So we started running around looking for furniture. We hit the local furniture outlet and began to lean towards a sofa, two chairs near the steps and our recliner near the fireplace.
Unfortunately, some detailed measurements showed us that two chairs weren't going to fit well so we fell back to a single chair.
We liked the furniture in the outlet but, since everything was custom ordered, it would take 8-12 weeks to get it. Given our success with timing on this project, we decided to look around.
We tried several furniture stores and found that pillow backs were the most common style and we really wanted a tight back.
We did some more measuring and decided that we would go back to the outlet for at least the couch and large chair. That was Super Bowl Sunday. We were going to go the next day. I moved the bookcase back into place; we moved the recliner to where it was going to be and finally removed all of the tarps and assorted debris.
We were ready to go.
That's when we heard a loud sound from the unfinished area of the basement. The water pipe leading to one of the outside spigots had burst and we had water pouring into the unfinished area of the basement which spread to the finished area.
It was a mess. We couldn't get the shutoff valve to turn and didn't remember where the master shut-off was. My two daughters were catching the water in storage bins and dumping it outside while I was calling Gold Medal and the water company.
The water company didn't answer and Gold Medal couldn't get someone to me to fix the pipe until Tuesday. In desperation we called the local police. They sent two officers. One of them located the master shut off and turned off the water.
Whew, so now we had no water until Tuesday and an absolute mess. My daughter had moved bookcase, piano and television equipment to the other side of the room to get is away from the water. We began cleaning up.
We're still cleaning up and we've got scuff marks from the piano all over our brand new flooring.
My oldest daughter went out and bought water bottles so we could manually flush during the night. The next day she headed to Cleveland, my youngest daughter went to work and I decided to tackle the shut-off valve that wouldn't move.
I got it to move but it took a few tries until it appeared to be all the way shut and I didn't see any water dripping down. I decided I didn't trust it and called Gold Medal to see if I could get another shut-off valve in series with the one that was there. I figured I'd fix the pipe in the spring.
That they could do that Monday between 12 PM and 4 PM. That sounded good to me.
But 4 PM came and went. Then I got a call telling me that it would be closer to 6 PM.
Then 6 PM came and went. I called to make sure that someone was still coming and they assured me that he would be there around 7 PM.
At about 7:20 a familiar face showed up. It was Mr. Jones the same guy that had fixed the heating pipe leak and another problem that we had last year. He agreed with my assessment of the situation and a half hour later I had a second shut-off valve.
We had the water back on but we still had one hell of a mess to finish cleaning up.
As we worked out way through the unfinished half of the basement, we began filling up garbage bags. A lot of stuff had gotten drenched and was unsalvageable.
I ordered a wet vac from Amazon and my daughter borrowed one from someone in the school where she worked. As it turned out the wet vac wasn't really necessary as we mopped up the water with newspaper and towels. The towels we threw out. We then put a big tub of Damprid to soak up the excess moisture.
I got some cheap towels from Amazon to tide us over until my wife goes get shopping for towels and I now have two wet vacs in my foyer, one in a bow and the other on top of a container. I think I'll have my daughter return the one she borrowed with our sincere thanks. The other one I'm sending back to Amazon.
Thursday is garbage pickup so we shlepped two garbage cans full and about a dozen extra bags to the curb. The garbage gays emptied the cans but left the bags. Why not kick me while I'm down?
We refiled the two garbage cans and we're going to pile up the rest in the garage. We'll take them out a garbage can or two each garbage day until they're gone.
To help reorganize things I ordered six containers from Walmart. If you think that I'm going broke, you're right.
<<To Be Continued>>
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