Tuesday, October 19, 2010

A Flood!

If you read my last post, you're probably wondering what happened.  If you figured out it had something to do with water, you were right.

First our day started out a bit late because Jeffrey stayed home to talk to our contractor before going to work.  We ordered one kind of windows and got another kind delivered, so we had to figure out what we wanted to do and get that fixed.  So, it was really late when I finally got out of the house to walk, and then I had coffee and breakfast and got busy on laundry - and I never got around to getting in the shower.

Then Jeffrey called and said one of the workers was going to pull one of the windows out of the garage and let me see it right next to the trim, so I could decide for sure what to do with the windows.  I was about to jump in the shower, but he was coming right after lunch, and I wasn't sure when exactly that would be - so I waited.  He showed up.  I decided that the windows will work just fine, and he got to work pulling siding off the end of the house.  And I decided he had it handled and got in the shower.

Toward the end of my shower, when I was rinsing off, I noticed a sudden drop in water pressure.  I finished my shower as quickly as possible, and by the time I got dried off, there was no water at all.

Somehow the pipe going to the outside spigot had snapped while he was pulling the siding - even though he followed the proper procedures and it should not have done that.  Water started running into the basement, and he could not get any answer when he came to the door, because I was in the shower.  Thankfully, he came on into the house, called his boss, who called Jeffrey and found out where to shut off the water to the house.  If I had been available would it have made any difference?  Probably not, because while I knew where the water shut off is, I'm not sure I would have remembered at the time.  It's not something you think about or use every day.  Also, the light bulb was burned out in that part of the basement, and would I have remembered to grab the flashlight or would I have had to go back for it?

Regardless, there was water everywhere.  And, unfortunately, it was in the worst possible spot - right over the TV and by the entertainment center with all the electronics - stereo, DVD player, CD player, etc.  So, I grabbed a bunch of towels, and we spent the rest of the afternoon drying things off, and they brought in a couple of Shop Vacs and sucked up as much of the water as possible.  Then we left our fan and dehumidifier running.  Jeffrey disconnected and moved all the electronics when he got home, and he's got them all sitting and drying out.  Unfortunately, even if they dry out and still work, there's no way of knowing how long they'll keep working if water got into them.  The CD player and the tape deck both had water running out of them when he picked them up to move them.  Some of the other components were a bit further away from the water and may not have gotten much more than splattered in the front, but it's hard to know.

I know this is not the way any of us wanted to spend the afternoon!

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3 comments:

  1. Oh no!!

    Speaking from experience, don't forget to consider the humidity in the basement and how it will affect the computer and projector, That might not show up until months later! Check the screen! You might want to rent a more powerful dehumidifer and a couple of fans for a few days if you can, you don't want to have mold problems.

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  2. The contractor brought two more fans and another dehumidifier this morning, so those are all going. I'll have to mention the computer and projector to Jeffrey. He might want to move those upstairs - except that it will be a bear trying to find a spot for them because everything is moved around so the windows can be installed.

    Speaking of the windows...

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  3. OMGosh... I really hope everything works out for you guys. It really doesn't sound good. Electronics are so expensive, that I hate for you to loose or have to replace them. Good luck !!

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