IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!!!!
Thanks to wonderful winter weather, this is the SECOND time that our basement has had water damage!!! I can't remember now if it was last winter or the winter before, but low, low temperatures caused a pipe in the ceiling of our basement to burst...effectively ruining my husband's home office and destroying five bookcases of my hard bound books (sob).
This time it was the sump pump that caused the damage. My husband and I were VERY proactive when we finished our basement. We put in a second sump pump that runs on water pressure instead of electricity. It worked BEAUTIFULLY during hurricane Sandy and we were the only house in our immediate vicinity that didn't have four feet of water in their basement. However, being proactive doesn't guarantee you won't have problems!
Yesterday I was heading out to a doctor appointment (two actually) when I heard a horrendous metallic groaning noise coming from my basement. I went flying down the stairs to find the sump pump pipes shooting water all over the place. The moaning was coming from my hot water heater that was being bombarded by high pressure water. I knew I had to unplug the sump pump, but I was standing and sloshing around in water. So I reached for the cord well down from the outlet and pulled. That stopped the water spraying all over the place, but the damage was done...to say nothing of the fact that I was now DRENCHED.
As I was sloshing around I saw this black critter swimming across my pantry floor. At first I thought he was a snake, and just about died! Then I spotted his four little legs paddling away. He finally found his way to a higher dry spot where I was able to catch a quick photo before he disappeared under my pantry shelving. Eeeeeewwwwwww.....NOW where is he, and how did he get into my basement???
My insurance company sent out a team to clean up the mess.
They moved stuff all OVER the place and put all of our "wet" belongings out in our garage to be gone through. I really need to do that today, but it is so COLD in the garage!
They brought down a bunch of heavy duty drying equipment and pulled up my carpet and pad to try to salvage them.
The last thing they did was "fix" my sump pump pipe before they walked out the door. Thirty minutes later it was leaking again, not shooting all over but definitely leaking. My son wrapped a towel around the pipe and and held it in place with bungee cords. This morning the water remediation guy came back to check the humidity of the room. I showed him the saturated towel. He left to buy new parts for the pipes. Hope it gets fixed right this time. Oh, and the water heater next to the sump pump...it is less than a year old and was drenched with water. I'm going to have to PAY to have a plumber verify if it is a loss or not. It is working, but I'm afraid the insides will corrode away because of the water dripping all through it. I just spent $1800 to have it installed...I don't want it dying before its expected lifespan!
So, Murphy and his damn laws have moved back into our house. Since the beginning of January my mom has been in the hospital twice and my dad once. As an only child the responsibility falls squarely on my shoulders. This new "disaster" is more than I can handle. I can't even cry over it...I'm just numb. I feel like my whole life is upside down at the moment. I keep repeating to myself, "This too shall pass". I know it will, but it can't happen soon enough!
