Water Damage Challenges at home

[davem1111 2,030]

A few weeks ago we were about to leave for a road trip on a Thursday morning. We'd been having heavy rains and wind, with a hurricane-like stretch in the evening. In the middle of the night, my wife got up to go to the bathroom and stepped on a squishy wet carpet.  Oh crap. 

We looked around a bit couldn't see where the water was coming in, and since the storm had let up, we decided to just go back to sleep and deal with it in the morning.  Well, after realizing that we couldn't leave on our trip until "something" was done about it.

 

Our house is about 20 feet from a 2-1/2 acre lake, and the dipstick previous owner had built the addition that our bedroom is in about 3 feet below grade. Wife has been here 18 years, me only around 10. She had some moisture and mold problems in that addition before I came along, and had a mold remediation done (which from the looks of it now was rather shoddily done). But she/we  have never had this kind of wetness on the floor. 

 

Anyway, we had a roofing contractor stop by that next morning, and he said that it wasn't obvious where the water was coming in, but that our low-pitch metal roof had significant hail damage, and what looked to be a bad seal around the pipe where the electric service came in. He put some caulk around that, said he couldn't tarp the roof for several reasons.

 

The insurance adjuster said not to pull up any carpet or do anything to the walls or roof till she could get out here the following Wednesday. I ran out and bought several industrial grade fans and a large dehumidifier with a pump and hose so the water could be pumped out the window.  I also got a new sump pump even though the old one still worked and it was in the far corner of that section of the house, where there was only a little damp spot on the carpet.  Got all that set up and running, then we went on our trip.

 

Got back a few days later, and the room was mostly dry. No more water coming in.  Insurance adjuster came out, looked around, then said that we were getting a new roof on the house (and the garage - I hadn't expected that), but in her opinion the water on the floor was ground seepage ("flooding") which was not covered by our policy. Sigh.

 

The bottom line is that we decided not to work with the roofing contractor, who said they "don't do metal roofs and would be subcontracting that"  (obviously for a cut of the money). Finally got an estimate for the roof and the numbers were *way* over budget.  We did get a large percentage of the claim money already, so we're going to manage this ourselves. Most likely rejuvenating the roofs, only replacing anything that really needs it.  I've already pulled the carpet, cut up an old fiberglass shower stall and removed it, and taken down most of the drywall that needs to be replaced. Changing the wall layout a bit in the process. Planning to use the wood-looking manufactured vinyl flooring. I'm going to do most of this myself, maybe with a young helper if I can find one who will actually work.  Except for finish sanding on spackle. I hate that and know I'm really bad at it. Will be looking for a pro to do that part.

 

One side-effect of this that I'm happy about:  I bought a fairly new 12' cargo trailer, when I realized I'd need some place to move furniture and clothes into while doing the renovations. Got a pretty good deal on it. 

 

So.... I've been pretty busy and will be for the next few months. I've managed to keep 3 WH tractors with 48" decks going to try and keep ahead of the grass, which you can almost watch get taller if you watch long enough...  Before all this happened, I did take a test drive on my "517-H" Frankenstein tractor with foot control. Need to make some adjustments to the pedal, and the brake  but it is fun to drive. The swept front axle and steering reduction does handle very well. I may be putting a 60" deck on that soon so I can knock off the flatter areas more quickly. I have a thread about that tractor in here somewhere - I'll try to post an update and some new pics soon. Oh, and I'll probably be selling at least one tractor this summer, maybe 2. Haven't had much time to think about that lately.

[ebinmaine 67,471]

Having been through a similar escapade with our oil spill a few years ago I understand all too well how much work that all is. 

 

Good luck and keep us posted.  

[lynnmor 7,305]

This post is a good reminder for members with homeowners insurance.  Basically water damage from water that rises and water that falls is often treated differently.  Water rising may need a separate flood policy.

[953 nut 55,218]

10 hours ago, davem1111 said:

I'm going to do most of this myself,

Sorry to hear about this but glad you are able to do the work yourself. Finding a contractor to do repair work is getting ridiculously expensive around here.

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

7 hours ago, 953 nut said:

Finding a contractor to do repair work is getting ridiculously expensive around here.

Forget the cost, finding a workman who actually does a good job of work is nigh impossible. 

A friend had some pathways and a patio laid recently,  not a huge area and not the best materials or workmanship.  £7,000 which is a lot of cash.

Then look at the joke which is the Co-Op Live indoor arena. Multi million pound build, nationally important concert space.  Months overdue, people queuing for entry to the first concert, cancelled due to "a minor issue" 

Actually nothing is finished inside, a bare restaurant,  wiring not done, plumbing shonky. To cap it all the newly installed ventilation ducting fell from the ceiling into the seating area, it would have killed concert goers. As a result the whole installation has to be removed and refitted. These are supposed to be craftsmen. Honestly?  I wouldn't trust them to change a light bulb. 

I went to our local DIY store at the weekend. Most customers were tradesmen buying materials for the week ahead, dodgy timber and cheap electrical items from China. Nothing you can't buy yourself. But you may a premium for these clowns to fit in your home.

Doing it ones self is the best way to go, builders are no longer the trusted tradesmen of yesteryear, snake oil salesmen the lot of em. 

[JCM 9,160]

Hopefully the guitar collection was high and dry. Sorry to hear about that mess

[Beap52 811]

I retired last year after 52 years of work.  The past few years I did smaller to medium size carpenter/handy man jobs.  Smaller jobs that I and my helper of 13 years could handle. I'm still receiving calls and this past week I received a call asking if I would do a job for them.  Explained that I was retired.  Usually the next question is, "Where can I find or who do your recommend?"  I've been suggesting they contact an old timer at local lumber yard.  He knows who is dependable and trustworthy. 

 

Years ago our town had an annual festival.  The festival produced a small newspaper and asked locals to donate by buy an add.  So, I put my name and phone number in the paper.  Soon the local phone company called and told me that because I was advertising that I would be required to get a commercial line. They didn't believe me when I explained it wasn't necessarily an advertisement but helping fund the festival.  Finally, relenting I agreed to host a commercial phone line but I wanted it as an unlisted phone number. The sales lady said that was not wise.  After I explained my rational for not needing one, she finally agreed to not make me purchase a commercial If I promised not to advertise using my phone number .  My rational: I had all the business I could handle and was turning folks down. I explained that a commercial line would likely result in getting calls from individuals who were only seeking prices (such as insurance jobs) and not serious about me doing the work.  From then on, I only placed my and my wife's name in the festival paper--with NO phone number.  Several customers gave me keys to their property and when then needed something I had access.  I returned several sets of keys last year.   I like meeting former customers uptown and treating each other like old friends. 

[davem1111 2,030]

On 5/9/2024 at 3:17 AM, Mickwhitt said:

Forget the cost, finding a workman who actually does a good job of work is nigh impossible. 

[...]

Doing it ones self is the best way to go, builders are no longer the trusted tradesmen of yesteryear, snake oil salesmen the lot of em. 

 

Yeah, the part about the roofer sub-contracting and probably getting a 20% markup for someone else's work pissed us off. Plus, I think I can make some minor repairs and re-surface this roof and it will look and function like new for about 10% what they were going to charge - including buying a new powerful pressure washer. The other fact that I don't think I mentioned is that we plan to move within a year or two. The house is pretty small and has an odd layout, so I don't think the "new" roof would add enough to the resale value to justify it... and there's a greater than zero chance that someone will buy the place for the land and the lake, and bulldoze this house to put up a cookie-cutter mini mansion. That would be a waste. But we still have to do enough work to make the house sellable. If we were staying, things would be different.

 

On 5/9/2024 at 10:00 AM, JCM said:

Hopefully the guitar collection was high and dry. Sorry to hear about that mess

 

Guitars all safe and dry, but probably won't be getting much use for a while. They are still hanging on the wall but will probably end up in their cases and put in the cargo trailer before long.