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Saturday morning, Norma and I were woke up by one of our sons knocking on our door and saying there was water pouring into his room. His room is directly below our en-suite bathroom, and as i ascended from sleep, I heard water spraying. We wondered if someone was showering in the main bathroom (right beside ours) and the answer was no. I opened the door to our bathroom to find water running across the floor. A fitting underneath the sink had broke during the night, and water was spraying all over under the sink.
Perhaps my hands were too quickly numb (It was the cold water hose spraying), but i couldn't turn the valve to shut it off. I hurried downstairs while Norma directed the spray into a garbage can. In retrospect, I should have kinked the hose, but in my haste, I wasn't thinking of that. I shut off water to the house, disconnected the tap, then hurried to Home Depot, which should probably have a monument to me, labelled, "Our Founder" from all the money I've spent there over the years.
A little while later, I was able to restore water to the house, but now we're dealing with insurance to get them to pay. It should be covered, thankfully, after we pay our deductible. It could well be several thousand dollars for repairs.
Comments
Sorry about that.
I've had similar happen. Hopefully the Insurance will fess up.
Gwen
Insurance
State Farm read me the section of the policy that said water damage wasn't covered. $20K for remediation (I could smell the mildew), replacing the carpet and repainting the walls. I'd been living in this town house for 38 years, so the walls and carpets were certainly more than due for the work, but the p-trap under the sink that decayed was metal; didn't think that happened. The toilet bolts rusting away and the wax seal dying was a separate issue; the plumber wanted me to replace the toilet too but I couldn't see why. (It was replaced in 1992.)
Anyway, I hope your insurance covers at least some of it.
Eric
It's not just repairs...
It's not just repairs that are likely needed, but remediation against mold and as soon as possible. :( Good luck, been through that too - such a pain!!
Yes. We're working on that
Yes. We're working on that angle too. That's why we're on top of this for the repairs.
Hugs!
Rosemary
My local Home Depot
My local home depot has a parking spot with my name on it.
Your story reminds me of two years ago when my wife woke me on a Sunday morning asking me what that noise was. I couldn't hear it and it took her a while to get me to investigate. You should know that my wife's hearing is so keen she could hear a cat walking over a new mowed lawn two blocks away.
She convinced me that it was coming from our en suite bathroom. I went in and turned on the light and listened. It was the sound of water dripping. Thinking one of us had failed turn off the shower properly, I headed toward the tub. Pulling back the shower curtain disproved that. Just then another plop from my left got me to look at the toilet. There was a puddle behind the tank. Feeling the bottom of the tank I found it quite wet near the bolt that holds the tank against the bowl. It turns out that the 20 year old toilet tank mounting bolts had rusted and the seal was no longer water tight.
We didn't have any real water damage that couldn't be mopped up. But it sure blew our plans for Sunday. We scrapped all plans and exchanged them for a trip to Home Depot to buy a new toilet. I few hours later, I had an old toilet to dispose of.
Then about a month later, there was water in the carpet at the doorway to our walk in closet. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Our walk in has an access to the water heater and furnace enclosure. So I took out the four screws that hold it in place and found the water heater with water seeping down the side. Wouldn't you know it. The yo-yos who designed the original plumbing didn't put a shut off valve to it. Off went the water for the whole house and you guessed it... another trip to home depot. I bought a valve and so pipe, oh and a water heater.
Once I got home, I plumbed in the shut off valve and removed the water heater. I unboxed the new water heater only to discover it was an inch to wide to go through the access hatch. It was by the time I got it boxed back up and back to Home Depot, talked them into letting me exchange it and got it home again. There was no time to get it installed before I needed to go to bed. The next day was a work day.
Any who, what should have been an afternoon's job stretched out over three days. Because the plumbing in the house is PVC and old PVC is brittle. I tried to bend the flexible connector toward the top of the new water heater and the piping broke. :o( Another trip to Home Depot for more plumbing fittings which decided to give me problems. The old PVC didn't want to accept the new fitting and it blew off after I glued it . I thought maybe I'd just been too much in a hurry so I got some emery clothe and sanded the pipe clean and tried again. Same result. This time I went to a local hardware store a True Value and spoke with the owner about my problem and he put on to shark fittings. So I ended up using a compression fitting.
Oh well, all that time gave me plenty of time to dry out the carpet with a box fan face down on a couple of two by fours while I was at work during the day.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
What a practical lady you are
What a practical lady you are Patricia
Leeanna
Change of paradigm needed?
Makes me glad to have lived in places where home construction is a bit more solid. In the short term, construction costs might be a bit higher. But in the long term, minor mishaps will not cause massive repair bills.
I am accustomed to having a concrete slab floor (and maybe ceiling) and brick walls, even for a single family home of one or two stories.
From my perspective the stick-frame constructions common in North America just seem flimsy and like a disaster waiting to happen. Construction may be "cheap" and fast going up. But does it have the ability to withstand the test of time?
The maxims "You get what you pay for" and "In the long run, the cheaper product is more expensive" seem to apply here as well.
Sorry if I sound like "Schadenfreude" or like gloating. That is not my intention, but rather to point out that a change of paradigm might be necessary. And the old "we have always done it this way" just gets my goat (so to say). Sorry for ranting.
Well,
This house was built 9 years before I was, so it wasn't my construction that put it together (although as a customer service person in hardware stores, I've been blamed for every price increase since 1939 (30 years before my birth, but I'm still responsible somehow).
I understand that there are better construction materials than wood. I've lived in both New Mexico and Alaska, and seen construction with radically different materials than lumber, but the fact is, you build with what is the best material available, and while lumber is susceptible to mold, there are drawbacks to other building materials as well.
As far as a change in paradigm, I've lived through several. Moving from Alaska to New Mexico in April was a major one.
We can say I need to move to a different house, but there are drawbacks to that as well. A major one is the fact that in my home city, rent is actually more expensive now than what I pay in my mortgage, and if I moved to a smaller house (as I'd have to do if I sold and moved) I would also have to work outside my home, which I cannot do for health reasons.
While you may see a change in paradigm needed, we see trust in God as the way to deal with this, and that's what we're doing.
Actually, there are a few things we need done, and this may be exactly what we need to motivate us to refinance and roll a couple of other things into our mortgage so we only have our house payment (and a new furnace, roof, and better insulating front windows).
My point is, I see no reason to look on the bad side. I can choose to look on the bright side and turn the lemons into lemonade. that's definitely not doing something the way I do because its always done that way.
Hugs!
Rosemary
When I see hurricane and
When I see hurricane and tornado damage in the USA it looks horrific. When we have hurricanes in the UK , very rarely , and probably less severe, the damage is usually only roof's and fences.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_storm_of_1987
Long while ago now. I didn't realize until now that the majority of housing in the USA is wood. I guess the tale of the 3 piggies and the wolf is true.
My house is a converted concrete one. I have a layer of brick, then "superblock" then the original breeze block. The walls are around 18 inches thick. On a hot day it stays cool, but after a few hot days it stays hot like storage heater. Most of us in the UK don't have aircon. It was never really needed.
Here's a fun fact
Which country has most tornado by area?
According to Official Guinness Records, While other countries may get more severe tornadoes or more tornadoes overall in a year/season, the country that receives the most tornadoes by total area is England.
Leeanna
Please take care of any mold soonest ...
... since mold can make you sick.
If you need more guidance, please start at https://www.ready.gov/. (I used to work for) USA's Federal Emergency Management Agency. In addition to preparedness, this site also covers (or links to) clean-up and mold, etc. remediation. They will say bleach, so gloves, eye protection, 'old' clothes and good ventilation.
Good luck!
Lowes Yesterday
First, Rose, sorry about your water leak and home damage. Won't cure but will help stop things getting even further out of hand. Lots of fans and move air, a lot of air. Wet carpet, peel back an edge and put the carpet fans in place. Move a LOT of air now or contemplate replacing drywall, carpet, etc. If one supply line gave up the ghost, replace them all.
Lady behind me checking out had a ballcock and douglas valve in her hands. Tongue in cheek, I told her to turn the water off. A lot simpler. She laughed, said she had been doing that but six people in the house she was going to fix the problem. Easy fix for sure but I forgot to mention she needed to pick up closet to tank bolts because she had to pull the tank to install the douglas valve. She either needed two bolts or three bolts unless it was a really old toilet that took four.
Most be the week for water problems. Pump is back up and running after four days of no water.
Hugs Rose.
Barb
Life is a gift, don't waste it.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Accountability . . . Who to blame
I've been in the insurance industry since the Vietnam Conflict. I've done every job within the industry including being the CEO of an insurance company.
A word to the wise. Place your insurance through an independent insurance agent. When you have a loss, you need someone advocating for you that you can hold accountable. I believe this so strongly that even though I've had a license for four decades I place my business, home, and autos through another agent. If you buy your insurance through the internet or over the phone with a company that spends seven to eight percent of their revenue on ads (Progressive or Geico) you might end up with a stripped-down policy -- without an independent agent involved.
There are unscrupulous agents. But even the fools recognize that the hand that feeds them is their customer's. Agents who represent only one company, like State Farm, have limited ability to tell their employer what to do. State Farm is a good company -- but their system (captive agents) is flawed in my opinion and is losing market share.
Also . . . no two insurance policies are alike. Tell your agent what you expect out of a policy. Listen to their advice. Independent agents will work with seven to ten companies on average and each company offers a variety of policies. Water damage is an area where coverage is often different from policy to policy.
If an agent tries to sell you an auto policy with statutory limits -- walk away. Most people need a policy with 250/500/250 limits and an umbrella.
Remember, all of your assets, current and future, are on the line if you're responsible for an accident.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I know the feeling
I was working in Brussels (I'm from the UK) and I get a call from my neighbor "Water's running from your back door" Luckily, they're good neighbors, and I'd given them keys to my house, so they were able to let a plumber in and turn the water off. Even so, making good cost thousands
Update
Currently, my house is filled with the sound of fans and dehumidifiers. The master bathroom is gutted, as is one of the downstairs bedrooms. Part of the garage ceiling is removed as well.
I have lots of experience in building supply work, so I'll replace walls and ceilings myself (well -- with the help of two sons). We're planning on replacing a few things as well. The shower in our bathroom was quite small -- was. The vanity and sink (ground zero) will be replaced, and unfortunately, I wasn't aware the people doing the destruction and sanitizing had leaned the toilet against the outside of my garage door when I pressed the button to open it. Whoops! Needless to say, it didn't survive.
God willing and the crick don't rise, I'll have the work done in a week without any problems.
Hugs!
Rosemary