um... wait that's not good
i pulled into my driveway last night and couldn't help but notice that water was flooding down into the street from... the garage? uh oh...
so i checked the mail.
then i stood next to the garage and listened for a second. sounds like it's raining in there, i thought, followed shortly by what?
i went inside and let our (stupid stupid stupid) pit bull puppy out of the laundry room, where the floor was soaking wet and tried to go into the garage but the door was blocked by something and water was just pouring from the ceiling.
this was way too much water for this to be a leak. it was a downpour.
that'll teach us to take our time about unpacking the garage! hahahah...oh dear Lord.
since i had no idea where it was coming from i did the only thing i could think of. i called the fire department, and then the landlord.
amazingly the landlord was angry that i called the fire department. "you called the fire department for water?" he asked incredulously.
geez, i'm sorry mitch. what would you like me to do next time your house floods?
katie got home just before the firemen arrived.
we paused for a moment to reflect on the fact that (A.) all of our things in the garage were ruined and (B.) there are three young single women living in our house and at our first emergency they sent three old fat firemen. hardly seemed fair.
eventually it all got sorted out. apparently the last renter installed a heater in the ceiling of the garage (this is a fact that remains totally inexplicable) and ran water to it. it froze. then it thawed. then it burst. good times.
but now we have to wear shoes whenever we enter the laundry room.
the moral of this story?
never ever go into the garage again. for any reason. ever.
posted by Kate Robinson @ 9:52 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
The following advice is from a man who spent his summers and the first year out of college doing similar disaster restoration:
If you had clothes that got wet do not let them dry. Wash them as quickly as possible. The water that soaked your belongings poured through various layers of building supplies...wood/drywall/paint etc. If wet clothing is allowed to dry thus, the smell will build a civilization that will refuse to leave.
If you have belongings that are worth a lot to you, either because of monetary or sentimental value, subject these items to constant light. Mold needs darkness to grow and it will, at an alarming rate, if allowed the opportunity.
The humidity in Nevada I imagine is dry, so feel free to place these object on your driveway where they will benefit from the microwave effect of heat from above coupled with the heat from the asphalt below.
Kinda like a hyperbaric chamber but for heat.
While I can't explain the science of it, charcoal briquettes have some sort of property that sucks that main abhorrent "mold" smell from objects and entire rooms.
Cool whip bowls, placed in corners of your garage will do an absolutely amazing job of cutting the work of mildew.
wow.
thanks.
that sounds a lot harder/more efficient than my plan, which was to buy new stuff and seal off the garage forever.
the driveway won't do us much good as it is covered in ice and snow and likely to remain so for a while.
but on the off chance that if get five minutes to even assess the damage, this will definitely come in handy.
hm..
i meant "i get" not "if get." just assume the "f" is silent.
Thanks for turning my ideallic vision of Nevada on its head.
Just assume I spelled that "idyllic" just now.
Now.
Haha. got it. idyllic.
in what way did i ruin your illusions?
nevada is dry and full of sage brush. very little humidity in the summer. hot.
but in the winter it snows. especially in northern nevada where i live. it's a valley. it gets cold.
For almost every emergency, the fire department is called. They can often get to somewhere faster than an ambulance.
When my dad died, my mom found him and called 911. An ambulance and a fire truck showed up. The fire guys showed up first, and determined that he was already dead. The ambulance people showed up a bit later, stayed for what seemed like 5 minutes, and left. The fire dudes stuck around and waited for the coroner to pick up the body.
We asked them about why the fire department even came. They are better able to handle more different kinds of situations and they have paramedic training. And, as I said before, they are often the fastest.
As to your situation, calling the fire department does seem a bit odd to me... but then I would have just turned all the water off to the house, called the landlord, and went from there. Granted, you probably had no idea how to do that. But your thinking was probably something like "Hey, it's an emergency... call the emergency people...!" you chose the fire department over the police department and the hospital. I guess fire people would know the most about water out of those 3... =D
I guess I just imagine Nevada as equator-like.
And yeah. Seriously. Why did you call the fire department?
That'd be like sending Counselor Troi to Engineering to fix a warp core breech.
well let's see.
i had no idea where the water was coming from.
i have no idea how to turn off the water to the house. when the fire department got there they turned it off at the street. i wouldn't have known to do that.
what else should i have done?
the firemen themselves seemed to feel that it was a completely appropriate choice.
even mitch, upon arriving, seemed to agree once he saw the severity of the situation.
i stand by it. =)
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