Rain

markss327 · Post by **markss327** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:14 pm

It rained. Then, it rained some more. Then , it rained hard, and it rained hard for 12 hours. All total, the unofficial neighborhood count, is 9.25 inches of rain. Friday morning, 4:45am, I was awoke to 'honey, ther's water half way up the back yard'. One look confirmed. I had slept thru the whole thing. Next, I'm off the check the sump pump. It was that last step, onto the floor, and I knew we were in trouble. Water ankle deep, in the family room. After a few choice words, I checked the pump. She was working. The top of the crock, was covered by 6 inches of water. The stuff coming in, faster than it could be pumped out. Within about a half hour, I had two additional portable pumps running, (something one acquires when one owns a swimming pool) each discharging thru 40 feet of 1.25dia hose, out the driveway. The portables were just set on top the main one, all submerged in the crock. All three pumps ran continuously until about 10am. The highest one, was cycling. At about 1pm, I was able to pull the top one out, and run off of two. At about 5pm, the main pump was cycling by it self. All the while, me and a 20 year old Sears 16gal wet/dry shop vac, were inseparable. All carpeting is junk. We lost 4 generations of Christmas decorations. We're not sure about the extent of drywall contamination. At this time, I'm estimating about $5k in loss/damage. This could easily double if drywall has to be replaced.

I hope no one else got flooded. This now puts the Nova off for even more time. In her somewhat dissembled state, she's gona be loaded up on my trailer, and put into storage at my moms. We're gona need all the garage space possible. ALL furnishings from the family room, are now in the garage. Even more belongings are to follow. The cheep sticky back vinyl tile squares on the laundry room floor, are gona be pulled. The shelf/storage unit in the laundry room is now slated for replacement. All baseboard molding will need replaced. So, the garage, will now be home for all the salvageable family room belongings.

For those of you who know my house, it's a split, with the LOWEST level, just 5 courses, (cinder blocks) below grade. That's nothing. Unless you take into account for the water table in my general area. With the rain, up comes the table. My perfectly working sump pump, was just overwhelmed.

The score once again, House 1, Nova 0.

MostMint · Post by **MostMint** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:39 pm

Sorry to hear about that mess.

Unbelievable that you have extra pumps onhand to help fight the incoming!

They make alarms you can install to tell you if that crock is about to overflow. These types of events are rare but you could have the same problem if the pump fails at an inopportune time. The time and money would probably be cheap insurance against the next one.

markss327 · Post by **markss327** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:49 pm

The alarm is a great idea. Thanks!
So is a battery back-up pump. Although, I question the run-time from this type of unit. I'm toying with the idea, of re-doing the crock, from an 18in dia, to 36in dia, in order to hold more pumps!

Post by **TireSmoker** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:24 pm

Sucks to hear about your flooding. At least your garage didn't get flooded and destory the Nova. I'm not trying to be funny -- my friend Matt lost his Civic to the flood on Thursday, in Fairport Harbor.

I had some water in my basement on thursday night, stemming from a popped-off hose on one of my sump pumps. Water almost got to my new kitchen cabinets which I have stored down there. Not much real damage.

-Dave

TheRookie · Post by **TheRookie** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:22 pm

We got hit, though not as bad. We have two sumps in the basement. Thankfully, we never lost power or it would have been real ugly. I had to call in half a day on Friday to suck out as much as I could with a Hoover carpet cleaner (works better than a wet-dry on carpet). As of this morning, fans and dehumidifier are still working on it. It's a little stinky in the basement, but I think we'll be ok. Good luck!

markss327 · Post by **markss327** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:35 am

It could have been worse. A good friend here at PCC, (the same guy who helped build my decks) has two nice cars.... One is a '67 SS Chevelle, big block/stick, and the other is a '55 Chevy pickup. Both were in the garage, and got hit with two feet of water. I stopped over last evening, and watched a video he took for insurance purposes. The video made me sick. High water marks, about a foot below the door handles. Water inside, up to the trans tunnel on the Chevelle, and the truck- being lowered, has the whole interior saturated. Both engines/trans are puking due to being overfilled with water. And his daily driver, '99 Monte, and the wife's '95 Camaro-convertible, were in the driveway, and got the same level of water too. The Camaro runs. The M/C will probably come back to life this afternoon. Starter issues.

On the home front, my homeowners adjuster stopped yesterday, and advised we are covered up to $5k. After she viewed the carnage I've hauled to the curb, she thinks we've met that level of damage/loss already. She also hooked us up with Survpro, a company specializing in flood recovery. Within two hours, two guys in a van showed up. Using some sort of moisture measuring device, it was determined the drywall was contaminated. Soooo, the bottom 24 inches of drywall, in the whole lower level is now gone. We're getting quotes from contractors today to replace drywall, and possibly the molding too. I'm thinking I could do the molding - gives me an excuse to by a miter saw. Survpro has done their thing, and left 6 commercial fans, and two huge dehumidifiers. We're advised to let the equipment run continuously until Thursday, to dry things out. I haven't calculated the amperage draw, but it's gota be up there. To listen to all this stuff run is, well, it's like standing at Hopkins, and having a 747 idling.... it's just loud. Luckily, up stairs with the bedroom doors closed, it's tolerable.

I should get my AV back from Classic this afternoon.... it's been there since July 22nd. That issue will be in a later posting. Meanwhile, I've been pounding around in an '06 4dr Cobalt. 31.8 mpg sure is cool.

MostMint · Post by **MostMint** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:43 am

I would go for a second 18" (maybe a square) before going to 36". A 36" hole in the basement floor is a big hole and would certainly scare any future buyer of the house. The second 18" described as a redundant system might be less scary.

All these flooded car stories create a new reason to get a lift!

markss327 · Post by **markss327** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:17 am

The flood recovery has defiantly turned into re-modeling...... The drywall has been replaced/mudded/sanded and now painted. Colleen and I are REALLY tired of painting. The whole lower level (about 600sqft) has been painted - ceilings too. We've decided on a Nature Stone floor treatment. http://www.naturestonefloors.com/index.html This will be the single most expensive upgrade. We just couldn't justify putting carpeting back down. After that, will be the floor molding. I suggested to Colleen, that if I get a miter saw, it would pay for itself in this one job. She agreed! Well, now I own one!!!!

FEMA has responded with a direct deposit into our checking account. I feel we got a fair amount.

We were actually surprised as to how quickly that whole thing got processed. Not bad.

The tentative plan is to have the house 'back to normal' by mid Sept. After the floor, we're on to replace a couch and two recliners. The entertainment center (and all components), end tables and coffee table, seem to have survived OK.

The Nova is ageing gracefully. She's tucked away in Willoughby, at my moms. I'm thinking she may return sometime in Oct.

ttamrettus · Post by **ttamrettus** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:25 am

Tools are always good.
Just think how much easier torquing will be on your engine since your arm got the painting workout.

markss327 · Post by **markss327** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:18 am

A month latter, almost to the day, (Sunday 8-27) we all watched TV, back in our family room. Say hallelujah! The washer and dryer are back in their normal location, and functioning. The downstairs bathroom is still gutted, no sink/commode. Still missing is all floor and door molding. We moved a couch and chair, from the living room, down to the family room. New furniture will come after the first of the year. The time line of mid Sept for 'normalcy', and the Oct return of the Nova, still seems valid.

We now have a new addition to the family. Her name is Tori, (short for tornado). Born July 10th, Tori is a Collie puppy. She's mostly black, with the typical white collar area and brown/tan on her legs. As I'm still living in the 35mm age, no pics are available at this time.