Extensive water damage and how to move forward with tenants and flooring

[Jeff N.]

I knew the time would eventually come. After 7 years of owning rental property we had our first major issue yesterday. A pipe leaked inside the wall in the washer/dryer room and it wasn't noticed until after it flooded the first floor. Unfortunately the floating vinyl wood floor throughout the first floor warped immediately, along with a lot of baseboard and drywall damage from the water soaking into the walls. Looking at about 5-7K of water remediation and repair of floors/walls depending on the type of replacement flooring.

My first question is concerning the tenants. Looking at about 3 days to dry out the unit and another 3-4 days of repair. The tenants will be able to stay in the unit during repairs, but should I compensate them in any way for the 6-7 days of renovations if they ask?

Also, the unit is an upper medium income unit. What do you recommend putting in for flooring? Due to the income level of tenants in these units I may not be able to pull off a generic vinyl floor. What do you recommend for a durable floor on slab foundation that would be suitable for this income level?

This will also be my first insurance claim. I didn't want to pull the trigger on this, but after paying premiums for 7 years this damage is high enough to justify it.