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.