

My suggestion would be to reach up and press against the water damage on the ceiling. if it gives, you will probably should replace the drywall. If it doesn't, then take a shop vac in the wall opening from pic 3 to get any standing water, and rent a couple of high speed blowers (like the ones they use to blow up inflatables) to dry the ceiling. I think that the time you're safe until mold starts is 24-36 hours.

PS: if mold does appear, do not use regular bleach on it. The stuff you buy at the store is 95% water and you'll just be feeding the mold.

[cartman]

at least it wasn't like this:

[PilotMan]

I'm going to vote for only call your agent when.... It's possible that stuff is wet back there but if you don't have an active leak for a long, long time then it's probably going to dry out on it's own and be just fine. Especially if it's not humid and hot where you are.

Eventually you'll talk to someone who wants to tell you that walls need to torn out and insulation removed and replaced, but from your pic of the ceiling I'd say that the dry wall will end up being just fine. It doesn't look like it's in any danger of falling in or anything like that. You are super lucky you are home and could catch it right away. That's a nightmare situation if I've ever seen one.

[RainMaker]

Dehumidifier and some fans and you should be fine. Key is to dry it out in the next day or two. Check for issues with the integrity of the drywall that's been damaged and replace if it's squishy. Otherwise it'll probably just require some paint when all is said and done.

[Castlerock]

A few years ago I had an upstairs neighbor's pipe burst. I woke up to the sound of rain. Then after a few minutes it dawned on me: "Rain? It's winter and it's 15 degrees out." The rain I heard was water raining out of the ceiling in the kitchen and living room. This was a lot of water.

Dried everything up and monitored it. The only damage I had was the hardwood floors started cupping. And the floors flattened out after a few days. I didn't even need to repaint the ceiling.

So, be on the lookout for anything but don't freak out yet. Granted this was a 200+ year old brownstone so it didn't have sheetrock but I was amazed that after drying, it was unnoticeable. And no signs of any mold.

[CraigSca]

Live in Florida. Currently raining now. High of 88 today. Ha.

I guess we should turn on the AC?

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

You are super lucky you are home and could catch it right away. That's a nightmare situation if I've ever seen one.

I was thinking the same thing until my son told me how it happened. He was going to the bathroom with his laptop, laptop case, a book and his phone (Good Lord, you'd think he was preparing for an 8 hour layover at O'Hare) and he accidentally pushed on his laptop case (which was gently sitting on the back of the toilet). The laptop case fell behind the toilet, landing on the valve, cracking the PVC.

Can't people just take a crap without 24/7 entertainment?

[CU Tiger]

Im no mold expert but...if it were me Id go downstairs where the ceiling damage is and cut a small access hole. May 6" x 6".

You are going to need drywall repair in the bathroom so the drywall guy can do both at same time for likely little to no extra.

Then id get some air flowing through there. Opening the ceiling will give a draft through to remove the air.

You can also get some dry out bags from any sporting goods store that sells firearms and safes. They will suck moisture out. Or if it was a LOT of water you could rent a dehumidifier.

IME 50/50 on insulation being between the floors.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Awaiting Lathum...?

Sadly I only handle cars.

That being said I agree with others that you should get an estimate then make your decision from there.

Then ground your son for weeks.

[MizzouCowboy]

First off, this would be a covered loss with the exception of the broken water line. For some reason insurance will not cover the broken pipe. Assuming this is at least a standard HO policy and not a DP (dwelling policy).

From the pictures provided, it would be questionable if this would exceed your deductible. For the bathroom I'd estimate it as a "Patch drywall", which would cover an area of 2'x2', remove/replace trim, paint walls, trim. Maybe a remove and reset contents from room. You might check for any water damage to the bottom of the cabinets, pretty doubtful since you caught it immediately.

Depending on how wet the carpets are, at most I'd just lift them and have an air mover blow under them for a day or two, then reattach the carpets.

Kinda doubt the ceiling is insulated, the only way of knowing would be an invasive inspection (cutting a hole in the ceiling). Might be possible to remove the light and peek in there also.

The downstairs could be tricky, but the water appears to be held within 2 or 3 ceiling/floor joists. Without checking the water content of the drywall (using a moisture meter) it's impossible to know where exactly the water went. Drywall naturally holds moisture at around 10% to 14%, depending on where you live/time of year. If it got to the wall it could dampen the insulation, depending on type of insulation (batt/blown/foam) it would need replaced. A lot of times a tell tale sign of water going down a wall is the paint will separate from the drywall and blister out. I've actually popped these before and water drains from the blisters, pretty crazy looking.

Anyways, the downstairs looks like a simple remove/replace a 4x8 sheet of drywall, texture, may have to remove and replace the crown, and paint the walls. Paint...hmm, is the room enclosed? I've had to estimate to paint several thousand square feet of ceiling for a little water spot.

I'd say it will be over your deductible after thinking about it, but not really sure if it is worth it in the long run.

[TroyF]

This is my industry. Finally get to talk about it a little bit.

You have a few concerns. I'll hit on what some of the others have said first:

1) Drywall is very resilient. . . the first time it gets wet. If it happens a second time, it's toast.

2) Mold usually takes 72 hours to form and does best in warm conditions. (If you would have said this was a hot water pipe, I'd end the post here and just tell you to call your insurance company)

3) Insurance usually covers a sudden loss. . . but the coverage for mold is very rare. In other words, the quicker you get somebody out, the more likely it is covered. You can talk to a rep on the phone and they will give you the information.

4) As the post above me stated, paint is a huge concern here. If you have to paint a ton, it can get pricey. If water ran down, the paint will bubble and will be ruined. It will also hold moisture.

5) How old is your house? Before '82 or so and there will be an asbestos test before any company will cut the drywall. (depending on how many samples taken, that would run 400 to 800 dollars. If positive, it gets abated which has a cost associated as well.


Whatever you decide to do, act quickly. Water doesn't get "cleaner" A CAT 1 water loss turns into a CAT 2 water loss in 72 hours. CAT 2 losses require more demo and cost more on average than a CAT 1 loss.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by TroyF

3) Insurance usually covers a sudden loss. . . but the coverage for mold is very rare. In other words, the quicker you get somebody out, the more likely it is covered. You can talk to a rep on the phone and they will give you the information.

Agreed - I did this when we had a much smaller leak in my bathroom. I had insurance out to look at itbefore we had any work done (the handful of people we had out to look at it all agreed that this was the right thing to do) just so they were involved in case we discovered a lot more once we started ripping things out. We ended up not having very much actual damage anywhere, but at least we were covered if something did turn up. Insurance couldn't blame the work or anything else. Since there did not end up being a claim, it did nothing to our insurance. Plus the rep had some experience and was able to give some advice outside of folks wanting to do work.