What happens if water damage is found during demolition?

The professional sequence: the finding is photographed and probed to its honest extent, since moisture travels and edges matter; wet or damaged material is opened until sound structure appears; the cause, past leak, failed membrane, condensation era, gets identified so the repair prevents recurrence rather than repeating it; the fix prices from your contingency through a documented change order; and drying happens before rebuilding, because moisture guidance is unambiguous that covering damp materials schedules the next demolition. Older homes add screening: disturbed layers can involve asbestos-era products and pre-1978 paint, each with defined handling practices when tests say so.

Your role is approval with evidence: photos, the extent map, the cause theory, and the price, all before work proceeds. A contractor volunteering that package is running the process; one improvising repairs mid-swing is running a different one.

Cost lands where your contingency was pointing: subfloor sections and framing repairs price in trade hours and materials, mapped in advance by the change process rather than negotiated in dust. The schedule absorbs exposure, drying, and repair days, with drying the least compressible; rebuilding over damp material saves days now and buys demolition later.

The compensating asset is permanence: a wet area rebuilt on repaired structure with its cause addressed exits the project healthier than the room ever was, which is the entire argument for finding damage on your schedule instead of its own.