Washer Floods House, Owners Sue Mfg.

[whirlcool]

Here is a case of where a couple bought a new Samsung washing machine. They started a load and left the house. The washer flooded the house and they sued Samsung. But read what the surprise ending is!

Of course the woman is an idiot for leaving the house during the machines maiden run, but who would have expected this!

Family Plans to Sue After Home Flooded From Washing Machine

An Indiana family of seven says they are in the battle of a lifetime over an appliance and the estimated $100,000 of damage it did to their Highland home.

www.nbcchicago.com

 

[arbilab]

Putting myself on the jury, the "sock made me do it" defense doesn't work. I have witnessed 1948 Westinghouses to Maytag Neptunes ingesting socks and while the machines didn't work 'right' they did NOT flood. At all.

Unless my jurassic browser gagged on some feature (like 'continue') the story didn't conclude. Still an argument between/among insurance companies.

And all that money they take in on premiums and refuse to pay out in claims, goes to lawyers. Who often as not in this type case, bet that you'll be struck by lightning before you get beyond their delay tactics.

 

[tolivac]

It all goes down to this-----NEVER-BUT NEVER--run the washer UNLESS you are home and awake.Bet these folks learned a hard lesson.Hope somehow or another they can get the home fixed back up.I feel it was mostly their fault for starting the machine and not staying home to make sure it worked-esp the first load.And couldn't they have shut off the water valve feeding the washer when they found the problem?I can sort of remember my Mom telling me about our baby socks getting caught in the Norge pump-but there was no flooding.Just a jammed pump and a non functional washer until Dad fixed it.

 

[retro-man]

Had a similar situation but with a refrigerator. Internal plumbing was not assembled correctly and flooded our new kitchen. Walls floor cabinets had to be ripped out. Took pics of fridge serial #'s. Had the store manager come out and view the unit and all the damage. They took it back and roped it off with police tape. Do not cross. I informed them do not repair unit or you will be the one picking up the tab. After that statement they did not dare touch the unit. The manufacturer was notified and they sent a rep out to examine the unit. They said it was a manufacturing defect and they would replace the unit and repair all damage. Had all work done and they sent me a check directly. So documentation it necessary to proceed with your claim. Take pictures of unit and all damage and follow accordingly.
Jon

 

[alr2903]

I know it is mainly for convenience. However not to put up with this kind of damage, I am quite satisfied to run down to the basement. People knew what they were doing when they wanted the laundry in the basement.  If many more events like the one described occur, insurance companies will start to take notice. Either refusing coverage on damage or a very high deductible if you insist on a second story laundry.  I do not trust it,  too much to go wrong.

 

[pierreandreply4]

I can say that we should never let a washer run while running errands if i have to run some errands i wait until the washer finish its cycle before leaving the house to run my errands. lucky for those that have old fashion washers with a knob they can push to stop the washer while running there errands that way they can restart the washer from where it was stop.

 

[yogitunes]

Sorry, no deal, something is not right in Kansas!

I wanted to say, but noticed in the video of the home, there WAS a drain pan under the washer to catch flooding conditions......

and being a normal washer, I would say water would continuously poured in, in these newer machines, there are sensors all over, and would have detected a long fill (LF code), and shut the machine and valves off...these are not time fill, but allow only a certain amount of time for it to fill to that level....as one of my Neptunes, it has a certain amount of time allowed to fill or drain, if not, and error code would pop up.....

not to mention again, this is an HE machine, whats the most water it would have held, 10 gallons at the most......

I say something else happened, and their trying to put cause on the machine.....

I just seen this a few months ago, people had a flood in their basement, and putting blame on the washer for causing it.....the home owner claimed water was spraying from the valve on the wall, they also claimed to turn on the machine, and then just run errands.....upon inspection of the washer, the pressure hose was taken off of the pressure switch......I have a hard time believing it just slipped off.....insurance is paying for all repairs, including a new machine!...my gut tells me something is not right about this...

 

[henene4]

Errors

The Error-code thing confused me already...
But even more the size of the damage. I mean, these machines should have flow limiters installed. This would keep the flow rate at 2 gal/min or less. And how long may she have left the house? An hour? This would cause substential damage, but I doubt that during this time water would soak THROUGH the wooden floor ALL OVER the house.
Further, everything is kind of vague. If the washer was already repaired, the repairer would certanly have a bill or such thing that lists every part that has been used. This would at least proof what broke if ever something broke.
To me, I would question the whole case.

 

[imperial70]

Think about the damage just 1 gallon of water could do as it flows through the ceiling, insulation, wood drywall, carpets, etc.   It doesn't take much water at all to cause problems.  Not much at all.

 

[henene4]

Yeah, but does it even get through the floor in an hour or two? And can 120 gal of water spread all over the area of an whole house and cause such deep damage within a matter of such a small time?
I mean, if this would happen at my house, I would pull out any mop I head, ask neighbours if could borrow there mops or if they could help, shut off all wateer and start mopping and drying immeadiatly. It would take a bit, but I doubt that water can soak through a woodden celing strong enough to carry a whole story with several bedrooms and a laundry area in just a few hours.
Wood isn't like a sponge. Most water sheets off it and flows on.
I don't say damage wouldn't be possible, but the plausibility of such a huge dammage to such a huge house by a washer continuing to fill for an hour (what, as said before, should not be possible) is questionable.
Oh, and on the drain pan: I think as a new set was already set up there (a LG set, obviously), I suppose they installed the drain to prevent something like this happening again.

 

[gusherb]

I'm just one town away from where this happened, and I know which hhgregg they were referring to.
If the machine actually caused the flood it would've had to have been the perfect storm scenario like if the water valve got stuck open AND one of the supply lines to the detergent drawer came off or anything. I'm sure we won't find out the real story though. I gotta laugh though that she left the washer by itself on its maiden voyage, sounds like a new level of lack of common sense.

 

[joelippard]

No way I would ever have a second story laundry, too much risk.  I'll gladly keep my machines in the basement with my floor drains.  I've had occasions where I forgot to switch the hose out on standpipe for the different machines.  I come back to check and water is all down the floor drain, turn on the fan to dry it out and cleanup is done.

 

[mrb627]

HHGREGG TURNED THEM AWAY...

Now there's a shock, NOT! HHGREGG doesn't wanna know you after the credit card approval is acquired. Would never do business with them!

Malcolm

 

[gansky1]

There's a lot that's fishy and just plain wrong about this TV shock-story to be plausible.  I will accept water damage to that extent if indeed a "perfect storm" of circumstances lined up at once to cause a flood.  New machine, left the house, possible user error all could be lining up at the same instant here, we may never know for sure.  Even if they were gone for a couple of hours, water will seek it's lowest level, running down through plumbing and electrical cuts in the floors.  Exaggeration aside (water "cascading in sheets..." from the catwalk above) water damage can happen very quickly.  If caught quickly (a few hours?)  and properly managed, the damage can be minimized. 

 

 It certainly does look like they may have been a bit overzealous in the demolition when commercial dehumidifiers and fans probably would have dried out the house just fine.    A couple of days at a Marriott Courtyard with an indoor pool for the kids, then minor to moderate repair and restorations.  All would have been well.  What color of new carpet would you like?  Shall we change the paint color while we're at it?

 

Remember too, most people are paralyzed with terror when anyone so much as mentions the word "mold" and it only takes one neighborhood Gladys Kravitz who knew a whole family that died in their sleep because of mold in the corner of the shower to instill a sense of panic in already stressed minds.  Tear it all out, quick as you can!

 

I suspect their insurance will end up paying for the damage, less the deductible, and the house will be put back in order.  In a global market, Samsung (or any other Mfgr. for that matter) could really care less about this one instance that will fade from people's memory almost instantly.   HH Gregg should only be liable if they installed the appliance incorrectly causing a failure of a supply hose, etc.  Their homeowners insurance will pursue whatever course they can, but ultimately the proud new LG owners will have their home restored.  

 

On tonight's episode of " Five Can Help, we tell the story of a woman who lost a foot in her can opener...."

 

 

[golittlesport]

Second floor laundry is great!

The key is to have a floor drain installed to prevent a situation like this.

As others have said, this story smells fishy. I think they left the bathtub running when they left the house.

 

[philr]

I can't tell much about this but a friend of mine had a plumber install a small water line to the fridge in his girlfriend's condo when he moved with her to connect the ice maker on his fridge and the connection under the sink failed a few weeks after while they were both at work... The whole condo was flooded by that small leak and the unit below it too. The damage was over $50K and both owners had to be relocated during the repair work... The insurance did pay but when you see all the trouble a tiny water line for an ice maker can cause...

Years ago, I had just arrived home and one of the hoses to the washer exploded... It took less than a minute before I heard something was wrong and closed the valve but since that incident, I always close the valves off when I don't use the machines...

 

[whirlcool]

This story reminds me of an incident my crazy sister had happen to her in the 80's.

She went out and bought a new Kenmore dishwasher. Rather than pay the $35.00 installation charge she told the salesman that her husband will install it. Problem is her husband has absolutely no mechanical ability. He has to be reminded from time to time to check the oil in his car. And from week to week he forgets how to do it!

He once changed out a kitchen faucet in their house. It took him 3 weeks and 7 trips to HD to get the job done. Then it leaked and they had to call in a plumber to fix it.

So he goes ahead and takes an entire weekend to install the dishwasher. It runs ok, they are happy. A couple of days later they awake at 4am to the sound of running water. Sure enough the supply line snapped off the hose and water was flooding the house. It flooded their kitchen, living room and dining room and was on its way to the bedrooms.

So the husband of one of my sisters friends tell him to go to a sporting goods store and buy some real deal musk oil and spread it all over the carpets in the bedrooms and hallway. Why? "Oh, you can then get your insurance company to put in brand new carpet for you there too!". So off to the sports supply store my sister goes and buys the largest bottle of the stuff she can find.

So she gets home and dumps that very smelly, vile stuff on all the carpets and the next day when an insurance investigator comes she tells him "Oh, the bedrooms flooded too". The guy goes in the bedroom, rips up a corner of the carpet in there and tells her "I don't know why it stinks like hell in that bedroom, but that padding should have still be wet from being exposed to water, and it's not. You are not going to get new carpet out of us for that!" So she had to buy new carpet for three bedrooms and a hall on her own dime. Serves her right! But the whole amount of damage came to $37,000. I just reminded her that she would have been better off spending the $35. with Sears in the first place.

 

[alr2903]

Where is the phone video?

The original story sounds "extreme". I know from our "Katrina" experience however it does not take a tremendous amount of water to cause great damage. Once the pink insulation in your walls is wet, it soaks up like a sponge. The part that is unbelievable is in a day and age when everything is "caught on phone cam". I sure would of made a little video of the waves breaking over the landing or whatever they stated actually happened.

 

[arbilab]

Unless you have experienced runaway water, don't underestimate it. The water events I have experienced lasted units of minutes, soaked entire rooms and took days of large blowers supplied by landlord to dry. Which doesn't account for mildew or the permanently-deformed carpets I 'should' have demanded they replace.

Same apartment complex had so many water heaters fail/flood, they finally (largely at my behest) started replacing them preemptively. Not only did they flood the apartment they were in, but the one (or more) below.

In 1955 it took an hour to mop up after our 2yo Hotpoint dishwasher valve stuck open while we were right there to shut it off as soon as we noticed. And it did not involve carpet.