But let's back up, shall we? Saturday night, our wonderful, we-want-you-to-do-well-in-life-but-please-don't-go-away-to-college sitter watched the kids while we danced the night away. Sunday, we went down to the basement and discovered it clean and organized! Monday early morning, I went down to the basement to grab a dvd the kids could watch upstairs while I cleaned. Monday was beautiful, so we played outside. Tuesday? Same Drill. Wednesday? Looking like another fun outside play day!
We had no plans of hanging in the basement all week in fact. But, Wednesday morning, my little artist, Strip, used the last 5 pieces of paper from the printer to make a book and asked if she could go to the basement for another ream. Coffee just made, I sat down to check my email and told her sure, but breakfast was going to be ready in a second, so hurry.
A few seconds later, she bounds back up the stairs, and I glance over to see a look of utter disgust on her face and hear her breathe a heavy sigh.
Me: What's with you?
Strip: Ugh. Nugget peed all over the basement!
Me: What?! (I glance around and notice Nugget sitting on the other end of the couch)
Strip: He PEED all over the basement!
I'm looking at Nugget who clearly did NOT just scoot down to the basement and pee all over it. Thinking back, the last time we were in the basement was on Sunday, so if he'd peed in the basement, it wouldn't have been wet this morning....
Take a BIG swig of Joe...
Me: WHAT?!
Strip: He peed all over the basement mom. It's wet.
Oh.my.sump.pump.
I FLY down the stairs to assess what I can only imagine is a faulty sump pump. I'm slightly relieved when I get to the bottom of the stairs. The carpet is dry! That kid is crazy. I look at the base of the steps and see....
Water pooled at the base of the stairs. Ok. Deep breath. The sump pump room has probably flooded. The water has gone under the steps and has stopped here at the thick padding and 2 year-old carpet. No big deal. I'll assess the damage, call hubs, and we'll have to trash some boxes.
I take a step on to the carpet, and that's when I see it.
The ripple.
Ever sat on a water bed? You know how it just ripples across to the other side? That's what my carpet did. It was floating.
I puddle jump to the sump pump room and attempt to open the door, but a piece of carpet we had just sitting in there has floated over to the door and wedged itself in a way that I couldn't open it. I splashed upstairs and called Hubs who, THANK GOODNESS, was in town. He walked into his meeting, announced he had to leave, and greeted me 15 minutes later with a giant starbuck cup. It was going to be a long day.
The clean-up guy arrived just minutes later. He rang the bell and asked if he was in the right place. Spying his Hunter galoshes, I assured him that not only was he in the right place, but he was wearing the right shoes, too! I lead him to the basement with all his flood gear. He looked around and held up a big stick with a trigger thingy on it.
"This is what we use to test the carpet. It can detect if there's any moisture in the carpet or padding." He looks down at the water quickly spilling over the toes of his shoes. "I think we can just set this over here...."
The clean up crew was great and got everything moved out, trashed, pushed to the middle, and we now have 6 large extension cords powering fans and dehumidifiers that have been running since Tuesday am. The insurance agent came out Friday to take pictures. I'm amazed at how much damage such a seemingly small amount of water can do.
I'm trying to be optimistic and look at this as a way to do some really good cleaning and organizing down there. Also trying to look at it as a really big yard sale. Our stuff is gone, we'll get some money for it, and while it might not be all we paid for it, it will be something.
But there are some things that just aren't available any more, so if anyone sees a fisher price "portable" record player, let me know.
Thank goodness my Cabbage Patch Christmas album was safe upstairs. So needless to say, regular laundry was placed on the back burner while I frantically tried to wash all the towels we used and the massive amount of clothes I had down there in an attempt to salvage something. And this is why Nugget was wearing flowered undies by the end of the week. Oops. He also proudly told anyone who would listen that he DID pee all over the basement and that's what caused the flood. Boys, and the weird things they are proud of.
Cleaners come back tomorrow to hopefully remove all the equipment, but we are all sickly sounding and my nose is so stuffy yet my throat is super dry. The house stinks the minute you walk in, and everything just seems musty. Ick. I'm just glad this all happened while we were in town, and before severe weather hit (read: everyone else's basements flooded).
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