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building insurance wants to do a patch work job restoring water damaged unitMar 02, 2021

Upstairs neighbor's leak into my unit made my unit uninhabitable. After 4 months, the building is taking responsibility for their ceilings, walls and floors. They will replace missing bathroom wall tiles and parquet floor tiles but after 60 years the replacements will not match what the remaining tiles. I was told the insurance company doesnt care if it doesnt match. My coop will look terrible.

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Building insurance - Marty Mar 02, 2021

Unfortunately, this is a fairly common problem. It is generally impossible to find tiles that match perfectly because the style and color of the original tile probably doesn't exist anymore, especially if the original tile is 60 years old (if I interpreted your summary correctly).

My understanding is that the co-op has to restore your tile to its original condition (i.e. new tiles). That doesn't mean the same exact color and style.

If you want to re-tile your bathroom so that it matches perfectly, the co-op is not responsible for paying for it. You would have to pay for it out of your own pocket or better yet, file an insurance claim against the apartment upstairs that caused the problem.

Good luck.

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> Join the conversation Comments (1)
building insurance - peoples choice #1 Mar 02, 2021

This happened to me so this is what I did.

(1) Take pictures of all water damage
(2) Contact your insurance company (ASAP) they will send an inspector to your apartment.
My insurance carrier set me up in a hotel while the work was being done.
They took full charge hired a contractor and had me pick out the damage materials with the contractor.
In turn they sued the apartment above me. In your case they will sue your building insurance company and your neighbor.
Best of Luck

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Insurance Coverage - Steven424 Mar 02, 2021

Adding to the advice Marty provided, something you might try is negotiating with the insurance company is their laying out the same amount they would pay to repair your floors towards resurfacing the entire floor. The rest of the cost would be out of your pocket. Different insurance companies have different rules, but this might reduce your overall cost if you decide to lay down a whole new floor.

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