How to charge for water-damaged Pergo laminate flooring

[Wesley W.]

Hey BP!

Here's one for you.  Tenants moved out and there is water damage to several planks of the Pergo laminate floor that was newly installed just before they moved in 3 years ago.  The seams between the planks have swollen, and I know from experience that this will dramatically shorten the usuable lifespan of the floor, as the corners will soon begin to delaminate and chip.   Obviously, tenants are responsible for this damage and will be billed accordingly.

Here are some dynamics that are making my accounting of a charge a bit challenging.

(1)  For those not familiar with these products, replacing damaged planks requires the removal of all the courses of flooring from the nearest parallel wall.  This is very labor intensive.

(2)  The particular color of the floor is no longer available, even from third party vendors.  So, even if I wanted to replace the planks, the preceding prohibts that as an option.

My position is that this damage has dramatically shortened the life of this new floor.  I do not think it is reasonable to charge them for an entirely new floor in this area (about 375 sq ft.) and I am sure a NY judge would throw up all over that attempt, but on the same token I am concerned if I charge for the damage, but "don't have the work done", a judge will say it's betterment and will deny the charge.

My questions:

(A)  How would I arrive at an equitable charge for this damage that will cause for flooring to prematurely fail?

(B)  How would I navigate the tenant-friendly court proceeding that will almoist certainly follow, given that the damaged planks will not be replaced?

I know for other items, judges typically pro-rae the value based on the remaining life expectancy of the appliance/improvement, but in this case it seems that would be a bit complex.  I have not had to deal with this situation in my tenure, but I am sure some of you have, so I would really appreciate the guidance.

[Wesley W.]

Thanks to @Nathan Gesner @JD Martin for the formulae for the bill back.

And yes, I agree with you JD - I've also switched over to vinyl for exactly the reasons you state, but this unit was at the tail end of the "Pergo era."

@Bill B. I'm in NY (maybe only NYers know it as The Vampire State,a play on it's traditional moniker), so there are legislative hurdles to what you all are suggesting.  We only have 14 days to return the security deposit, so it's difficult to line up the trades to get estimates on this kind of work in that amount of time.  I can assure you the dearth of the work force everyone is experiencing is an order of magnitude higher here.

The materials would be about $100, so the labor would put this particular repair in the "going to take my landlord to court" level.  Given there are other repairs to charge back, I've resigned myself that I'll be explaining this to a judge at some point, which is why I came here for feedback on the charge.

I think I've got the game plan now.  I appreciate everyone's input.