This is where I last left the update after the flood, without a kitchen or floors. Dealing with the aftermath of a home flood has been an exercise in patience (which is not one of my virtues). It took a month for even an appointment with an insurance adjuster and then another 2 weeks to before we received the quote and a check. The amount from the insurance was 1/3 less than expected. After talking privately to many of you who have been in this same situation with home owner’s insurance, I discovered that this unfortunately seems to be the norm. 
To say things have been a bit chaotic would be an understatement. The first floor has been a hot mess. The kitchen base cabinets are residing in kitchen dining area. The kitchen table and chairs are in my office. All the kitchen cabinet contents are piled in the dining room. And there are massive slabs of broken quartz countertops, weighing 600+lbs, resting along walls in my family room and in the music room.
This wasn’t exactly the fall home tour I had in mind. And for that I thank you for your patience. 😉
Hubs was able to hook up the oven again and he bought a utility sink and intalled that in the kitchen. Yay! This meant we could cook once again and no more washing dishes in the tiny powder room!
If you have never refinished hardwood flooring, you need to understand something first. Unless there is a natural break in the flooring between rooms (like where a tile floor meets a wood floor) then the entire wood floor has to be refinished. Because our wood floors flow from room to room, and we wanted to replace the carpet with wood then this meant every floor (bathroom, closets, pantry, etc) needed to be refinished. When floors are being refinished you have to remove every item from them…. ie: Time to move out!
Now came the time for ALL of it to be packed up and moved out into the garage, a 16 ft. POD and our upstairs. I hate moving. We have moved so often over the years and it never gets easier or less unenjoyable. We moved 75% of everything ourselves and then called in the pros to do the rest. My biggest concern was for the baby grand piano. It has been in my family since childhood and is over 120 years old. Thankfully Triumph Moving and Storage came to my rescue with only 24 hours notice! They carefully wrapped the piano and all our large furniture pieces and moved them safely into the POD. 
Preparing and Installing Hardwood Floors
The one good thing about having to move everything out in preparation for repairing and refinishing the hardwood floors is that it forced me to purge and donate items we weren’t using. Once everything on the first floor was moved out (and I mean everything…. window treatments artwork even), then the white oak hardwood could arrive!
Our flooring professionals at Nu-Tech Flooring, removed all the old and damaged family room carpeting, carpet tacks, and existing shoe moldings on the 1st floor. Hardwood needs to aclimate for about a week inside your home. The wood is kiln dried and has a very low moisture content. There needs to be less than a 4% difference in moisture readings between the subflooring and the new hardwood before it can be installed, otherwise buckling can occur. Our flooring contractor Steve Herrit was very particular and took moisture readings each day until it was safe to lay the flooring.
The kitchen floors and areas around the two back doors which lead to the deck were installed with pre-sealed white oak. This oak is pre-sealed on all 6 sides at the factory. The pre-sealed wood helps prevent any warping or buckling in the event of a minor flood again in the future (someone knock on wood for me please!). The rest of the flooring in the family room was un-sealed 2-1/4″ x 3/4″ solid white oak.
Below is a picture of the two types of treated wood. Do you see the sheen/reflection on the end joint of the left piece of wood? That is the sealant. This pre-sealed wood does cost a bit more per square foot, but it is a miniscule amount and worth every penny. Both types need to be sanded after installation before staining, so don’t let the darker appearance dissuade you. Once it is sanded you won’t be able to visibly tell which is pre-sealed and which isn’t.
(PS- feel free to pin this photo below for future reference)
Our kitchen floors were ripped out because of the water damage. The new flooring needed to be “feathered in”. The flooring installers need to carefully remove select boards in a random pattern so that the new boards will look perfectly blended. This is a job that should be left to the pros and not the average DIY-er (even I know my limits).
This process is moving fast and I’m excited to share what is coming next!
Are you on Instagram? I’d love for you to follow along with me if you are! I often share instant sneak peeks of what I’m working on exclusively with my Instagram friends. 😉
Stain color exploration is coming next…. oh my… there are so many choices. Stay tuned!
KIM
I wrote to you when this first happened and your story has become mine. During the refinishing time (to have all the floors match) we moved to a motel for a week. Our insurance may have paid more than yours, but about 2 years later, a pipe leaked in a bathroom causing damage in that bathroom plus the bathroom next door. After that, our insurance company wanted to drop us. After much conversation and support from our local agent, the home company agreed to take us but hiked our premium much higher indefinitely. If anything ever happens in our house again, we may really lose our insurance this time. We even had all remaining pipes changed from copper to the newer piping to avoid any more leaks. Who knew that over time, most copper piping gets pinhead size leaks? So far it has now been 7 years and there have been no more problems! Best of luck.
Kim,
I am so glad to see that you are surviving the flood and the end is in sight! Just think of how beautiful everything is going to look for the holidays!! 🙂 I hope you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and get excited for the future again!!
Jenny
Oh, I am so sorry you have to go through this. Remodeling is hell, but when you decide to do it, it’s your decision. When something like this happens, it’s forcing your hand. Not nearly as fun.
I’m glad your contractor is monitoring the moisture content of the subfloors. This is very important for resilient flooring, tile, and glue down carpet, as well, as the adhesives are now water soluble. Nothing like walking into a new elementary school classroom and seeing a sea of warped and broken vinyl or ceramic tiles.
Good luck to you – remember that “this, too, shall pass”.
So sorry for your flooding trouble. Same thing happened to my bestie. Her whole home HAD original oak floors.Her Calif home is over 50 years old. When the flood happened it was HOT water. Soaking up the walls.
She was very diligent and had to fight for every single penny. Even when they broke the granite and cabinets. But in the end, 1 year later, she is finally done. And her floors are beautiful again. Oh and a week later a person rear ended her and her car was totaled!! Be Careful!
Is this the Ten Oaks presealed white oak flooring? We really want hardwood flooring on our first floor, especially in the kitchen, and I love that it has the seal to protect it from damage. If it is, would you mind sharing the price per square foot? I cannot find the information online and I have to make sure we stay on budget 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Ally! I’m not sure what the exact brand of the pre-sealed oak was but it was a completely factory pre-sealed wood that they used. We only used it in the kitchen area where the flooring had to be ripped out and replaced, and it only added an additional $180 to our bill. Giving you a price per square foot is difficult because we added all new oak in the familyroom which was previously carpet and then all new wood in the kitchen and then had to refinish the entire 1st level. I’d recommend the pre-sealed wood for the kitchen area for sure though. Hope that helps! ~ KIM