Still Damp

The subfloor under the bathroom and the bathroom walls were still damp, so we're just waiting at this point. Dehumidifiers, fans and heaters are still going.

More on the Flood...

The toilet tank overflowed. Monday night, the contractor who built my addition, my plumber and the insurance adjuster all met me at the house. And when I opened my garage - yup, it was happening again. The good news is that the plumber and contractor were able to determine the cause right away. The toilet tank was overflowing, and they were each glad to have a witness because they both said that unless they had seen it, the wouldn't have believed it. See, toilets are designed with an overflow pipe to make sure this very thing doesn't happen, but apparently the pipe was overwhelmed by the volume of water coming into the tank.

The plumber fixed the toilet and the insurance guy called in a cleanup crew who immediately started drying things out (huge dehumidifiers and fans shaped like snails) and pulling up carpets. They took out some of the padding in the bedroom itself and set up a fan to blow under the carpet (it's kind of like walking on the moon). The drywall and insulation have been torn out and they are waiting for the subfloor to dry before replacing it. My garage is cleaner than it's ever been and they've sheeted off the back part and are heating it so the pipes that are now exposed don't freeze. The guy from the cleanup company thinks they can start drywalling tomorrow or Friday.

Wet & Wild

Nope, not what you think! I pulled into my driveway last night and hit the garage door opener. The sight that greeted my eyes was far from merry - cascades of water were puring from the light fixtures in the ceiling, gouts of water were running down the back wall and lakes of water filled the back half of the garage. I was stunned. And I had no idea where the shutoff for the house was.

My hubby came home soon afterward and shut off the water to the house. A little while later we could hear the sump pump working (phew! I was afraid it was dead!) There was a lake in our bathroom and the carpet in the nearby closet is damp. The water is cleaned up now, and we were able to turn the water back on and everything looks OK. Best news of all, the contractor who built our addition, our plumber and the insurance adjuster can all meet me at the house this afternoon - at the same time!

Back from My Trip

We're back from our trip to California to see relatives. We had a lovely time and even had a chance to tour around gorgeous Santa Barbara. While we were at Stearns Wharf, we bought a CD with photos from all around the region. We figured the photos would be better than those we could take and it freed us to concentrate on seeing the sights. At one stop we had the tour driver in training take a photo of the three of us in front of the mission. Later I joked to the guys that I should crop out the background and paste the three of us into the photos in the CD! I was kidding, but they loved the idea. I guess I'll be playing with Photoshop. Here's the three of us in front of the mission...here we are on the wharf...here we are at the museum...