Two leaks, cabinet issues, repeated remediation, and now a flooring nightmare. What should I expect from insurance and contractors?

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Hi all, I’m hoping for advice because this situation has spiraled and I’m not sure what’s normal anymore.

I’m in KCMO. We had an initial water leak that damaged the hardwood floors in the kitchen. Because the leak was under the cabinets, the remediation company had to remove the kitchen cabinets around the affected area and remove the hardwood flooring.

They completed the dry‑out and then reinstalled the kitchen. After the reinstall, we noticed two new problems:

– The dishwasher opening is no longer a standard size

– One of the cabinet drawers now hits another drawer, even though it never did before

So something about the cabinet reinstall is off.

Then things got worse.

When the subcontractors installed the new dishwasher, a broken gasket caused a second leak. We didn’t know it was leaking, it went on for about 10 days. That leak damaged the basement again, including all the work that had just been completed from the first leak.

So the basement had to be:

– Torn out again

– Sprayed for mold again

– Dried out again

At this point, we were planning to replace the flooring with parquet, which is what we originally had. But after the second leak, we’re nervous about parquet, it would have been damaged again, and parquet is extremely sensitive to moisture.

We’d prefer to upgrade to large‑format tile for durability. But here’s the new issue:

– The concrete subfloor is not level

– The old glue needs to be ground off

– Some areas need up to 2 inches of leveling

– A bid for leveling + tile labor for ~600 sq ft came back at $24,000 (not including tile)

That’s a huge number, and we’re trying to understand what’s reasonable.

If we stick with parquet instead of tile, here’s my main question:

Would a parquet installer be required to install it to industry/manufacturer standards — meaning the subfloor must be within 3/16" over 10 ft or 1/8" over 6 ft?

(These are the standard NWFA tolerances.)

If so, then the subfloor still needs:

– Grinding

– Leveling

– Moisture testing

– Proper prep to meet manufacturer tolerances

Which means the prep work isn’t “tile‑only” — it’s required for parquet too.

My questions for the community:

1. Should the remediation contractor be responsible for the cabinet misalignment and the non‑standard dishwasher opening?

2. Should the Contractor/ subcontractor be responsible for the second leak caused by the broken gasket connected to new dishwasher?

3. Should insurance be covering the cost to restore the floor to pre‑loss condition, including required subfloor prep?

4. Does parquet legally have to be installed to manufacturer/NWFA tolerances (3/16" or 1/8")?

5. Is a $24k leveling + tile labor bid for 600 sq ft reasonable given heavy leveling?

Any advice or similar experiences would be really appreciated. I’m trying to figure out what’s reasonable and what to push for.