Financial health: Prevent water damage

I went out of town for 19 consecutive days this summer on a business trip. While I was gone my air conditioning systems drain clogged, causing water to back up in the drain pan. It overflowed, and water then slowly poured into my master bedroom closet below.

By the time I returned home, the walls had mold growing on them. I had to call in a disaster mitigation company to rip out the walls and carpet and put dryers in that would remove all the moisture from the walls and floor.

That bill was about $2,000. A lot of clothes were ruined, and many others had to be professionally dry cleaned. The clothes that were really damaged were worth a few thousand dollars, and my dry cleaning bill was almost $500.

Im now smack dab in the middle of a series of repairs. Do you know how hard it is to get construction people to work on a small job like a closet?

Fortunately my neighbor is both a builder and a wonderful friend, and he has been sending his subcontractors over to take care of me. The insulation people have come and gone. The drywall guys have put up new walls. Im waiting on the painters now. Ive also got to go pick out and order new carpet.

My insurance company is estimating about $3,000 for all that, while I suspect it will be more.

Speaking of my insurance company, I have to give kudos to them. If you were expecting this to be a complaint article, Im sorry to disappoint you. The adjuster got here quickly, wrote a check that day, and he has been super responsive to all my emails. He has been more than fair with me on the loss payment.

All totaled, this is going to end up costing $10,000 or more before its said and done. And my question was what should I have done to prevent it? So Ill share what I have learned with you.

When the repair service came to fix the leaking air conditioner, they discovered there were issues with the drainage. The condensation was supposed to drain from one pan into another, but the duct between the two pans was not draining as it should.

As it turns out, there is actually a safety shut-off that should have cut my air conditioner off when the second pan filled up with water. But, since water never reached that pan, it just simply overflowed.

See the rest here:
Financial health: Prevent water damage