And this is why we have insurance...

We had a lot of excitement at the Hayes Homestead last week.  Jason was out of town on business for the whole week so it was just me and the kids holding down the fort.  I always try to keep us busy when Jason is out of town - playdates, visiting grandparents, taking them out to lunch/dinner, anything that helps pass the time and take our minds off Jason not being home.

The week started great, Redmond started school and my in-laws spent a lot of time with the kids to give me a bit of a break (love them!).  Then Thursday rolled around....and our basement flooded.

 

Yep.  Our basement flooded. 

 

Awesome. 

 

I had heard water running throughout the day, but didn't think much of it because I had the hose on for the majority of the day (we had a spot in our yard taken over by ground bees - filling their home with water runs them out, but doesn't kill them) so I just figured that it was because the hose was on.  But, when I could still hear it running an hour after I turned the hose off, I started investigating.  I checked all the toilets and sinks - nothing was on.  Went in the laundry room, everything was fine in there too.  So, I called my father-in-law to see if he could come investigate.  No one was home, so I left a message.

 

Fast forward two hours later, I'm getting ready to head to bed and my father-in-law calls.  Says he'll be right over to check it out.  Knowing that he'd have to get into the crawlspace, I flip on the downstairs light so I can clear out the closet where the crawlspace is.  I look downstairs and I see water.  Lots of water.

Now, we live in a tri-level house so it's not technically a basement.  It's all finished and it houses a second family/living room which is the kids playroom, Jason's office, the laundry room and the small storage closet/crawlspace access.  The laundry room had about an inch of standing water in it, the carpet in the playroom was soaked and the water was inching its way to Jason's office.  I started grabbing any and everything off of the floor in the playroom, laundry room and storage closet and running it upstairs to the living room and kitchen.  I was really regretting not having a clean, organized house at that moment - there was stuff everywhere!

My in-laws showed up (thank GOODNESS!) and things moved rather quickly after.  We cleared out as much as I could and I was frantically calling Jason, a plumber and a restoration company. By midnight  I had a company at my house sucking all the water out.  They didn't leave until 3 a.m.

 

I had the restoration company and the plumber at my house for the majority of the day on Friday.  The water came from a hole in our pressure thingy (yes, technical term).  So much water had come out that there was a huge hole in the dirt under where it was.  He had to put the new one up on cement blocks.

 

It's been six days now since it happened and the crawlspace is still not dry.  They are hoping to get all of the fans out of the basement today and then the repairs start.  A lot of our trim and doorjambs will need to be replaced due to water damage.  Thank goodness none of our drywall was damaged too badly.

I am so thankful for my in-laws, Jason, who, even though he was in California, kept me calm and laughing throughout the whole ordeal, and good insurance!

The silver lining - we get to pick out new flooring for the basement now!  Time to go shopping!!  We haven't decided what type to go with yet, but we are leaning away from carpet.  Maybe vinyl flooring?  Laminate?  Tile?  Stay tuned to find out!

 

Until next time,

 

~ Sara :)