For the most part, things went swimmingly today.
Work went well, with a start on a couple of new projects. BeezleBub and I went to the town of Epsom to pick up his new (at least new to him) truck - a used Dodge Dakota 4X4 with less than 80,000 miles on it. Deb had the day off and was able to spend a small portion of it with a friend from work. (She also took care of the weekly grocery shopping, picking up a few extra items in light of the approach of Hurricane Irene such as a set of batteries for each of our portable radios.)
All in all it had been a pretty good day...right up to the point when the ceiling in the dining room of The Manse collapsed, accompanied by the sound of water and the thundering of 8 sets of feline paws scrambling up the stairs to the second floor and to safety.
Apparently one of Deb's favorite ways to relax - sitting in nice hot water in what we call "the whirly tub" - led to the disaster. Though I have not yet confirmed it, it appears one of the pipes or hoses that circulate water in the tub sprung a leak. This in turn led to water leaking onto the bathroom floor and between the ceiling of the first floor and the subflooring of the second floor. Eventually enough water pooled in one place and it weakened the drywall to the point where it finally gave way.
Mopping up gallons of water and clearing away sodden and broken drywall is not what I had planned to do on this Friday evening. But there it is.
So first thing Saturday morning I will be placing a call to our insurance company to make arrangements for an adjuster to come out to The Manse and assess the damage.
It will be interesting explaining to the insurance company how it is we had flooding in our home a good day and a half before Hurricane Irene even arrived.
Indeed, Brent. I'm hoping that while they have the ceiling torn down we'll be able to correct a plumbing issue that has caused us problems on those below zero nights - frozen pipes. From what I can see a little pipe insulation should solve the problem and it can be installed when the rest of the drywall is torn out.
Silver lining indeed!
I hope the problem gets fixed in a way that satisfies you.
There's almost always a silver lining in every dark cloud.
From what I have seen so far it looks like last night's flooding calamity was the only occurrence as I see no evidence of anything long term - no stain marks, no mold, no nothing.
I've already talked with the insurance company and gone over what happened, what I've seen, what I suspect, and what needs to be checked (it helps that a friend of mine is a contractor and he made a few suggestions in that regard).
I know most, if not all the drywall on the ceiling will have to come down, checks made along the outside wall for water, particularly in the insulation, as well as the second floor subflooring, and any water damage to the hard wood flooring in the dining room.
Oh, the joys of home ownership!
I hope its just the ceiling that came down that was damaged! And make sure the adjuster either checks for, or covers for you having checked, for mold in the nearby walls, as well as structrual soundness! If its been leaking into that space for a while the mold possiblities are HUGE and thats not something you want to accidently cover up only to discover a couple years down the line when everyone gets sick.
That hurts - hope the insurance adjuster is kind to you!