Monday, March 3, 2008

The Flood in the Basement


Can't remember if I posted that the basement got wet a couple of weeks ago. We had one day-ONE DAY!- of "nice" weather (above freezing) and when the melting began, much of it came down the wall into our family room and storage room. We called the landlords who promptly came over with wet-vac's to get the water up. Then we set up fans and heaters and within 2-3 days, the damp was gone and we moved our stuff back into place.

At that time, I worried what we'd do when Spring finally arrives (yes, I'm optimistic about the event, even though there is nothing on the horizon to give me that hope!). We've had 100 inches of snow this winter. That is a LOT of melting that will have to happen. But I figured it was not going to happen anytime soon, so I quit worrying.

Yesterday we got that brief glimpse of nice weather to come. It got up to 46 degrees!! Of course, the melting started immediately, but nothing seemed to be coming in the basement. Then, late in the day it began raining. When we went to check the basement before bedtime, it was flooded. About twice as much liquid as the first time.

We moved furniture and storage bins. We called the landlords, who brought the vacuums again. We sopped up water for about an hour, then set up a towel perimeter to direct the incoming water (yes, it was still coming in!) to the drain in the laundry room floor. This required about 20 towels, rolled into cylinders and laid end to end to form a path of least resistance to the drain which was about 30 feet away. Then I turned the fan on high and went to bed.

During the night the rain turned to snow and the liquid will freeze and quit coming in. The forecast for the next 5 days is for below freezing temperatures. So, no more flood waters coming.

However, the carpet is still VERY wet. The fans are only beginning to do their work. We still have to dry out the cement, the pad (which will be thrown out and replaced once the leak is fixed) and the storage room. Just now the carpet is suspended in the air on the backs of folding chairs. It created a little tunnel for the fan to blow through.

The landlord will probably have to take down the drywall to the outside wall to see why it is leaking.

So, we'll be living with chaos and damp for some weeks to come. Oh the Joy!

Tell Me Who/Where You Are!

My Personal Widget