January 10, 2010

When It Rains, It Pours

And sometimes even when it doesn't rain.

Such was the case here. Hubby left to go look at a sale about 60 miles away, and I stayed home to do laundry and clean house. I was in the den looking up crockpot recipes when I heard loud water running. I thought it was the washer filling so didn't think too much about it for a few minutes, but then it didn't stop so I went to check it out. Water was pouring out of the vent in the kitchen ceiling. It looked like a waterfall and would have been pretty, except it was coming from the kitchen ceiling!

So I freaked out and ran through it to get to the cut off under the kitchen sink shoving the trash can under the water along the way. I turned as hard as I could but the flow didn't stop. So then I ran to the shed to get the cut off thingy for the water meter. Side note: It's kind of amazing that below freezing temperature doesn't feel any different than above freezing temperatures when running through the yard in a panic. The cut off tool wouldn't work on the meter because the cut off was put in sideways. Thanks water company guy who must be related to Moe, Larry, or Curly. I ran back to the house, only to find that I was locked out because the stupid new door knob lock doesn't unlock when you turn the knob from the inside like most normal locks. I considered breaking a window but then I remembered the keys to the shed had a key to the front door so I ran back to the shed and then to the front door. Tried the cut off under the sink again and this time got it turned off. By then there was about an inch of water on the floor.

Another run to the shed for the wet/dry vac and I had just about all the water sucked up when the electricity went off. By the time Hubby got home, I had soaked up the remaining water and dried the floors with all the dry towels in the house, but there was still water seeping out from under the baseboard when I pressed against it. If I could turn on the dehumidifier, I could probably keep the wood from buckling, but it didn't come on for five hours and in that time, water wicked into the wood floors surrounding the wall.

We spent the afternoon watching texture peel off the ceiling.



The cause was the copper tubing to the ice maker which had been run through the attic. We had it moved at the end of 2008 and evidently the guy didn't put it under the insulation and it froze enough to break apart at the valve.



This is today. Hubby thought he would tear it off and replace the insulation and sheetrock while he had a friend who could help, but the ceiling joists are wet and he wants them to dry out more. So the dehumidifier is running in the kitchen and of course the heat is off since we'd only be heating the attic. Thank heavens we have a gas fireplace in the den.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that the water spewed toward the kitchen and not toward the living room where the ceiling would be much harder to repair.

Until next time, may you have blessings and only outdoor waterfalls,
Marti