This title is an homage to my friend Scars. His lifelong crippling pain left him with acerbic humor. I like to think his commentary doubles as a positive affirmation; his spirit is inspirational, for sure.
Meanwhile, our cellar flooded yet again, the most recent of countless events. This time we’re going to remove the oft saturated carpet bits. We should have done it decades ago. The multiple times it’s been pulled up and replaced upon getting professionally dried have left ragged edges.
Our first occurrence happened in spring of 1995 (!) when I didn’t disconnect the garden hose before the previous winter’s freezing temperatures. Turning on the faucet poured water onto the downstairs carpet until I discovered the source of the sound. My father should have taught me this, but alas, no…
This week’s leak came from our furnace humidifier. It started small and my husband changed the filter, which should have ended it but instead made things worse. The serviceman who came out determined that the new filter wasn’t properly seated, disabling proper flow through the pipe system. The money spent wasn’t a total waste; this guy said the water flow was too high and turned it down. My restating this fact finally comforted my husband.
Fortunately, a fan running on high seems to be drying the carpet. Perhaps next month we’ll hire the junk removal service we engaged last year. Those folks will take away all the half empty paint cans, etc., as well as sections of carpet. Everything is reportedly recycled in an appropriate manner or receives proper disposal. I’ve been bagging up obsolete electronics and whatnot.
Can you believe three water heaters failed over the decades, each dumping their entire contents? Isn’t it a silly but fun theory that our home hosts a mischievous water sprite?
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Oh boy, that sounds like a real mess. We had something similar happen years ago when we lived in WV but our downstairs family room flooded due to a clogged drain. Our dogs barked and warned us before too much water came in.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got some forewarning. :D
DeleteYikes. I can only imagine. Never have had a basement so didn't have to deal with this. I hate it when things go wrong. Hope you get the mess cleaned up soon. Spring is coming. I'm happy about that.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and week. Big hug. ♥
~hugs~
DeleteWhat a mess for you, but it seems you've got it all in hand now. I haven't had a water incident for years, fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteI'm crossing my fingers for you. :) Thanks for the kind words.
DeleteNice to see a post from you, but sorry about the leak. Yikes! I wouldn't want a water sprite. You need a dehumidifier to get it dried out. Good idea to get rid of the rug because you could have a mold issue. XO
ReplyDeleteHugs, my dear.
DeleteWhat a mess. Carpet is probably not the best flooring for the basement if these things continue to happen. (I imagine these things will continue to happen.)
ReplyDelete~nods~
DeleteI know the water heater i have is in the garage and it has a safety pipe in case whatever happens that makes them overflow or empty happens. I can attach a hose to it, in emergency, to run the water outside. There's no water shutoff on this house. You have to shut it off at the meter on the curb and the shut off is like two or three feet down in the ground. I hope you get your watery carpet removed or dried.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a handy shutoff valve if we know it needs to be used. LOL Thanks for the well wishes; things seem good.
DeleteLIFE! ITs always something, usually costing you and arm and a leg. I had to deal with the hot water heater the week before I moved, leaked and came in under the wall onto the new floor in the br and out under that wall to the new carpet in the den. I sucked and sucked, well, not me, the machine I had to stand behind and keep running over the carpet, more water than I wanted to ever have to suck up. That was just like a month after all the work was done to redo the BR and den after the sewer back up. See, LIFE! I am like Strayer, a safety hose is what you probably need. My hot water heater is under the house here, I am thinking of a hose for it to run outside ....in case. But also, when I was sucking up all the water, I rented a dehumidifier to help dry the carpet up, along with fans. But the dehum had a hose on it that I ran out the door and it sucked the water out and down the driveway. I am thinking a hose, you need a hose.
ReplyDeleteThanks, my dear. I wish you all the best.
DeleteI think it's a gremlin.
ReplyDeletelol
DeleteI agree with others that carpet is probably not the best choice in any basement. Even if dried out, I'd always be worried about mold issues. Funny thing about those oveflow pipes- my water heater sits in a plastic pan with the cutout hole and the PVC fitting laying in the pan, but I'm on the first floor with a concrete floor and nowhere for any leak to go. Just getting back into the swing of all things blogger, Darla, and glad to see a new post from you.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to read your latest post. :D Best wishes, my dear. And I agree about the carpet...
DeleteMy dear, my water heater gave up its treasure into the kitchen as that is where the water heat sat when we bought the house. I got up at 0330 and walked barefoot into the kitchen to start my coffee...was leaving for work at 0430...and walked into water STANDING on their floor! My first experience. Stupid me got a new water heater but the second one did the same. After that, subsequent water heaters went to the crawl space under the house. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your pricey experiences, my dear. Be well.
Deletelol.. at least you are upbeat about the whole situation.. the water sprite might appreciate your humor, pack her bags and finally leave. Sorry to hear you are dealing with this. We have had our basement flood twice.. not fun at all.
ReplyDelete:D
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