Flood Update: Part 3

~Tuesday (January 11)~



This is what our driveway looked like on Tuesday morning! We had lots of people at our house!



Our day starts early. At 8:45 a.m., a lady from the restoration company (Miss M) arrives and says she is there to meet the insurance adjuster who is coming later. She is quite friendly and enjoys talking with us kids.

The contractor (Mr. A) shows up about 15 minutes later to get his measurements before the insurance adjuster arrives. He is starting to remember our names and greeted me by name this morning. It is such a blessing having someone who is honest, hard-working, and kind to work for us! After another 15 minutes, another worker from the restoration company (Mr. J) shows up and begins carrying equipment out from the basement.

At 9:30 a.m., the insurance adjuster (Miss D) arrives. Miss M introduces herself, gives Miss D her business card, and then leaves. Miss D then spends the next hour scrutinizing the damage and taking photos. Around 10:30 a.m. she goes out to her car to finish her estimate and Mr. A leaves. Mr. J goes to work in the basement tearing down the drywall in the bedroom. It turns out that the insulation, the studs, and the exterior wall are wet. The drywall and insulation are thrown out completely and the wall (more correctly, the hole) is drying out.



Mr. J rips out the drywall in the basement bedroom.



This is what our basement looked like on Tuesday. They make a big mess while they’re working, but at least they do a good job cleaning up after themselves!



We find out that Mr. J is also a Christian AND homeschools his children! The Lord is bringing some interesting people to work on our house!

After lunch, Miss D comes back inside and reads her estimate to Mom and Dad. The total cost of this flood is incredible. I can’t believe how much damage a small hole in a hose can do. About an hour later, she leaves and Mr. J comes upstairs and begins ripping up the flooring. It is a HUGE mess. The subfloor is so dusty, and there are bent nails and small pieces of wood everywhere. I’m sure they’ll clean it up before they leave, but I’m not excited about the next 2-3 weeks (how long it will take for the wood to be matched, ordered, delivered, and neutralized to the environment.)



Mr. J rips out our kitchen flooring.

While removing the flooring, Mr. J accidently breaks a stone from the fireplace. Apparently, instead of putting the stones in first and then cutting the flooring to fit around it, the builder put the floor in first, then sat the rocks on top of it. And the rocks are only supported by tape! So the stone will have to be glued as well.



The broken rock.

Around 4:30 p.m., Mr. A returns, and Dad chats with him about what the insurance adjuster (Miss D) said. We also find water damage that happened before we bought the house. The subfloor is much darker in front of the fridge. This is also where the ceiling sagged in the basement bedroom. So that explains a few things.

At 5:00 p.m. Dad and I brave the snowstorm to go get pizza and salad from Pizza Hut. I also pick up some bread from some good friends (Thank you for making it for me despite my late notice! I really appreciate it!) We arrive back home at 6:30 p.m. to find the kitchen floor almost all the way gone, 2 dehumidifiers and 2 fans running again, and part of the floor covered with a cloth tarp. We’re back in the wind tunnel. :-)

  

This is what our kitchen looks like without the flooring.



Our basement bedroom minus a wall.

~Wednesday (January 12)~

At 4:30 a.m. our carbon monoxide detector goes off. It is quite loud and annoying! Dad determines it’s just a bad battery, so he tries to turn it off by unplugging it, but it continues beeping. He takes the battery out, but it still. won’t. stop. beeping. Grrr. We’re ready to throw it in the snow! He finally silences it, and I drift back to sleep. At 5:30 a.m. I wake up again, with a terrible “Charlie-Horse” in my leg. I’m often plagued with these during running season, but I haven’t had one in awhile. It’s going to be a tired day since I’ve now lost about an hour of sleep.

Mr. A arrives around 12:30 p.m. to take measurements. Unfortunately things aren’t quite dry yet. The header and the studs in the basement bedroom are still very wet. He leaves a dehumidifier and blower down there, and a dehumidifier and one fan in the kitchen. He promises to return tomorrow to check things out again.

I think we’re starting to lose some hearing due to all of the noise here. Ruby and I keep hearing things that aren’t really there. I’m hoping that all the “noise makers” will disappear tomorrow.

Mr. A emails Dad later that evening. It sounds like if he agrees to the estimate, he will most likely do the job of reconstruction. Thus far, he has done a good and thorough job, and from what I have heard, his character is impeccable. So hopefully we will be able to start reconstruction very soon!



. . . To be continued . . .