New summer project.

Yukon Mike

Yukon Mike

Well-known member
Came home from the weekend at Jane's cabin to a sprung water line under the kitchen sink. It must have ran all weekend as there was an inch of water upstairs, an inch downstairs, and a small lake next door. The kitchen will need to be torn out, the floor we were installing the hardwood on has to be taken out, upstairs bathroom has to come apart to dry out the floor under the vinyl, all the downstairs carpet, all the walls and half the ceiling downstairs, the downstairs bathroom is totalled, and the siding on the west and south side of the house may need to come off. I'm just so grateful its just clean water. Our main concern is mould down the road, so I want everything dried or replaced. Definately more than $10K, but I couldn't say how much. Were still discovering damaged stuff.

Its ironic that so many guys down south are hurting for work these days and we're really going to have a hard time finding people up here with the time to help us because things haven't slowed down much yet. We might have to move out for a while, but I know, I could be worse.

The saddest part is that we've been renovating over the years by doing one room at a time, as we could afford it, and do it well. The rooms that have the worst damage are the one's we put the most time in - bathrooms, livingroom, kitchen. Janes new tile countertop will need to be wrecked to get to the walls behind.

It could be worse,

Mike
 
Mike
give your kids a hug and your wife
you are right to look at the things that are good and not dwell on the hardship presented
We are all pulling for you
 
It could be worse,
Click to expand...
...very true, but that doesn't make it suck any less!

Give Jane my condolences for her counter top, as great as it looked, I'm sure the next one will go in faster and better than the first...she'll be a pro at that soon;)

Chuck
 
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D'oh...that really sucks Mike. You've got the right attitude though. I hope it dries out quickly and you can get started on the repairs.
 
Oh man......that sucks Mike. Having been there, I know the feeling all too well. Keep your chin up, like you said, it could be worse.
 
Sheesh! Well, at least the previous stuff will make this next renovation go faster--Bad luck, Mike--Sounds more of deluge than just a leak!
 
Oh man what a bummer. I always think about shutting off the water when the house is going to be empty for a few days but never do it... I might have to start doing that.

I hope getting it all fixed goes well for you.

Tim
 
Thanks guys. We just met the insurance adjuster yesterday so I don't know exactly what they'll cover. I'll be fine I'm sure.

Its funny you mentioned that Tim. I've been making fun of my dad for ever because he flips the breaker on his pressure system, same on his hot water heater, and unplugs his TV every time he leaves the house for more than a day or two. In our case it was the hot water line that broke, so the heater must have been running full on for two days trying to keep up with the demand, and our TV was plugged in and got rained on downstairs.

He talked to Jane on the phone last night and was teasing her that she could be on "Canada's Worst Handyman".

Mike
 
Sorry to hear that Mike, nothing like a two steps back punch in the gut. Not much more to say than I feel for ya.

T
 
On the bright side it could have happened in the winter and you would have been able to hold hockey practice in the livingroom. OUCH, Good Luck!
 
Sorry to hear that Mike.

We woke up here one morning last summer to a rainforest in the basement. It was a total mess. Service Master came in with dryers and dehumidifiers and it took a week of fans running to dry things out. There was very little mold.

I hope the insurance company treats you well. Don't over stress your back moving things out.

Heck, if I had time I'd play migrant worker for the month.

-D
 
I don't know how your house is laid out, but you might be able to remove the siding on the back wall of the kitchen, and save the tile job. It may even be cheaper to repair from that side. I don't know what else to offer.
 
Man Mike reading that gives me a sick feeling. Fans, dehumidifiers, and turn the heat on. I had a smaller but non the less exciting time in the house I am in. I was putting in a new toilet and when I turned off the supply valve. The valve broke off. I ran downstairs to turn off the supply valve and that didn't hold. I was able to turn off the pump but the tank was at full pressure. I estimate about sixty gals of water came out of that pipe. Water ran out of the bathroom down a carpeted hall way into a bed room. Water went through the floor soaked down stairs ceiling tile and on to a carpeted floor.

What I learned from the experience don't trust old pipeing. All the piping is now replaced. All valves are now ball valves. The carpets were sucked dry with a carpet doc ter. They were eventually replaced. That allowed the wood to dry out. ceiling tile was replaced because of water stain.

Get every thing as dry as possible and then access the damage. The worst is the dry wall and insulation. I still feel sick about your situation.....
 
Hmmm, that funky smell of wet gyproc in the morning.


The fans and dehumidifiers have been running non stop since Tues and things are drying a bit. My favorite slippers, the ones I wore to Westlake, might still need to be replaced though. Demolition is to begin tomorrow so we'll move to the cabin until we have a functional kitchen again. With the shortage of contractors we might be looking at the end of summer to move back in. That's OK really, we were planning to be outside until the end of Aug anyways.

We never eat out much, and so far this week I had Chinese take out, KFC, and Cafeteria swill at school and I feel like crap. I might have to whack a Robin and boil it up over my camp stove just to get my stomach back on "country" food.

Funny story, last night Jane I were picking throught the detritis and she noticed I hadn't moved a shelf full of decoys the got rained on. The shelf was really warped. She said, " I hope not too many of your decoys got ruined." Seriously. I've been making working decoys for 20 yrs. I guess she never sees me throw them overboard, or have them piled in a soggy boat, or carefully store them under a gentle blanket of 4' of snow in the off season. : )

BTW, good idea Matt, and that's what we're going to do for the one bathroom. The floor is too wet to leave the lino in place, but the drywall and wainscotting only got damp not soaked. We're going to open up the wall from the backside, which happens to be the kitchen wall behind the crappy cabinets below the Jane installed tile countertop. No biggie. She'll do a better job the second time.

Mark, wouldn't that be cool to set up a picutre of basement hockey on real ice?! Next time we flood, I'll try for winter.

Pete, Jane was feeling pretty bad about the leak because she was the one who redid the plumbing after the new countertop was done. It reassured her that a more experienced handyman came over and said she had hooked it up right, but that those compression fittings where copper joins plastic just fail sometimes. He may have been fibbing, but it cheered her up anyways.

You guys should see the power cords running through here to all the fans and dehumidifiers. The meter outside is spinning like crazy. Hope that's covered too.

So if any of you refinisher types want a working vacation this summer (airfare not included, but fishin' on the weekends is) send your resumes to yukonjane@gmail.com. Paul, don't even think about it with that new baby! : )

Moldy Mike
 
Oh man, bummer. Really sorry to hear about the house. I was going to post some pictures of our kitchen as we have the same cabinets/doors as you do......had.
Later partner,
Lou
 
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