I should have started a thread when this project began. It’s really quite comical the way everything has happened. Or it would be, if it was happening to someone else. So I think everyone other than me would have gotten some great entertainment out of it.
Just a few highlights:
I was on vacation 1500 miles away with my wife and 2 daughters during the flooding. We get flood warnings in the general area fairly often, but in the last 70+ years (probably much longer, but at least that long) it has never affected our location outside of town and on higher ground, including what at the time was historical flooding sometime in the 80’s. S19 is gone for college already, but S18 is nearby and was able to get home to check things out. He moved up some of the furniture and other movable things from the basement. We still lost quite a bit because the water level went much higher than he anticipated, but nothing truly irreplacable ends up being lost. Even though he is stuck here during most of the flooding because all of the roads were out the water never got to a dangerous level for him. He was in contact with local authorities and they could have gotten to him in an emergency but it never was worth the risk because the water was several feet from him being in any danger.
That part was scary, not funny. The story gets better, I promise.
Unlike some other areas, our water rose and fell rapidly. 24 hours after the water entered the house, it is gone. The river that you can’t normally see from the house is about 5 feet from the back porch, but (slightly) lower than the walkout basement. So some good news! My dad and I are both self employed, so between us and 2 employees we are able to rip out all of the carpet and drywall within 48 hours. So no mold issues. More good news!
During this period and for most of the next week we are washing things off and drying them in an attempt to save things. Sometimes we are successful, sometimes not. The dollar and sentimentality level required for us to try to save things rises every hour. There is also a big storage building that got flooded pretty bad. Lots of things in totes, which sounds good. But totes float, and when the bottom one floats, it dumps all of the totes on top into the water. So some totes were relatively unscathed, others completely full of water. We are all sort of on speaking terms still when we stop this process. Between things we couldn’t save and the demo from the basement we have a few truckloads that go to the dump. The dump does allow free dumping of flood damaged items for a week, so I save a bit there. I think my dad got $50 from metal we took to the scrapyard, including ALOT more than $50 in tools. I think he kept it, but I probably owe him a couple thousand for use of the truck and employees, so I never asked.
We live in an area that is doing well economically. So contractors were pretty much all booked 2 months out before the flood. One is a shirttail relative, and he came out that first afternoon. He gave us advice on what we needed to do for the demo work to prevent mold and to make it as easy as possible when we can get him in there for work to begin. So that was helpful. He said he can be there in 6-8 weeks.
6 weeks go by. Then 8. I call and leave a message. Then 10. Finally he calls back. Sometime shortly after that the work started, I don’t remember exactly how late. But we were finally moving.
This house was a small farmhouse built in the early 60’s that has been added onto several times. So the layout is just weird, which is what happens when you are adding a couple hundred square feet at a time. I could lose 1,000 sf and have more usable space if I was working from scratch. So. Much. Wasted. Space. So since the basement walls are half ripped out anyway, we decide to move some walls and make it a slightly less messed up layout. Which of course adds time and expense.
The contractor looks at the way some things were built. He said that walls in the older part of the basement aren’t up to current code. He can repair it without redoing it. But honestly it is so torn up right now that we are probably adding less than $1,000 to do it right, which would also aleviate some moisture and insulation problems we were having pre-flood. So we do that. I’m pretty sure he isn’t just trying to generate work, because I know he is backed up for the forseeable future. There are several more conversations that we have that are basically the same thing, but different details. Most have the opportunity to fix it cheaply, or spend a bit more to have it done right. Since I am already so deep into this, I at least want it nice when we are done. So usually the choice is to do it right. I’m sure all of those $200-$1,000 items are going to add up when I get the final bill.
Same thing happens with the electrician, plumber and drywallers. They have me look at something that is either done in a way noone does anymore, or that is clearly a DIY project that was done by someone like me, i.e. someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. So lots of little things are fixed just because we have walls torn out anyway, so if you are ever going to fix it now’s the time. Everytime a contractor walks up the stairs to talk to me at my now seemingly permanent portable office at the kitchen table, it costs me $500 I think. I may be selling a kidney to pay for this thing.
Every contractor has 15 other jobs they are doing simultaneously, so they start a day or 2 or more late, and are here off and on. Every contractor seems to be waiting on one of the others to finish so they can do their job. So lots of days no work is done, or minimal work is done.
The plumber is a particular problem, as mentioned above. Among other issues he is flummoxed by the surround shower he needs to install. The general contractor is flummoxed by hithe plumber’s inability to install it. The drywallers are flummoxed by the fact that they are being held up by this issue. My wife is flummoxed by all of them, and me for hiring the plumber. I am flummoxed by the fact that I haven’t completely lost it and burned this place to the ground “accidentally” just to end the nightmare.
Work grinds to a halt for about a week. I spend a couple hours on youtube figuring out how to do it myself on a Thursday night, resigned to the fact that if I don’t do it over the weekend I am forever stuck in a house with a partially done basement. On Friday someone installs it. It wasn’t the plumber or the general. I honestly don’t know who it was. I think one of them brought in someone else to do it. I can see that it isn’t really done right. Wife is mad about it. I am relieved that this little battle is finally over.
The toilet water intake is on the wrong wall. Apparently the plumber thought we were cool with snaking it over to where the toilet was moved to. We are not. So he cuts into the recently installed drywall so he can put the tubing in the right place. He has a different drywaller come in and fix it.
All of this periodically holds up painting, which we are doing ourselves. Finally that job is now done. Wife is excited that we will have everything put back together somewhat, and when the boys get home they can help move the heavy stuff downstairs.
And then the carpet issue comes up yesterday.
That isn’t everything, just some highlights. And I don’t know if anyone is interested in reading this frankly. Felt cathartic to type though. If you made it this far, thanks.