Stupid Guest Tricks

Ah, and this day was going so well -- most of my work behind me and I got to share videos of me & VM with you guys.

My wife got home to a flooded house today. Apparently an older pipe valve blew open under our kitchen sink, and the water has been running full force for several hours. Every room is soaked -- the plumber called it the worst he's seen. Yikes!

We've got the water shut off and a home restoration team on the way, but it's a mess right now, and our nerves are kind of frazzled. But God is still good -- we're all safe (and we have insurance!).

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

I know someone who had something similar happen and she lost a lot of stuff, but she found a pair of boots she purchased but never wore so it ended well enough.

Sorry to hear about this. Here's wishing you lots of warm weather to help dry things out!

Holy waterfall batman!

Let me know if you need anything, I have a shop-vac out in the garage :D:

Whoaaa there, aquaman! Sorry to hear about the major spill. You are the second person I know who has had a major pipe blowout this week with flooding. I hope you don't have a basement. :(

Glad to hear you have insurance, but that has must really be a mess to clean up. Sounds like what happens when our beachy neighbors go through a hurricane and the tide rises up to invade the beachfront houses. At least yours is clean water and not salty or full of mud.

Hope you're able to get things cleaned up and fixed without too much stress or expense. Glad your computer was spared, too.

Wood and/or carpet floors?

Replace the wood. It'll pucker up eventually.

Carpet can be lifted and dried with large gas fired blowers.

If the water got to the walls you'll want to replace the bottom level sheetrock. If the insulation got wet it may have wicked the water all the way to the ceiling. The insurance adjuster should have an infrared scope that will detect water inside the wall. Open up the walls and make sure everything is dry before closing up.

Don't let the insurance company sell ya short.

Good luck!

I had a water damage company tell me to spray lots of lysol on the backside of the drying carpets to prevent mildew/smell

So sorry to hear about that :( . At least no one was hurt and you all have each other.

Hopefully your insurance will cover the damages (and if they don't, they're messing with the wrong Marsupial, me thinks :D :) .

I think it was BW (who was quoting a Reedy Creek firefighter) who was saying a while ago, much better water than fire, eh, they'll both destroy your property, eh, but water generally won't cause severe physical damage.

Any updates?

I've dealt with that before, but fun in a different way.

It was a sewer line.

Hope and prayers for you and all the family.

Well, we're four days out now. All but one bedroom has been cleared out. We had extractors onsite since shortly after the water was shut off, and we've had high powered fans and dehumidifiers running constantly since. The baseboards and toekick panel under the cabinets are off to let the walls and floor dry completely.

We're dealing with a parade of contractors and adjustors, but so far everyone has been great to deal with -- especially our insurance people (Allstate, FWIW). Looks like everything damaged will be restored, repaired, or replaced (minus our deductible, of course). We've got good, knowledgeable friends close at hand to make sure we know what questions to ask, what to document, what to request. And my parents are in the neighborhood, so we've got a nice place to stay close by.

A lot of clothing got wet, of course, but I got a surprise call this morning from a guy I know very well, as he sings in the VM with me -- in fact, he handles the auditions, so he's the one who let me in in the first place! -- and it's his company that's been called in to handle our textile restoration! So it seems we're in good hands. (No Allstate joke intended.)

We’re just blessed that all that’s messed up is “stuff,” not people. I heard someone say recently that a good way to keep things in perspective is to think of the very worst thing that could happen – house burns down, family dies, while you’re struck with a painful, fatal disease – that sort of thing. You call that a “10” – and then rank your current troubles from one to ten on that scale! God is good, and we’ll be just fine.

I appreciate all of your kind thoughts and prayers. Keep 'em up!