DISASTER !!!!!!

[CHRIS]

I had been away for the weekend in the Peak District doing a spot of walking only to find when returning home that my water pressure was low, had a check around outside - no leaks etc, phone 3 valleys no work going on. Later on decided to go to the cellar (dont know why I did not look before) DISASTER !!!! 2FT OF WATER AND TONNES OF GEAR FLOATING AROUND. Same next door his cellar was flooded.

Took water co a few hrs to come out to try and stop water flow to both houses and would you belive it - the valve is jammed open so we are still filling up with water even though our stop cocks are off, must be a leak underground. 3 valleys say they will fix sometime today.

any ideas how to dry out flint/brick cellar with lime washed finish (nasty conc floor installed in 1966) without doing too much damage?

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

Bad luck Chris. You must be fed up with that.

You can hire a pump from a tool hire company to pump most of it out when the flow is off. Then a dehumidifier I guess, also hired from same place.

The dehumidifier will extract the water from the fabric and furniture down there as quickly as possible. Remove anything you had stored down there first and dry outside if you can.

Sue

 

[CHRIS]

I have a pump at work so that will be fired up later, I hope the oak beams will be ok - i am sure they will be. I stored all my timber down which is wet but there is all my climbing gear but it was in these big plastic tubs so all is dry

 

[middi]

Don't despair too much Chris, the good news is that water hardly ever causes lasting damage to old solid buildings when is dryed out, some personal belongins may be a different matter.

Now you have had a good swear session just dry everything out , by forced ventilation with big hired fans if you have to, and just accept it as one of those things in life that are a pain in the A * * E that we can all do without.

Just a spot of bad luck, easily reversable with little loss and some time wasted.

Disaster ?, thats when you had come back from your break and found the house in a pile of ashes. ( God forbid).

 

[Penners]

Chris - what a b*gger. Tough luck.

Don't forget to keep all your bills for dehumidifier and pump hire, as well as property damage, to give to the insurance company. And the more steps you take to mitigate the losses, the more your insurers will love you and pay up without qubbling.

I hope it gets sorted out quickly.

David

 

[NT]

Heavy ventilation may be all thats needed

NT

 

[CHRIS]

Update!

Have spent morning calling nextdoors insurance to find the contractor who was tasked with fixing lead water main.

I have found them and explained to them that I was a Civil engineer with very large company who uses them to do quick fix work on sites in the south and that they better start pulling there fingers out of certain parts of their body - I also mentioned that I was shocked that they could leave a 103 year old man (next door not me) up to his ankles in water they soon changed from someone coming on Friday to "they will be there after lunch"

First time this week I HAVE RAISED MY VOICE and even got a result, pays to pretend you know what you are talking about!!