It took me about two seconds to realize we had a leak. It wasn't the water heater so it was either the dishwasher (on the second floor) or the washer (on the third floor). Not knowing what was facing me inside the house, I got out of the van and locked the kids inside and went in. When I got to the second floor, I quickly realized it was the washer on the third floor since water was pouring out of the air vent and the light fixture in the ceiling.
You can't tell but that light fixture is full of water.
I went to the third floor and shut off the valves for the washer and learned that the water supply hose for the hot water had burst. The water flowed back into the wall. There was not a drop of water in the tray under the washer or the vinyl floor in the laundry closet.
I tried to put some buckets and bowls on the floor to catch the remaining water. I also got some towels to start drying the floor. I quickly realized this wasn't going to be cleaned up using Bounty. Oh yeah, aren't my kids still in the van in the driveway?
I went to the third floor and shut off the valves for the washer and learned that the water supply hose for the hot water had burst. The water flowed back into the wall. There was not a drop of water in the tray under the washer or the vinyl floor in the laundry closet.
The carpet didn't appear wet at first. It wasn't until you walked on it and realized you were leaving footprints that you noticed it was soaked.
Dan got home and he called our "repair dudes" as I like to call them. It turns out they are a restoration company and specialize in this type of damage. They were at the house in less then two hours on Thursday night. They quickly went to work to prevent further damage and started the drying out process.
After five days of huge fans, huge dehumidifiers, having the house at 90 degrees, removal of vinyl and drywall, the house was dry. Well, except for the hardwood floors. They were as wet five days later as they were when the water first fell. Awesome!
The garage
The down sides...
After five days of huge fans, huge dehumidifiers, having the house at 90 degrees, removal of vinyl and drywall, the house was dry. Well, except for the hardwood floors. They were as wet five days later as they were when the water first fell. Awesome!
Master bath
Wall between the laundry room and the master bath. Yep, that's the tub.
Half the wall in the TV room is gone plus some ceiling.
The garage
The down sides...
- Every floor was effected. You can't escape it.
- It happened just weeks before Christmas.
- I hate clutter and chaos and I have it in quantity at the moment.
- None of our personal belongings were damaged. Given the extent of the damage, I find that amazing and I'm very grateful!
- As we fix things we can update items. We want to someday put this place on the market and design has changed a little bit since we first moved in six years ago.
- We have a fabulous restoration company taking care of the repairs. As soon as they got here, I realized it was going to be okay. It wasn't going to be easy but it was going to be okay.
2 comments:
1) That is AWFUL. So sorry you guys had to deal with that! That's the kind of stuff that TER-RI-FIES me as a homeowner!
2)The updated side pic of you is super cute!
3) Your post below when you describe Maddie's not-so-good traveling ways - hiLARious. Probably not so funny at the time, I'm guessing though...
1. Yep, it was about as bad as you think. Make sure your water supply lines are super-duper strong...like braided stainless steel. Enough sad about that.
2. Thank you mucho!
3. No, it was NOT funny at the time. Luke was crying because she was so upset and I was giving Dan the look of "make this van fly because I might kill someone if we don't get there soon." Not the most shining moment in Mancini history but it does make for a good story :)
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