The flood before Irene... Ugh...

Jeff F

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Donor 12 years: 2011-2022
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We were on vacation last week and just got home today around 3pm. One of the first things I did was switch the oil burning hot water heater back on so the wifey could do some laundry and then relax with a bath...

Seems the f@rkin' pressure relief valve stuck open(why it opened I'm not sure yet but that's another story) and it took us probably about an hour to notice. :(

We have a drain down there but it's on the opposite side of the room so almost *EVERYTHING* is wet. We didn't get more than an inch in any one place but I'd guess a good 75% of the carpet was soaked.

We've been vacuuming for the past hour or so and needed a break so I thought I'd post.

The wifey took a few pictures of everything before I got Shopvac #2 fired up. :)

Seems like things are going pretty well with us vacuuming and a couple dehumidifiers and fans running. Humidity level is 75% but we actually have a few places where the carpet and under the carpet are drying.

Will post the pictures after I get things more dry. So far it's looking like my Red Baron, Tapper, and Tempest cabaret back doors are swelled pretty bad. Other than that, Crazy Climber has a swelled base. I haven't even looked at the Nintendo row... which is right next to the water heater. :(


Good luck to all you folks in the path of Irene. I wish you a safe and DRY couple of days! :beerchug:
 
I came home to my water heater having blown a hole right in the bottom last summer, which wouldn't have been an issue had the previous owners not put carpet down in the laundry room and covered the drain in the floor with underpadding.

All the carpet went, I won't EVER keep carpet that's totally been soaked. No matter how much you think you've dried it out, there WILL be mold that forms under there. Cheap carpet in the basement...always, never ever spend money on high end stuff cause of things like this.
 
I came home to my water heater having blown a hole right in the bottom last summer, which wouldn't have been an issue had the previous owners not put carpet down in the laundry room and covered the drain in the floor with underpadding.

All the carpet went, I won't EVER keep carpet that's totally been soaked. No matter how much you think you've dried it out, there WILL be mold that forms under there. Cheap carpet in the basement...always, never ever spend money on high end stuff cause of things like this.

+1 that from personal experience with shitty carpets. If there was an inch of standing water on that thing, I don't think it will ever dry. I'd contemplate putting "replace rug" on my to do list within the next couple of months. Mold is bad shit.
 
This is one of mY greatest fears! Good luck and as many of you in the north east I'm waiting to see what Irene is going to bring us!
 
Sorry to hear about the carpet. Ever since we have owned our house, we have had a foundation crack leak over and over after repair after repair. I just got done re-drywalling it back in June after its 4th? repair.

My fingers are crossed with Irene. In the last 24 hrs we also had a battery back-up sump pump installed and I picked up a generator, too, in case the battery dies on us. I hope that I am prepared for the worst, but Mother Nature is pretty crafty...

Yes, good luck to all us arcade owners in Irene's path. Especially if you have Atari cabs. :)
 
I had something similar happen and it damaged my Centipede cabaret. Fortunately, nothing else was damaged. The Nintendo cabinets will be fine since they are good. The Nintendo, Williams and Stern hold-up pretty well to water.

Scott C.
 
That's terrible! Keep all those fans and humidifiers running full bore and hopefully minimize the damage. Haven't people clamped swollen wood while drying it to help reverse the damage?
 
Thanks guys.

Took the valve off and it has mineral deposits on it so I'm hoping it just opened a little and got stuck(from reading on the i'net it seems like this is at least plausible for the situation). I'll be hitting Home Depot in the morning and then crossing my fingers. ;)

Only good thing about this is I used cheapo 5'x8' Walmart carpet so if I replace it it won't cost much... other than a sore back and knees. :( I think I bought 8-10 carpets and then taped the undersides together to make a larger carpet. It worked well and *THIS* is part of the reason why I went that route.

I'll post some pictures in a bit...
 
IRENE is HERE now, or at least the starting of it and its 9:30 right now.. suppose to really hit at 2:00 am..

Im home and plan to stay up all night to see if the power goes out. if the power goes out then my subpumps wont be working which means either 2 things.. Emply the water manually (which fills half way about every hr and ahalf) or hope my dad doesnt need his generator and i can hook that up ...

either way im making sure my gameroom doesnt get wet, even if i have to stay up all night..:)

sorry to hear about your games i coudnt even imagine!
 
Ugh, hate to hear that Jeff. Such a great selection of games you've got. Best of luck getting the place dried out!
 
Wow that sucks jeff.. My basement flooded a few years ago. What a mess.
Apart from the cab damage it doesnt sound to bad. Hopefully it will
dry out quickly for you. I'm tempted to stay up all night as well.. just to
monitor things.
 
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There are a few more here...
http://www.vidiotarcade.com/pub/FloodedBasement/

Again, good luck to all you guys in Irene's path... I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
 
That has to be the one advantage pins have over arcade machines is the high leg level room.
Would hate to go through something like this. I hope everyone on the east coast makes it through will little to no damage as possible. Things are no joke....:(
 
IRENE is HERE now, or at least the starting of it and its 9:30 right now.. suppose to really hit at 2:00 am..

Im home and plan to stay up all night to see if the power goes out. if the power goes out then my subpumps wont be working which means either 2 things.. Emply the water manually (which fills half way about every hr and ahalf) or hope my dad doesnt need his generator and i can hook that up ...

either way im making sure my gameroom doesnt get wet, even if i have to stay up all night..:)

sorry to hear about your games i coudnt even imagine!

How the heck does your sump pump hole only file half way every hour and a half? My sump pump is filling every 10 seconds or so!
 
that blows!!! Believe ive been there. Mine actually went for a swim though. THank god for insurance....

after the "pre flood"
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did all the prepping i could for the big one we knew was coming..
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the next day... walking to the house from a block away...
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the garage the games were in... the door i used as a ramp is now a floating barge
(actually mark h's old door he he )
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