Said It Here

Water damage in a brand new construction house

Major plumbing leaks in newly built homes require immediate, thorough drying to prevent hidden moisture from causing long-term mold growth, cracking, and cosmetic staining. Dealing with these sudden issues often forces homeowners to rip out newly installed drywall and structural elements right after moving in, raising intense concerns about proper repairs.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    running fans and dehumidifiers on the open walls and ceiling
  2. 2
    requesting documented moisture-meter readings
  3. 3
    planning to hire an independent water-mitigation or restoration company
  4. 4
    pull the trim off and see how deep it goes before deciding on a full replacement
  5. 5
    splice in a new piece
  6. 6
    fix the door first then deal with drywall
  7. 7
    Watching instructional videos online to attempt repairs independently
  8. 8
    Soping up water with towels, renting large fans, and running them continuously to air out the space
  9. 9
    Tearing out damaged drywall and replacing wet insulation manually

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

it appears that this door is letting water in. There are water stains and clear wood damage here and even the walls next to the door.source ↗

leges230 · r/HomeMaintenance · 3 upvotes

With cabinets being on other side of that wall there, im going to have to take my cabinets down 😳.source ↗

Buonomma11 · r/HomeImprovement · 2 upvotes

We just moved into a brand-new $$ construction home and unfortunately had a pretty significant water leak almost immediately after moving in.source ↗

We’re obviously concerned about making sure everything is properly dried and that we don’t end up with mold, hidden moisture, staining, cracking, or cosmetic issues later.source ↗

pa19495 · r/homeowners · 1 upvotes

Our patio door was leaking apparently before close of escrow. Had to rip out an entire wall of drywall.source ↗

ThePlatinumPaul · r/homeowners · 1 upvotes

Leak from refrigerator resulted in water leaking through back, along seam in the floor and into this closet from a bedroom on other side of the wallsource ↗

Anyway… am i effed here? Should i hire a remediation company and professional to take care of the repairs?source ↗

Buonomma11 · r/HomeImprovement

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised