New Tenants & We Already Have a Water Issue

[Cassandra Sifford]

So today me and my maintenance guy come over to cut the grass and change out the thermostat and to our surprise there's all this water on the new vinyl plank flooring in the dining room. The eldest daughter, 14yo, stated that the youngest had spilled some water. I notified the tenant of the incident as she was at work. I later get a call from her saying that it was alot of water coming from the laundry/HVAC room going into the kitchen and into the dining. We go back out there to assess the situation and there's way more water coming from the seams as we stepped across the floor in those rooms. My maintenance guy noticed the w/d hookup and tightened the connections. We're now under the impression that one of her children may have caused the issue. I'm concerned about the water sitting under the floor. Should the floor be removed to allow the concrete to dry and reinstall the planks? If so, at who's expense??? Mind u I've been there 2x in the past month to cut the grass and a gentlemen has been there that isn't on the lease. Idk if its coincidence or she's got him living there unapproved. I'm so bothered on the last day of my holiday weekend ...

Any opinions are greatly appreciated!

[Jim K.]

@Cassandra Sifford

It's going to dry out sooner or later anyway sitting right over a slab. But this is not tap water with plenty of disinfectant in it sitting on porous alkaline concrete and covered with non-reactive vinyl, it's cooled condensate, essentially distilled water. The chances of you getting a colony of growing mold under those planks if you just let it dry out over a long period of time is low, but not nonexistent. I would mop up as much water as I could and run a large dehumidifier in the room with the windows closed. When it's dry, turn off the dehumidifier and monitor for strange stink. If at some unlikely point in the future the tenant complains of stink, get ready to pull those planks up and scrub the mold off them, usually with chlorine bleach, before drying and reinstalling. We're sure to get the one person commenting on this thread who will primly inform you that bleach doesn't kill mold and you need to use the super special expensive fungicide the mold remediation guy she knows convinced her to spend all her money on, but no...chlorine bleach for vinyl surface remediation will do the job.

You did the right thing and put in vinyl in your basement. If this were regular MDF-based laminate flooring sitting on a pad, there's at least a 90% chance your entire floor would have to be replaced. Never put laminate flooring in a basement, lurkers.