We're safe but what a mess
Aug. 12th, 2014 01:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrs_sweetpeach
We had one heck of a lot of rain today and for the first time in the more than twenty years we've been in this house, the sewers backed up to the point our basement flooded. Not just our house -- every house in our immediate neighborhood and quite probably every house within the square mile surrounding us. Outside, on the street, water was up past the curbs (I've never seen that happen before) and our old neighbor who was here checking on his renters told me that water was coming out in geysers along 13 Mile.
I was home when the water started to come up in the basement. It was at the bottom step when I heard strange sounds coming from the basement. It went up at least three steps, so between two and a half and three feet from the concrete floor. Our freezer, washer, dryer, hot water heater, and furnace were all drowned in the flood. We're probably going to have to tear down the paneling as if there is any drywall or insulation it will have to go before it turns into black mold. I started the claim process with my insurance company when the water was just 8 inches or so because I wanted their advice on what I'm supposed to do or who to call. They were not much help as they said to call a plumber (but all circuits were busy and no calls could be made. Come to think of it, I never did get in touch with any of the local plumbers, just the one work uses and all he could advise me was to get the water out of our basement as soon as possible.
Tomorrow's tasks are to call a plumber to inspect (and probably replace) the water heater and the furnace guy to inspect the furnace and tell us what it needs. What a mess. All things considered, I'd rather spend the day at work fighting with my new accounting software.
We got the pump we use for cleaning out the pond out of the garage and used it to get as much water as we could out of the basement. The drains/storm sewers didn't clear until after midnight and most of the rest of the water drained away through the floor drains. I have no idea how bad the damage is to the stuff we stored down there -- I suspect much of it is ruined. I know shelves were knocked over and things were floating and crashing into one another -- the sounds coming from the basement were frightening and I took refuge in my car thinking that it was safer there than it was here in the house.
So anyway, if you don't hear from me for a few days you know why.
This entry was originally posted at http://mrs-sweetpeach.dreamwidth.org/789473.html.
I was home when the water started to come up in the basement. It was at the bottom step when I heard strange sounds coming from the basement. It went up at least three steps, so between two and a half and three feet from the concrete floor. Our freezer, washer, dryer, hot water heater, and furnace were all drowned in the flood. We're probably going to have to tear down the paneling as if there is any drywall or insulation it will have to go before it turns into black mold. I started the claim process with my insurance company when the water was just 8 inches or so because I wanted their advice on what I'm supposed to do or who to call. They were not much help as they said to call a plumber (but all circuits were busy and no calls could be made. Come to think of it, I never did get in touch with any of the local plumbers, just the one work uses and all he could advise me was to get the water out of our basement as soon as possible.
Tomorrow's tasks are to call a plumber to inspect (and probably replace) the water heater and the furnace guy to inspect the furnace and tell us what it needs. What a mess. All things considered, I'd rather spend the day at work fighting with my new accounting software.
We got the pump we use for cleaning out the pond out of the garage and used it to get as much water as we could out of the basement. The drains/storm sewers didn't clear until after midnight and most of the rest of the water drained away through the floor drains. I have no idea how bad the damage is to the stuff we stored down there -- I suspect much of it is ruined. I know shelves were knocked over and things were floating and crashing into one another -- the sounds coming from the basement were frightening and I took refuge in my car thinking that it was safer there than it was here in the house.
So anyway, if you don't hear from me for a few days you know why.
This entry was originally posted at http://mrs-sweetpeach.dreamwidth.org/789473.html.
