next »

[afm_man]

Thanks to everyone.

They moved us out of the house and gave us a hotel for a few nights.  The hotel is not because of the house is unlivable, rather all the fans to dry the place are noisy as sin.  Hopefully this will only be a few days until it is dry.

At first we thought it was a frozen pipe that burst and I thought all hell was going to break loose with the insurance company (I can guarantee that the heat was on but how do you prove it?).  What happened was that there was some old pluming in the house and the valve failed in the attic.  It was literally a 20 minute fix where the plumber cut off the valve and put a cap on.  Nobody knows why the valve was even there.

The insurance company has been good since and a rough estimate is 25K in damage.  We did not loose any valuable possessions (table, cabinet and a watercolor painting - we are minimalist in terms of furnishing).  The last thing we have to see if an original hardwood floor survives.

We just have a lot of walls, carpet and ceilings that needs to be replaced.

Trying to stay positive because now we will get some renovations and hopefully the house will be better.  Just not a fun way to do it.  Insurance is one of those funny things. 

Heck, the hotel has free beer tonight so life is looking up.

[georgiaprof]

That sounds great.  How can you go wrong with free beer!  Here's to a quick rennovation!

[bibliologos]

Many years ago when I was in grad school we came home from holidays to find that the toilet tank had cracked in the second floor bathroom, and water was gushing through the house.  Luckily (!) it was a row house and the people next door got worried when water started seeping into their house.  They called the fire department, who broke into our house, turned off the toilet, and moved stuff away from the dripping ceiling in the kitchen and dining room.  They also found our address book and phoned the inlaws, and had them authorize a cleanup company to dry out the place. (We later sent a letter of appreciation to the fire chief.)

Upside:  the water was running for about four to six hours, as far as we can tell.  We got a brand new kitchen, since all the counters and cabinets had swollen up.  Some ceiling and drywall had to be replaced and pretty much the whole house painted.  As I was a grad student and Mr Bib was starting out in his career, we didn't have a lot of money, and the deductible seemed huge at the time.  But it was worth it when we sold the house with the new kitchen three years later.

Downside:  the flood happened at the beginning of September, and the whole job wasn't finished until the beginning of January.  The house was livable (no electrical problems; there was another usable toilet), so we lived there, but it was a mess and a lot of bother for several months. 

Good luck!

[herberthsen]

Nice to hear life goes on. Beer's always a perfect distraction.