burst pipe causes wet carpet...

W

wanna_b_rich12

so i was drilling into the slab yesterday (public holiday) to install a false ceiling and i drilled into a cold water pipe.. oops... being a public holiday the plumbers bills was quite hefty... $1444 to be exact. Now i am living in the unit but renting half the unit to a friend who is paying normal market rates..

my questions are..

1. can i claim any of the repair bill? aka new carpet and plumbing expenses?
2. The carpet got soaked, i have pulled up the carpet, taken out the underlay and hired a cold-air blower to blow the carpet dry.. will the underlay and carpet be salvagable? is it as simple as just getting a hammer and hitting it back down onto the nails that were holding it?

thanx
 
1) Insurance, hopefully you are covered.
2) You probably did more damage pulling it up than if you had left it. A wet vac hired to suck out the water and a couple heaters in the room would probably been a better option.
The carpet layers use the excess material along one side to pull it tight. I could be wrong but I doubt they would be able to get it 100% again.
 
As already mentioned check with your insurance to see if you have coverage for your negligence and what is covered. Also go and check with the strata to see if there is any cover there. They may be able to claim it under a burst pipe (you never know)

As far as relaying the carpet in all likelyhood you can reuse the underlay but it will depend on how long its exposed to light and also what type of underlay it is. Underlay is designed to break down that's why it's supplied in black plastic bags and the longer its exposed to light the weaker it will get.

You would be best to get a carpet layer to relay the carpet as they will need to stretch the carpet (a bit like ironing) so that it looks good again. You can not just lay down the carpet as you will find that the little nails on the smooth edge ( the wood with all the nails) are actually not straight up and down but angled towards the wall. Actually designed to have the carpet slide towards the wall and then grab unto the nails.

Youtube example of how carpet is layed and stretched onto the smoothedge. Good example at 2.22

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfhv9GsRKi8

Regards
 
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