Today was the final straw. I quit. I can fight the Patron Saint of Plumbing no longer.
Now, I realize that compared to what the people of Texas are going through, this is nothing. But the remnants of Ike hit our area this morning. We got 5.75″ in less than 4 hours. Our sump pump, while working continuously, was unable to keep pace. We quickly realized that it was a losing battle, so we moved into evacuation mode. The kids were wonderful, and with their help we completely emptied the basement in about 2 hours.
We ended up with about 4″ inches of water on the floor. We got almost everything out; a couple of old pieces of furniture were left. We have our treadmill downstairs, and there was no way we were getting that thing up the stairs. So, we sacrificed the loveseat and pushed the treadmill on top of it.
Queue the superhero music. Jason the Plumber came over with an extra pump, and most of the water was gone by 3 pm. I love that guy.
I need some advice! I know the carpet is shot – I don’t want to mess around with cleaning it. What about the walls? Has anyone used a restoration service like Service Magic? Or, do we just rip out the bottom four feet of drywall and put in new?
Looks like a fun week ahead!
Don here — here is my side of the hanging bra story.
Normally when I (yes, I) do the laundry I hang her bras on the line in the basement laundry room, which was, as you all now know, flooded. I, of course, wear clothes that can actually be dried without reading labels or doing thread counts. A dryer should have two settings — “off” and “nuclear”. Anyway, after spending two hours taking three kids to the laundrymat doing 6 loads of clothes (and the requisite drying and folding) I came home triumphantly with my beautiful wife’s still slightly wet bra that I did not place in the dryer. I lugged all of the clothes into the house making sure to keep the bra separate from the rest of the clothes since it was still wet. As I walked into the house I saw the hanging light in the kitchen and hung the bra there. I did this partly out of my housely duties of keeping her delicates safe, and partly out of the fact that, let’s face it, it’s kind of cool for a guy to hang a bra wear all can see. If only we had a large moosehead, I could have hung it from the antlers! Perhaps if Sarah Palin is elected, we all will get a moosehead free of charge.
Oh Lori girl…I am so sorry to hear about your troubles! Yuck!! Sadly, I have not clue one on how to help you either! How about a hug? ;)
Wow!! That’s a lot of water…For some reason, we got a lot of wind, but very little rain here in East Texas. I’m not sure how to fix your walls, but good luck!! How awful for you.
hahahaha he’s as desperate for a good plumber as you are!
I hope it was a pretty one! lol When we went on a family trip with the inlaws, I was glad it wasn’t A-my “*cat call whistle* Mama’s on vacation!” undies or B-my “Wow, these are older than either of my kids” undies that got tangled up in their wash. It was a nice, conservative but not granny panty pair lol
Did I phrase that in a suitable manner for the Accidental Mommy blog? I tried my best lol
Good luck with your walls, thankfully we haven’t flooded here in ages (we’re probably due) so I don’t have any drywall advice. Maybe Jason does? ;)
Yeah, Don knows. Jason came back earlier this evening to see how we were doing. As we stood there talking to him, I realized that Don had hung one of my bras from the light over the counter. (Don’t ask why!) Jason was standing there, facing it, for a 15 minute conversation. I realized it was there about half way through. As soon as Jason left, I pointed it out. Don claims to have forgotten all about it being there.
Nice shack….didn’t know you could get ‘em with basements…. :)
I can’t believe you got that much water. I’m gonna hunt that plumber guy down and kick his you-know-what!
Does Don know of your love affair with the new plumber? Hmmmm????
Probably cheaper to rip out the drywall. Put greenboard in to replace it so you don’t have the same problem next time, eh? Although it doesn’t sound like there will be a next time. But I honestly don’t know…