My wife and I did a remodel on our Kitchen and dining area about 2 years ago,: New cabinets, flooring, appliances, granite counter tops, plumbing, electrical, lighting, new sub flooring and it turned out great! Two days ago I noticed a water stain on the outside wall to the kitchen near the refrigerator and crawled under the crawlspace to investigate and was devastated: the ice maker hose valve leaked down into the wall and saturated the entire kitchen / dining room sub flooring.

We have 1-1/2" plywood subflooring over reinforced joists, with a natural stone tile and electrical heating in the floor. The floor contractors installed a paper barrier first, the heated floor matting, wired it, then floated about 3/4" mortar then set the tile over it.

The water leaked over the paper barrier, under the motar and across the kitchen / dining area and exited at the edge of the tiled flooring into the sub flooring. Some of the natural stone tiles cracked, the ServPro people said this happens with water damage. The base boards started peeling away from the walls on their own, they were removed with evidence of minor mold beginning.

We have ServPro here through our insurance company they examined the damage and determined it to be "sudden damage" (very significant to insurance company for coverage), they went under the house and removed all the new damaged batting insulation and put fans under the house to begin drying it out. They removed the Kick panels to our new kitchen cabinets and found mold starting. We were advised there is a $5k cap on mold damage by our insurance company.

We have 4 super-turbo fans and a de-humidifier running 24-7 in the kitchen/dining area.

There is uncertainity about the natural stone tiled flooring and 3/4" mortar with heated matting drying out properly. No one seems to have experience with this exact disaster, and how to dry out the mortar. I suggested we turn on the electric floor heating and let it bake the mortar at 80 - 90 Deg. F

Can anyone shed some light on this disaster, will the tile floor need to be removed to dry it properly?

What about mold damage at the kitchen cabinet / wall interface - we do not have enough mold damage coverage to remove the cabinets with granite counter tops.

My wife and I are grief-stricken, we put out heart and souls into this remodel and some blood too, we are devastated by this calamity.

 

I cant answer all your questions but I can answer some. The water has caused the plywood to expand and thats what has cracked your tiles. If the tiles are cracked, the mortar bed under the tiles has cracked as well. I'm thinking that what you are calling a mortar bed may be self leveling compound or a light weight concrete poured over the mats. Eventually, everything will dry out on its own. I'd not suggest you turn on the heating mats.

I once had some flood damage in my house as well. Man it sucks. I feel real bad for you. I hope everything works out in the end.

 

Thanks for your reply. I am curious why you would not suggest using the heat from the floor heater to help dry the tile and subfooring, is your concern electrical hazard? The heating mats appeared water tight, they were immersed into the wet Thinset when they were installed and they are on a GFI. Thanks.

 

I think Johnny means if you use your heater, it will dry too quickly and cause more cracking.