TimtheToolMan

If there is not much water and it is thoroughly cleaned up right away there is little chance of damage. It likely is the norm for a majority of people to live with cabinet damage or floor damage and it is not worth the effort and money to fully keep this from happening. We just live with it. We travel and can be gone for many weeks at a time so water could be in place for that period. The current cherry floor has significant damage in front of the kitchen sink and some below the ice maker/dispenser. This home is new to us, so I do not know what went on. My brother in law has real wood floors and they are very careful keeping any small spills that they spot cleaned up and they have had minor damage/wear and chose to have floor refinished. This was not from leaks. Our pervious home had laminated floor and one room had raised edges because of a small amount of water spilled related to watering plants. We tried to be very careful with the watering and wipe up if anything is spotted and used spill proof trays but things happen. This is in a very dry climate so this small amount of water would not take long at all to evaporate. One person in our household would not dry off well after a shower and then walk into the hall. This water caused damage to the floor. I know of at least two businesses that have laminated wood flooring that have warped flooring do to the people walking through. The floors appeared to have very minimal water on them at any time. The particle board that in the base of anything but quite old cabinets can take almost no water without being damaged. Today I am in the process changing out a cabinet base that has very significant water damage. As I said, we and most people just live with the damage and it is not a big deal. Soon the cherry floors will be repaired and I hope to minimize future damage. The only flooring that I have seen that can take water well is vinyl. If water can't get under porcelain tile it does well but it normally is only sealed around edges in showers.

I added Bulldog manipulator (with both battery and AC adaptor), YoLink valve to drain system, 15 sensors (includes sump pump) and Xtreme mats. System seems fine. I used Xtreme mats (about $60 each) because they did not have to be cut to size, which cuts off rim that holds water. Mats were modified to go over floor mounted plumbing in cabinet. Xtreme has a video on doing this. Total cost about $900 in parts. The biggest bang for the buck and time in order of benefit: sensors, mats, system shut off and system drain. With a less likely occurring major leak, system shut off would be ahead of mats. For me, the time and money was worth it. As far a solid recommendation for leak management I would say the leak detectors are a clear winner. System drain keeps 3.5 plus gallons from leaking with properly air charged 1.5 gallon expansion tank. It added about $120 to total cost.

Adding large capacity mats, like Xtreme $50-60, in sensitive areas might be a simple fix.

My experience has been slow leaks that are not caught over a long period of time. For this I'm covered with alarm. As far as major leaks I'm way better off with shut off system. It's the leaks while I'm gone for day to weeks that puts 1-3 gallons on floor that could be real wood that also concerns me with expansion tank. I'm not home now or would measure water drain down on main floor with expansion tank. A drain valve in basement would remove most water from system in all but sudden major leaks. Maybe over thinking this.

Maybe this is wrong forum for issue. Sorry is this is the case.

When water leak is found Yolink shutoff valve cuts water to house but water is forced from expansion tank into system and out leak. Has anyone solved this issue? Possibly use smart plug and solenoid water valve to drain system when leak occurs.