Our apartment is flooded

[Sammy Boy]

Has this happened to you before ... and how did you deal / cope with it?

Today I got off work early because I had to collect a parcel from the post office.

It was two LEGO Classic Space sets I had bought from eBay. They were in very good condition and all was well, as I did all the housework (laundry, rubbish, watering the plant) I had on my mind. I took a shower and checked my e-mails.

Later on, my wife came home. She usually comes home after me because the hospital she works at is busy. When I went to the living room to greet her, we saw that the kitchen floor was covered in water. She actually saw it before I did. At first I thought it was the dishwasher, but felt it was unlikely since we do not use it. Upon further investigation I discovered the water to be seeping from the laundry area and it was warm. I realised that the hot water tank was leaking.

I tried to turn off the main water supply to the tank but couldn't budge the handle. I rang my dad who advised me to do the same thing. When I told him it couldn't be turned off, he said that it's not possible to turn the handle with my bare hands, I must use a tool to give me more strength (e.g. pliers). So I got the pliers and even then I had to use my right hand (haven't been going to the gym recently).

I then rang the hot water tank tradespeople and they said the earliest they could come in was 4pm tomorrow (Saturday). And it was going to cost me $695, because they have to install a new tank. I don't know why, but it seems every time we make some headway into saving money, something beyond our control happens and we have to spend the money.

My wife didn't take this turn of events well at all, as she had a very tiring day at work and just wanted to relax during the weekend.

After we booked the appointment with the tradesman, my wife cut a piece of plastic (the type they use in bathrooms) and blocked the laundry door. I closed the door and then we placed some towels (by now very wet as we had to use them to mop up all the water on the kitchen floor) on top to hopefully stem the water from seeping out too much.

We then drove to McDonald's (since it was already 9.30pm) to grab a quick dinner. After that we drove to the local supermarket (thankfully open until midnight) and bought four more towels. When we got back to our apartment the water had flooded to the kitchen floor again.

It was a very draining turn of events. We placed two towels just within the kitchen doorway (our last line of defense against the water, we had to the sofa, electrical items, and piano in the living room to protect). Then I got all the junk mail I had kept in our scrap paper basket (we had heaps of junk mail kept there) and proceeded to cover the kitchen floor with paper wherever there was water, in an attempt to get them to absorb all the water coming towards the doorway.

As I type this, I just checked the kitchen floor again and it seems for now they have stemmed the wave of devastation (but already I can see that the papers are all wet and soggy, they won't hold for long).

4pm Saturday seems like such a long time coming...

I suppose we are particularly unhappy with this unexpected event because during the past several Saturdays and weeknights of the last few weeks, we had been practising for a drama at our church and so had little free time for ourselves. This weekend was finally the one when there was no practice, and we wanted to have some quality time and maybe take a drive downtown for lunch.

But now that this has happened, we cannot do so and must continue to do what we can to stop the flooding (since the hot water tank has a hole in it somewhere and is continually leaking).

I ask myself what lesson of faith (if any) is there to learn in all this. Perhaps it's to learn to accept that these unpleasant things in life happen. I know we are a lot better off already, since we have our health, and have jobs. But still, it does not change the fact that what occurred was disappointing.

I would say I am more frustrated and angry than sad. I just wanted to have an easy weekend, and wanted to be able to save some money. But now that's not to be. I would ask "Why?" but there is perhaps no answer.

[Esoteric]

Flooding is the pits. Unfortunately it always seems to happen when you least expect it. We had a client go on vacation once, and during that time a washer hose burst. When they got back, their entire house was filled with 3 inches of water. Horrible repairs. In another house, flooding caused the wooden floor tiles in one room to swell and mound up, forming a 3 foot high 'mountain'.
It's never fun, and I sympathize. It's one of those things you only tend to get cautious about after the fact--like turning off water lines when you vacation and making sure you have easy access to water shut offs. Water heaters are especially unpredictable. As corrosion and mineral deposits build up in them, they all eventually fail. It sounds like you're doing all you can, really. If the water to the unit (and the unit itself) is shut off, and you can't find/contain the leak, you'll just have to do damage control until the repairmen come. Actually, don't most water heaters have a spigot or bleed valve for draining them? You could drain the remaining water off into a bucket. This would hopefully stop the leaking sooner.

As to why fretful events always seem to pile up in life, I can't say. When it rains, it does sadly and usually seem to pour.

[ChristianKitsune]

Oh I know the flooding issue very well :/ My house was built by stupid people who decided it was okay to try to make the water run up hill

So for a while we'd have our basement flood every six months (thankfully its been a year and half)

anyways I'd get you a shop vac and see if you can't suck up the water...calling the experts is a good idea. Sorry about the expense though, that really stinks.

[Dr.Faust]

Feel your pain bro that happen to us last year

[Squeakmaster]

Ouch. We've had several flooding problems, with our washer (the hose in the back), and our tub in me and my brother's bathroom had a leak, which, upon taking the tub out, we discovered that there was a busted pipe and a WHOLE lot of mold and mildew. Ugh... but remember, God places these storms in our path to strengthen us, not to break us down, even when it gets really bad. Don't give up, 'kay?

[Paul]

Although you can't fix the present, what you can do is stop the flood. Every water heater has a blow off valve to prevent over pressure, and a drain valve at the bottom to empty it. The water supply also has a shut of valve and the landlord should have been willing to tell you the location to stop the water. At the very least, you should have had a main valve outside which would have shut off all water. That would have stopped your flood. I've been there and done that. I'm sorry about the mess, I do understand.

[Sammy Boy]

Thanks for the support everyone.

The tradesman came in this morning and installed a new one. All smooth and no dramas. However the water continues to seep because a lot of it went between the cupboard base and floor tiles. We'll just have to let it dribble out and put a towel there in the interim.

I think these kinds of incidents are just part of life and I have to learn to take it as it comes.

Thanks again.

[Reon]

Our bathroom flooded downstairs when we were gone all the way into the living room... that was bad. A pal of mine was house sitting a super nice house and accidentally flooded the upstairs (like a college student can afford that =/). Aka: It happens.

The mindset I'm trying to have through all my troubles is, everything belongs to God anyways. Every challenge is a chance to learn something and the life I have is already a blessing no matter what state its in. God is good =)

Best of luck to you and I sincerely hope saving works out - Thats exactly what I'm attempting to do right now - Its tough to not spend money =/

[Paul]

Sammy, I just wanted to share with you my biggest flood story. We lived in an apartment next to a golf course and our sliding glass door was five ft from the drainage line. When ever it rained, we would get the waters. It seemed like Noah and the flood all over again. It was an inch high in the apt when it happened the first time.

We ended up getting a sewage injection pump, (a very high volume sump pump) and we dug a well out back to which we placed it. Then when the floods came, we would turn it on and pump the waters up on to a low area below our apartment, where it would fill up and gradually flow further down the drainage area.

We went two years like that until we finally had enough and moved to higher ground.

[Sanji07]

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. 'Glad to hear that a new washing machine was installed without any problems. Just keep trusting in God. He'll help you get through this. He'll give you rest-maybe not as soon as you want Him to, but soon. -_^

[ashfire]

Worse flooding I had to deal with in the fire dept was back in the 70s.
We had a major thunderstorm in the area.
A section of road was flooded and a car with people was sitting in it and we ran in to push the car out. Well the chief made the people get out and get behind the car and told the crew to get back on the pumper. We went up the street and turned down a street to end of the street. The house was at the bottom of a drainage plain.
We walked in the door and looked left at the basement steps. The water was at the first step down.
The water backed up in the backyard because the owners planted small trees in front of the drain and it went right for the outside basement steps and took the door down and flood the rooms down stairs.
It took us eight hours to pump the basement with help from other fire stations for portable pumps.