The Insurance contract stipulated that in case of flood or fire, the house would be restored to "original or better" condition. With this in mind, John covered each room in the house asking questions about materials, conditions of various things before the flood, and just trying to get a picture of what would be required to restore everything.
They stepped into one of the three bathrooms and were looking at the floor when John blurted out that there was a crack in the toilet bowl. Tod and Kris assured him that the bowl was perfectly fine before the flood, and the three of them were wondering how water would crack the porcelain on a toilet bowl. Upon touching the bowl, it was discovered that it was very hot as there was a heater/dryer pointing straight at it. Yes, John assured the fellows, it was the heat. His men obviously neglected to distance the heater enough to prevent damage. At first he apologized, then he assured Tod and Kris that because the damage was done by the companies neglect, there would be a new toilet installed.
The immediate thought was that there could be the same damage in the other two bathrooms. And there was. More apologies and assurances that the company would make it right, and replace all three toilets. Relieved that not only were there going to be new toilets, but it was going to be at the expense of the Insurance Company.
The next point of inspection was in the kitchen. Greg, being a handyman and bit of a carpenter, had purchased Oak plywood and made his own kitchen cabinets. They had been stained and sealer had been applied, but they did look a little home made, with cheap door handles where there actually were door handles. John bent down and ran his hand over the lower part of the cabinet that had been wet and let out a low whistle. The wood was slightly checked, meaning that the grain had been raised by the moisture and when the wood dried, the grain did not sit flat anymore.
Kris and Tod ran their hands over the wood and agreed, but Tod assured everyone that as a painting contractor, he was familiar with and experienced in restoring this type of wood damage. Tod offered to sand the lower sections of cabinet, reapply the stain, and give everything two coats of Varathane or some other similar clear coat. John was not having any of it. Again, he emphatically stated that his men had placed the heater dryers too close to the cabinets and that is what did the damage. His company would make it right, and because it was Oak, there would be brand new oak kitchen cabinets installed. Kris and Tod could not believe their ears, but kept quiet until later when they discussed it between the two of them.
And then came the final inspection which confirmed for Kris and Tod that there was a scheme going on here. John asked what kid of carpet had been throughout the house. To be honest, Kris and Tod could not say as there were probably 10 different kinds and grades of carpets, all salvaged from tear downs. So they simply said that all the carpet was pulled out on the night of the flood and was still sitting on a pile beside the driveway. John approached the pile, and after examining it for a few minutes, reached down and pulled a random piece off the the pile. Oh, John knew his carpets all right and deliberately chose that particular piece. Was it random? Was it the cheapest? No, it was a small piece of wool carpeting, the most expensive carpet one could buy.
John explained that based on the type of carpet that was damaged, there would be a price per sq. ft. for the new floors. Our price allowance was at the top of the scale, based on the assumption that there were wool carpets throughout. But there was more.
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