Floored (Part 2)
If I ever disappear, you will probably find me buried in the hole behind the wall with the plug-in air freshener.
Balboa Lloyds Insurance (their worse than average complaint index can be seen here) has decided not to pay our claim of damages to floors throughout our house. Yes, this is the same insurance company that originally told us that they wouldn’t pay for our windows that were broken in a bad hail storm that hit our neighborhood a couple of years ago. In fact, they didn’t even call them windows. They called them multiple plate insulating units and no, they weren’t covered. (We were later reimbursed for the cost of replacing the windows.)
They sent an engineer to survey our flooring issue. We haven’t seen his final report, but we know from his off-the-cuff comments that the problem was caused by a combination of two problems: a higher than average level of water vapor coming through the foundation and a substandard installation of the ceramic tile. A calcium chloride test revealed that we have water vapor transmission levels of 7.25 lbs. per 1000 ft.² per 24 hours in the kitchen/breakfast area and 7.93 lbs. per 1000 ft.² per 24 hours in my office, which are higher than average and higher than recommended for most flooring systems (tile and hardwood). The root cause for this is still unknown. Our plumbing and irrigation systems were checked and certified as good. Our foundation plans show that there should be an impervious barrier beneath the slab, but it’s integrity (and existence for that matter) is unknown. The engineer suggested that a French drain might artificially lower the water table and alleviate the hydrostatic pressure that was forcing the water vapor through the foundation, but the LCRA has said that they won’t authorize that construction, because of potential issues with our septic drain field. So, the floor will have to be sealed from the top.
The second issue has to do with the tile installation. The engineer suggested that there wasn’t enough expansion space allowed around the floor perimeter and that the tiles expanded until they bound-up against the walls and then popped-up. Blake Ehlers and another flooring contractor which we have consulted over the phone, both suggested that almost certainly the wrong kind of thinset mortar was used.
Since the tiles have already broken away from the floor, Mrs. Pribble and I had decided to save a few bucks and do the demolition ourselves. We had got as far as the breakfast area when three different people stepped forward with very compelling reasons why we shouldn’t do that, not the least of which is to prevent a homicide. The stress level is rather high around our house and we have already had a few snappy…uh, events. There is a very deep hole in the backyard, which we dug as part of the initial investigation into this problem. I got suspicious the other day when Kimberly asked that I fill it back in. I began to imagine standing next to the hole and *Pang!* getting a shovel upside my head.
So, we stopped the demolition and have focused our energy on making a decision about the new floors (we will be installing hardwood throughout the house) and clearing the rooms in preparation for the installers. We will choose a contractor within a week or so and will have new floors hopefully within six to eight weeks after that.
jimmy