On 25 Oct, 15:38, "J" wrote:
I had been leaning toward installing laminate flooring in our kitchen, but a
recent incident tells me that this might not be a good choice: Our water
heater resides in a closet that is part of the kitchen and during the middle
of the night, a leak sprung up that flooded the kitchen. How well would
laminate flooring recover from being flooded (or hardwood for that matter)?
With the water heater basically in the same room and our washer is also in
the kitchen, would it be more prudent to choose a different floor covering?

Thanks.

The first question I'd ask myself is this one:

"What are the odds that my kitchen is going to be flooded again? Take
the number of catastrophic water heater leaks in a given year and
divide it by the number of installed water heaters. I'm guessing the
number is miniscule. Now, considering the fact that you've already
been a victim, what are the odds that you are going to be a victim
again? Some will say that the odds are the same as anybody else's
since the failure rate is based on the water heater, not on the
person, but I'd be willing to bet that you've seen the catastrophic
water heater leak you're going to see in your lifetime.

Then I'd ask myself:

Do I want to limit my choices of flooring based on the extremely
remote chance that my water heater is going to ruin it? Do I want to
live in fear or am I willing to take the risk to enjoy my home as much
as possible. If you choose to not to live with the risk, then you
should take steps to protect everything else in the house that could
be damaged by the leak.

Next: Will my homeowner's insurance cover the damage? If so, why worry
about it?

And finally...

What can I do to protect my home from a leaky water heater? Can I put
a tray under it with a drain? Can I redirect the water from a
(reasonable) leak so that it doesn't damage my floor? Can I relocate
the device so as to eliminate the risk altogether? How can I limit the
risk so I can live in a house that is finsihed in a manner that I find
enjoyable?